How Important is Community Engagement? (Part one of a series)

Education of our students isn't solely the responsibility of the schools. Successful schools and districts benefit from support and engagement from a multitude of sources, including parents, local businesses and other community members. It is only through support from a cross-section of these stakeholder groups that students will be given access to the quality public education to which they are entitled, and for which the State of Texas is bound by its constitution.

Make Education a Priority (MEaP), an organization founded in 2010 by an Aledo ISD school board trustee, has defined “Foster Public Engagement with Public Schools” as one of its three core objectives as advocates for public education.  Specifically, the goals relating to this objective are:

• Strengthen interactions between communities, students, and schools to bring about true engagement;
• Encourage business and industry partnerships with public schools; and
• Advocate public education awareness through social media and events.

This effort is more than simply putting words on paper.  Over the past nearly six years, MEaP has consistently focused on engaging local school board trustees in an effort to promote engagement at the local level.  Of note, a resolution supporting MEaP has been adopted by more than 600 districts across the State of Texas, precedent setting in bringing about a unity of purpose in support of the more than 5 million public education students in Texas.

Beginning with a formal announcement of these initiatives in early February, MEaP will work closely with districts in promoting community engagement programs.  In addition, MEaP will provide a framework for building partnerships between local businesses and the districts in their area.  This latter effort builds nicely on the foundation created by passage of House Bill 5 in the 83^rd Legislative Session.

In future blogs, I'll offer my thoughts on two other critical aspects contributing to a quality educational opportunity for the 5.2 million Texas public education students.  Efforts to promote community engagement, combined with these additional objectives, will be critical to building an advocacy platform that looks toward the 85^th Legislative Session that convenes in January, 2017.  We’re proud to focus our advocacy efforts to Make Education a Priority.

A Conversation with Commissioner Morath and SBOE Chair Bahorich

Those who follow Texas government and public education policy are well aware of two recent appointments by Governor Abbott that will have an impact on the more than 5 million Texas public education students.  On January 6, Bobby J Rigues, founder of the Make Education a Priority (MEaP) grassroots movement, and I met with newly appointed TEA Commissioner Mike Morath and State Board of Education Chair Donna Bahorich to discuss public education and to share our views with them.

Bobby and I are both advisory advocates for MEaP (along with three other individuals who are passionate about public education) and felt that it was important to understand the priorities and focus of these two individuals.  We are very appreciate that Commissioner Morath and Chairwoman Bahorich found the time to meet with us and to share their perspectives.

So what did we learn?  First and foremost, both are focused on a collaborative effort to work with trustees, school administrators and others involved with public education.  Starting the dialog through this meeting was just the first step for us in bringing about a greater focus to our advocacy efforts.  Incidentally, as we formalize the MEaP structure and make a formal announcement in early February, collaboration with policymakers will be one of our watchwords.

Second, I anticipate a very lively discussion about the concept of “school choice”.  There clearly is positioning by some policymakers to pursue the adoption of school vouchers and other options where they believe students are not being given access to a quality education.  In my opinion, this is running from the problem instead of tackling it head on to bring about positive and constructive change.  (But that’s a discussion for another blog). 

Third, “data drives decisions”.  We spent much of the time with the Commissioner talking about his use of data in making decisions, whether relating to teacher evaluations, selection and adoption of curriculum, or the overall assessment of public schools performance.  I certainly agree with the need and use of data but remain concerned that data is not generally and consistently available to those who make decisions.  As a former trustee, serving my district for ten years, there were times when it was difficult to find the underlying data, but I believe that recognition of the importance of data by the Commissioner will foster positive changes in this area.

The bottom line is that Commissioner Morath and Chairwoman Bahorich are both committed to public education.  And while the way that we get there may not always be in sync with our views, the very fact that they are willing to engage in open discussions is a very positive sign for us.  Now it is up to all of us as education advocates to Make Education a Priority.

Robotics - The Next "Sport"?

Well, at least the Texas University Interscholastic League (UIL) believes that it should be.  As most of us know, the UIL is an organization that oversees athletic programs across the State of Texas.  They set the standards by which programs are run, help define athlete eligibility, and sponsor a wide range of state championships for both boys and girls athletics. 

The UIL also has extensive involvement in academics programs; according to their web site, the UIL "offers the most comprehensive program of acadmic competition in the nation", and to that we can now add robotics.  On December 10, the UIL announced that it will host the first statewide robotics competition from July 28-230, 2016.  The release can be found by clicking here.

     

This effort is also supported by National Instruments, headquartered in Austin.  In a separate release, National Instruments highlighted their role in making the first statewide robotics championships a reality.  NI’s efforts are truly a reflection of the business community commitment that is required to continue to drive successes in our public schools, and their efforts are to be commended.

For those who have always thought that the UIL is all about athletics, this program is a great example of their focus on academics, and how the combination of athletics and academics ensures that students have opportunities to succeed regardless of their interests and aspirations.  

Additional information on UIL academic programs can be found at http://www.uiltexas.org/academics.

Are Charter Schools a "Gravy Train"?

I recently read an article published by Aljezeera America in which they cited a number of reasons that some believe charter schools to be a “gravy train”.  Referencing research done by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC) at University of Colorado Boulder, they note a number of concerns frequently cited by those opposed to charter schools, namely inequities between salary structure between administrators and teachers, and the opportunity for companies to achieve significant profits at the expense of classroom investment.  Click here to read the article itself.

Lost in this debate about so called “privatization and profiteering”, however, is the real issue that should be discussed, namely how charter schools do or do not offer enhanced educational opportunities for students.  For my part, and not to diminish the concerns outlined above, there is not enough discussion and focus on the impact of charters as publicly funded entities that are not governed by locally elected boards of trustees. 

Do children attending charters have the same opportunities and are charters held to the same accountability standards as traditional public schools?  The answer to the first question is “maybe” but the answer to the second question clearly is “no”.  That fact alone should be cause for concern as we strive to address the challenges in educating today’s youth.  For publicly funded schools, it’s time to level the playing field and to hold all public education entities to the same standards and expectations.

Setting Kids Up for Success

I've followed Sir Richard Branson on Twitter for a long time and consider him to be one of the great thought leaders among those I follow.  In a tweet just before Christmas, he shared an article about what psychologists believe to be 11 elements that help drive the success of our children.  As a parent (and grandparent), I took some time to reflect on this article and feel pretty good that we did what we could to provide a foundation for my own children's success.

Of the 11, there are a couple that truly stand out for me.  Number 3 is to set high expectations.  Without a doubt, most of have high hopes for our children but do we always set high expectations?  It's not enough simply to hope that our kids will succeed; we have to walk the walk and help them do so.  Setting high, yet realistic and attainable, expectations is an import part of what we do as parents.

Number 6 is to teach our kids math early on.  With two young grandchildren, I am constantly amazed at how well our public education system in Texas is teaching this.  It's not just about adding and subtracting but also extends to positive outcomes across other subjects.  While reading is called out specifically here, I've seen how having basic math knowledge, even for a five year old, is impacting her ability to analyze and decide on courses of action.

The other one is number 9, valuing effort over avoiding failure.  In a testing-centric world, we are more focused on outcomes than we are the process that leads to those outcomes.  President Theodore Roosevelt once said, "It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed."  It's time that we acknowledge the value of effort as being equal to, and perhaps more important than, a test score.  Test scores are simply a measurement; to use them as a single criteria in determining success of an individual (or school in the case of the proposed A-F campus grading system in Texas) is unfair to students and those who work so diligently to ensure student success. 

The Facebook post can be found at http://read.bi/1OuZtC9.  If you are not already doing so, take some time to follow Branson and other thought leaders.  Like me, you won't always agree with their posts but part of educating ourselves is opening our minds to what others have to say on a myriad of topics.  Happy New Year! 

Who Should Oversee Charter Schools?

As I continue my quest to better understand the charter school environment, one of my associates shared with me an article about a stance taken by the Kentucky Education Commissioner regarding oversight of charter schools.  His argument is that local school boards should authorize charter schools and that these schools should be overseen by the state board of education.

The recent appointment of Mike Morath as the TEA Commissioner provides an opportunity for public education advocates to share their views on public and charter school governance.  We should take the time to understand the implications of charter schools and how they fit into an overall public education strategy supporting the needs of 5.2 million Texas public education students.

The article relating to the stance of the Kentucky commissioner can be found at http://bit.ly/1Qenaz1.

ESSA and Local Control - What Does it Mean?

In a blog posted on December 12, I provided an overview of ESSA as shared by TASB Governmental Relations.  While there are certainly positive aspects to this important legislation, there are also a number of issues that still need to be addressed.  But that’s a topic for another blog.  Instead, my focus here is on how ESSA expanded local control by local school boards, an important element in their ability to govern based on the needs of their students.

Public schools are local; the closer people are to their schools, the higher opinion they have of them. While they may be unsure of other schools, people know more about their local schools and are often passionate about supporting them. Public schools are governed by locally elected school boards that oversee management of the schools.  School board trustees are a bridge between the community and the schools and need the flexibility to act in the best interests of the community and schools.

In the last few decades, public schools came more and more under the control of the federal government. With the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation fourteen years ago, the federal government gained a heavy hand in determining how schools measured student performance, how they fixed struggling schools and how they determined that teachers were qualified to teach.  While local school districts had lost various aspects of local control before, this top down approach was a cookie cutter approach which applied to all schools and took away even more local control. School districts implemented the legislation, often with difficulty and great cost, and the next few years were focused on high stakes testing and accountability measures – often to the exclusion of creativity in the classroom and often punitive.

However, passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which re-authorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, scales back the role of the federal government in education for the first time since the 1980’s. The law affirms the importance of local governance but also protects the federal government’s interest in Title I for disadvantaged students. It also lessens the impact of standardized testing and one-size-fits-all mandates.  It appears that Congress and the White House now have an appetite for handing back local control to states and districts.

Under ESSA, there will still be required testing, but states have wide discretion about setting goals and standards, holding schools and districts accountable, and deciding how to intervene in low-performing schools. States and school districts must continue to ensure equity for all students.  And while tests will still count, there are other, multiple academic indicators as well – something local parents and communities have long been asking for. Many parents have complained about the overuse of standardized testing and the high stakes that have come with the testing. Local communities have opinions about what kinds of schools they want -- perhaps the federal government heard those voices decided that the pendulum should swing back to more local governance.

Passage of ESSA is good news for schools and communities and will usher in a new era for public education. School board trustees will have an opportunity to engage their communities about the changes and to seek their input about their dreams and goals for their public schools.  Schools must continue to ensure equity, accountability and excellence, and now there will be more flexible – and local – ways to achieve those goals!