Parent and Teacher Empowerment
I support teachers being empowered to use their talents to motivate learning. That is hard to do when they are mandated to teach to standardized tests and conform to regimented regimes.
I support parents being empowered to choose what is best for their kids. That is hard to do when they have no choice.
That is why I think parents instead of politicians should hold schools accountable for teaching their kids, which removes politically motivated testing mandates and frees teachers to use their skills.
Texas passed a voucher plan that over 274,00 students applied for and 90,000 were accepted. We should not turn away so many students, as in the documentary “Waiting for Superman”. I recognize it was a heavy lift to get vouchers and politicians want time to study the results before making changes.
Ideally, I would like a statewide scholarship. Every child would be given the same amount of money to follow them to any school. This would resolve the Robin Hood (Chapter 41) disputes and remove politically motivated testing mandates.
Lastly, it must be recognized there are kids that have terrible challenges as documented in the Frontline documentary “Dropout Nation” of Sharpstown High School in Houston. Some problems go much deeper than education policy.
Vouchers are the modern version of segregation built on platitudes. It’s not going to achieve any of the “improvements” Abbot claims. End all mandated state testing, period. If a student can pass the GED at any age, a diploma is granted. Voluntary & simple. End schools funded solely on property tax. Schools should be a voluntary contract between teachers & parents, no 10 levels of admin necessary. Parents &students should choose educational paths, not the state. The more government intervenes in education, the dumber our population becomes.
I am a former educator and agree with you 100% on the voucher program. I am just now researching you and I am pleasantly surprised thus far.
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I was glad to meet you at a “Meet The Candidates” event! I heavily agree with you on your school policies (since of writing this email, I am in public school.)
I would like to see teachers teach and children learn instead of stressing about taking test all the time. The teachers I knew and had growing up were truly a gift for reaching students. Years later when I had my child one of his favorite teachers told me in a meeting, we need to be able to teach the children, not teach them how to take test. As far as voucher’s, I’m not going to fib about it – I don’t understand vouchers, so I need to research this subject… I have two grandsons in public school currently and in our hometown, we have what schools we have.