Archive for the ‘education priorities’ Category
What is being taught? What is being learned?
April 21st, 2008
Students at Medina Valley High School in Castroville say more of them spent the day in in-school suspension than in class because they chose to wear the color green to school after being told not to.
So now we know what’s important to students and that the school administration is more than capable of making a mountain out of a molehill.
“I wore green because they told me, ‘well, you can’t wear green’ and seeing as how wearing green is not against the rules, I’m gonna do it just to make you mad,” Holloway said.
Some suggested links for the students and administration:
Because it will improve academics
September 18th, 2007
Still, while the vote is a merely a first step, it is a significant first step, one that could have ramifications beyond the football field.
Academics represent the foundation of a university, but athletic programs add prestige, and prestige, in turn, enhances academics, creating a positive, vibrant cycle.
Football programs also help attract students from beyond the area, a phenomenon that could help UTSA grow from a commuter school to a higher tier university.
Yup, all those kids want to get into Rice because of its football team. And everyone knows what the football team has done for Harvard’s prestige and it’s ability to attract students from across the country.
Certainly a football team can help strengthen the sense of community among the student body. That, in of itself, is a good thing. But as far as growing into a “higher tier university,” the students could have taken the same money and spent it on National Merit Scholars and really reached a higher tier in the ways that matter.
But no one pays to watch National Merit Scholars work, do they? If a school wants a football team, fine. Just spare us the academic justifications for the program. Oh wait, I forget, we’re in Texas. Never mind.
Technorati Tags: UTSA, football, athletic fee, University of Texas at San Antonio
Education priorities in Texas
August 10th, 2007
New state law bolsters use of Bibles in classrooms
But if just 15 students at any school request such a course, according to the new law, the district must find a way to offer an elective focusing on the Bible’s historic or literary value, said state Rep. Wayne Christian, who co-wrote the bill.
Too bad students can’t get together to request other classes. Actually, they can make the request, the district just doesn’t have to do anything about it. If 15 students ask for an AP Biology class, the district can ignore it. If they ask for a Latin class, the district can dismiss them. If they ask for a computer coding class, the district can claim they don’t have the resources. But if they ask for a Bible class (does it specify the version?) the district has to provide it. How’s that for education priorities in Texas? Maybe the students can just pray for the other classes.
Technorati Tags: Bible classes, Texas, public schools, Wayne Christian
Schools–education and so much more
August 4th, 2007
Another example of education not being the only concern of public schools:
Mexia Daily News – District pulls 4-day school week proposal
The Lancaster school board voted 5-1 last month to allow Lewis to seek a waiver exempting the district from the required 180-day school calendar. Under the proposal, the 6,000-student district south of Dallas would have longer days Monday through Thursday and Fridays off.
Supporters say the short week would boost academics by allowing longer uninterrupted stretches of class time and save money as the district deals with a funding deficit.
Critics have protested the idea over concerns about the cost of child care on Fridays and unsupervised students getting into trouble.
It’s an interesting cost benefit issue. The schools could save money and (theoretically) improve academics by switching to a shorter week. That would seem to meet the generally stated goals of public education.
But the argument against is that it will cost parents in day care and the possibly the community in general with increased youth crime. So shouldn’t the voters of the Lancaster district be willing to spend (you know, tax themselves) to address this social issue? It looks like it’s going to cost them either way, so why not send the money to education?
Too bad they don’t have some critical tourist industry that needs to operate on Fridays using student labor–the Lancaster board probably wouldn’t have ever been sent the 15 questions from TEA to begin with.
Technorati Tags: 4 day school week, Lancaster school district, Larry Lewis, Robert Scott, TEA, Lancaster Council of PTAs
This passes for leadership in Texas
June 17th, 2007
Unbelievable.
Higher education cuts included a $6 million veto for a San Antonio Life Sciences Institute. The University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Texas Health Science Center had jointly asked for it, saying it would stimulate growth of the city’s biomedical and biotechnology industries and spur commercialization of research products.
UTSA and UTHSC officials couldn’t be reached for comment, but Perry said he doesn’t want to create more top research institutions before a new commission on higher education and global competitiveness drafts a long-term plan for efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
Texas A&M University-International in Laredo lost $5 million from Perry’s vetoes that had been earmarked for “student success” initiatives to expand doctoral degree programs in business and outreach in math and science.
There may or may not have been good reason to line item veto some of the “pork” in the higher education funding bills. However, Perry’s argument that he “doesn’t want to create more top research institutions” is absolutely mind boggling.
Excuse me, did he miss the entire Top 10% Rule controversy this past session? How there simply wasn’t enough room at UT Austin to accommodate all the students who were qualified to attend? How many of these students would rather go out of state rather than attend another college in Texas?
He wants to wait before creating another top research institution because we might create more than we need? And just out of curiosity, since he only cut $35.9 million out $123 million in higher education earmarks, what was so special about the $87 million he didn’t cut?
If they request it, you shall provide it
May 25th, 2007
AUSTIN — After a bill to teach Bible classes to high school students easily gained approval from the Senate on Wednesday, lawmakers immediately disagreed on whether the measure would make the courses mandatory.
Legislative leaders were not sure whether school districts would be obligated to offer the religion studies course if 15 or more students sign up for it. Both “may” and “shall” show up in different sections of the House bill the Senate sent to the governor without changing.
So why limit it to Bible classes? Why shouldn’t schools be required to provide classes in the Chinese language if 15 students request it? What about Java programming, will the school also have to provide the computers?
Obviously, the original sponsor of the bill thought the school could just go out and hire a Sunday school teacher. Things are a little different if you have to go out and hire a teacher qualified to teach it as an academic subject.
And if a student requests a class which the school then provides, is the student obligated to take the class? What if a requesting student moves out of the district–what happens to the class? It looks like to me common sense prevailed in the Education Committee by changing the language from “shall” to “may.”
But $200 million would be too expensive
May 8th, 2007
House OKs plan to suspend gas tax for summer | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
The Texas House tentatively adopted a measure today that would suspend the state’s 20-cent gas tax through the summer months.
That would mean an immediate 20-cent drop in the price per gallon.
House OKs plan to suspend gas tax for summer | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
While the state is sitting on a record surplus, state leaders have suggested saving that money in order to give property tax relief in two years. Perry has suggested using some of the nearly $8 billion expected to be left unspent to give Texas homeowners more property tax relief.
Martinez Fischer said the proposal could cost anywhere from $500,000 to $700 million.
But, he added, it only seemed fair to give Texans a break from soaring gas prices when airlines already are exempt from state fuel taxes.
And Senator Tommy Williams thinks it’s too expensive to fund college tuition breaks for top ten percent graduates because the cost could “balloon to $200 million by 2012″. Guess who sponsored the fuel tax cut in the senate? Tommy Williams.
So short term tax relief for a lot of people with no future benefit to the state is good. Long term investment of money to improve the state’s education levels and ultimately its economic performance is bad.
It’s sort of a vicious circle isn’t it? We elect idiots who reduce access to education with the result being electing more idiots. Or maybe it’s something else, Williams is just protecting the privileged status of well to do Texans by reducing the rest of the population’s access to the class through education.
Think about it. The fuel tax cut will go to those with the most cars who drive the most. So rich people driving SUVs all around town will be spared the hardship of higher summer gas prices while the less fortunate (or those interested in reducing pollution and traffic congestion) take the bus and get nothing. But I’m sure the economic benefits of this fuel tax reduction will ripple through the Texas economy for years to come–just not in a positive way.
Technorati Tags: Tommy Williams, Top Ten Percent Rule, Top Ten %, 20-cent gas tax, Texas, higher education
It’s more than I expected
May 6th, 2007
Without ever showing how the top ten percent rule was hurting the University of Texas at Austin, UT President Bill Powers managed to get a cap on the number of admissions.
Top 10-percenters may face UT admission limit | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
After admitting half of its 2008 freshman class under the top 10 law, UT would then be required to admit another 10 percent of the top-ranking high school students using such criteria as college test scores, leadership traits and special talents.
That would leave 40 percent of the incoming class it could admit for whatever reason.
UT President Bill Powers, who directly negotiated with senators in closed-door meetings behind the chamber, helped forge a compromise allowing the cap to expire in eight years.
“We have to keep the onus on the back of universities. That’s why I wanted the sunset,” said Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, whose allies to block the bill entirely had begun dwindling.
“It keeps the pressure on the University of Texas or any other institution to come back to the Legislature and show that they are doing what we want them to do as it relates to maintaining diversity,” he said.
The bill that emerged after more than two hours of debate would expire in 2015 and give top 10 students at least $1,500 a year in tuition breaks.
The idea to reward top 10 students with tuition breaks was hatched by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan.
Under his amendment, top 10 students would no longer pay state-set tuition of $51 per semester hour, starting with the 2008 school year.
Even though $1,500 would probably only cover a third of tuition and fees at most public universities, Senator Williams makes it sound prohibitive:
Top 10-percenters may face UT admission limit | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle
Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, said the proposal sounded too expensive. The two-year cost would start at $25 million but balloon to $200 million by 2012.
But lets put this into perspective. Remember the sporting goods tax that wasn’t being used to fund the state parks? The parks were only getting $20 million of the over $100 million generated by the tax annually. Now I’m not suggesting we raid the sporting goods tax to fund colleges. I am suggesting that it probably isn’t that difficult to find the money if we had a little leadership.
And ultimately, $1,500 isn’t enough of a bribe to make these “undeserving” top ten percent go away. Why? Think of it this way. Would all those prospective UT Austin students from Collin county change their preference for UTSA for $1,500 a year? No. In fact, their parents are willing to spend a lot more than $1,500 to send their kids to out of state schools rather than have them go to some other school than UT Austin.
What is needed are some serious improvements in our other state schools to make them as attractive as UT Austin and Texas A&M. Given that UT Austin spends $11, 344 per student and UTSA spends $5,396, I think the state could redirect some of it’s efforts to non-”flagship” schools. Imagine what UTSA could do if it had twice the amount to spend on its students which would be just under $1,000,000. Whatever it would take to get a UT Austin wannabe to enroll in UTSA is what it’s really going to take to change the system.
There is plenty of evidence that the system needs help. Only 37% of the students attending public universities in Texas are at institutions that have a 50% or higher six year graduation rate according to College Results Online. Of the ten most populous states, only Georgia has a lower rate.
But what do you expect? Some very well to do parents got the state to take care of their interests. They don’t have to worry about any tax increases, they actually save money since they don’t have to send their kids out of state. And just how diverse do you think the student population will be at UT-Austin in ten years? I know, I know, the poor people should take their $1,500, be grateful, and shut-up.
Technorati Tags: Tommy Williams, Top Ten Percent, Top Ten Rule, Florence Shapiro, Bill Powers, Royce West, Steve Ogden
Enough said
April 13th, 2007
The classification system that long has arranged Texas high school football programs by enrollment size for the purpose of competitive parity may be on the verge of its most radical alteration ever.
University Interscholastic League athletic director Dr. Charles Breithaupt said his organization’s legislative council will be presented in June with a formal proposal that would carve all UIL classifications into two divisions for football competition only.
The proposal, Breithaupt said, would achieve an even higher degree of competitive balance by grouping more school of similar size together.
Frontpage, above the fold news for the San Antonio Express News.
Reap what you sow
April 10th, 2007
Isn’t it a business axiom that you’ve got to spend money to make money?
Ellis wants lawmakers to invest close to $1 billion for the TEXAS Grant program that helps middle-class and lower-income students pay for college. That would more than double current spending on the scholarship program.
Senate Finance Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said he supports “more financial aid and keeping tuition and fees low.” But he laughed and walked away when asked about Ellis’ pitch for a hefty financial aid budget increase. Ellis acknowledged getting a “chilly reception” from his colleague.
Stagnant funding for the TEXAS grants have combined with soaring college costs since lawmakers deregulated tuition four years ago, resulting in 70,000 students losing their grants in the past two years.
Texas ranks No. 41 among the 50 states in producing college graduates. That status could drop even lower, according to the U.S. Department of Education, as Hispanics and African Americans become a larger majority of the state’s population.
Georgia spends $51.99 per person for college financial aid compared with the $16.08 per person Texas spends, according to the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs. Texas ranks last in per capita spending for college grants among the 10 most populous states.
I guess ten years is too much to expect for an investment to payoff. What do you expect from someone who tries to cut children’s health insurance recipients by increasing the administrative hassle in making families apply every six months rather than yearly? But then again, if these kids never make it to college, the state wouldn’t have to worry about funding financial aid either. Good thing since there wouldn’t be anyone around capable of paying the taxes to do it.
