Back to Basics
(Via Chris) It's back to basics for many in college
I'll naturally have a different take on this from Chris, but the article underscores a host of problems still unaddressed. For my money, this screams for attention:
A report released this spring by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board found that half of the state's 2001 high school graduates needed remedial help in college.Among Harris County's largest school districts, the percentage of 2001 graduates required to take high school-level courses in college ranged from 62 percent in Houston Independent School District to roughly a quarter of Katy ISD graduates. About one third of all college-bound students from Spring Branch ISD and Cy-Fair ISD needed extra help.
To me, it speaks volumes about the effectiveness of the TAAS/TAKS/"Texas Education Miracle" Myth. Furthermore, there's this example:
Jose Lopez had a decision to make entering his senior year at HISD's Lee High School: enroll in an Algebra II math class, or take an easier elective course."I took welding," Lopez, 19, said recently in the student lounge of the Houston Community College campus on the West Loop.
Lopez's three years of high school math ? pre-algebra, Algebra I and geometry ? were enough to get him a diploma in 2003. But more than a year later, Lopez is taking a remedial math class to learn the skills he was supposed to master in high school.
Fortuitous timing in that I had a chance to listen in on some Sharpstown folk pepper my State Rep with some Q&A Sunday night. One of the topics covered was education and I think Scott made a point that I wish were more at the forefront of the debate over what to do to improve education ....
The jist was that the current testing (the one that passes ill-prepared students to college, it seems) asks one simple question of test takers: can you get over a certain level of acheivement (often confused with rote memorization). There's no basis of the test rewarding and questioning such that we measure how much over that bar a student gets. In other words, everyone is spoonfed testing drills such that we can push the maximum quantity of students through the doors without any focus of pushing quality of learning to those who can benefit from it. There's no incentive for a teacher to turn a C student into a B student or a B student into an A student, in essence (save for pride in professionalism). As long as everyone gets the same C, the requirements are met. Hallelujah ... time for some self-congratulation, right? Far from it.
What the results show, in the case reported here, is that the system is still flawed. There's a whole host of fixes for the problem and I don't pretend to be exhaustive in even my own list of prescriptions. That is appears to still be a tax issue for Chris, however, is not something that I agree with.
Is there any potential scenario in which critics who view education as a tax issue whereby property tax rates go down? Let's crunch some numbers ... X number of students will go to school come hell or high water. If anything is done to move them from public schools to either private or charter schools, we still have X number of students in school. If you support vouchers, that money still has to come from somewhere. If you support charter schools, that money still has to come from somewhere. If you support dumping more money into the public schools, that money still has to come from somewhere. In short, there's no solution that ends up with a net tax cut. Period. Republicans take pity on homeowners who have, in fairness, gotten stuck with the increasing bill on matters of education. But the reason this tab has fallen on them is due to the fact that the state has paid for a smaller and smaller portion of the education budget out of its coffers (again .. the money has to come from somewhere). If you cut taxes on home owners, you still have to find the money somewhere. There's not a free lunch in the system, even if you've run through all of the qualitative fixes you can possibly imagine for schools of any variety.
Back in the old days, we Texans had it easy ... we said we'd use our bounty of oil to fund schools. There was no hard choice to be found in the deal. When that ceiling got hit, we created the lottery. Now we're at another ceiling with that. So what solution, then, will the State GOP machinery pick from if they take some money away from the pool via cutting property taxes? Therein lies the problem that we all saw in the last special session. The cold hard reality is that finding the money will involve a tax on someone. Pick your poison, GOP ... the money has to come from somewhere.
Coming up with another special session on "Education Excellence" isn't going to fix the problem based on the "success" of the last time around. Of course, being on the other side of the debate from Chris, I'd also point out that it is George Bush who got the train going on many of the reforms that led to what he and I both see. It is also Rod Paige, the Republican Secretary of Education, who presided over HISD's own reforms which are detailed as substantially worse. All that to point out that this chicken is roosting in the barn of the Texas GOP. I keep looking around the HISD that I come into contact with and keep asking where the fabled miracle is. Sure, there's good kids to be found. There's teachers that give their all. There's the occassional great idea that comes up here and there, like the recent dropout outreach program that HISD started. The fixes aren't as easy as either side wishes to make it sound like. That's the reality. For my money, that's why I'm willing to try a host of experiments to see what works and what doesn't ... to allow a niche program to help the few as opposed to cramming them into a cookie cutter. I see no benefit to looking at an 8th grader and saying "Give me 5 years to either fix this with increased investment, teacher training, or the miracles of competition." In five years, that kid is out of school ... probably with a passing TAKS score, too ... but are they any more productive than we know we need the next generation of graduates to be in order to compete in the world? No.
That's not to say everything is going to hell in a handbasket ... we Americans are pretty resourceful one way or another and sometimes in spite of ourselves. In that, we can all take good faith. But the cost of doing something right the first time sure is cheaper than fixing things later on. More effective, too. I'll stick to that approach rather than bemoaning my tax bill with each turn of the news page.
Comments
Well, Greg. Scott Hochberg has had SIX TERMS to come up with ideas for improving education. And yet we have a Chronicle story on education failures that you and I have both commented on. This story says that only 36% of newly graduated students are exempt from REMEDIAL courses. 36%! Time for some new ideas.
No wonder Ann Witt is faring so well in District 137. A professional teacher with fresh ideas on education. Who just dropped a nice, slick, 11 x 17 mailer into the district on that very subject. =)
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 27, 2004 02:15 PM
And had the lege listened to Scott more closely for that 12 years, we'd be much farther along. But then again, why search for an answer when we can just marvel over a slick peice of mail instead? That's a bit too telling for your side, Chris.
Posted by: Greg Wythe | September 27, 2004 02:29 PM
Well Greg, that begs the obvious question...
If the legislature won't listen to Scott, maybe District 137 should elect somebody the legislature WILL listen to?
Then we can all be farther along and get some answers. =)
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 27, 2004 03:10 PM
Heh, not a lot of listening required if you elect someone who's only task is to say "Yes Sir" to Craddick.
Posted by: Greg Wythe | September 27, 2004 03:52 PM
OK. =) Since that conversation is going nowhere, I'll address some other little ironies in your post.
Speaking of doing things right the first time... Did you bother to read this story before blasting Bush and Paige?
As I quote from the Chronicle story - "A report released this spring by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board found that half of the state's 2001 high school graduates needed remedial help in college.
Among Harris County's largest school districts, the percentage of 2001 graduates required to take high school-level courses in college ranged from 62 percent in Houston Independent School District to roughly a quarter of Katy ISD graduates. About one third of all college-bound students from Spring Branch ISD and Cy-Fair ISD needed extra help."
So let's do the math. George W. Bush took office in January 2001. The 2001 class of high school graduates who scored so pitifully in college math tests, got their diplomas in May 2001.
January, February, March, April, May - 5 months.
So either you completely fudged up and didn't read the article before jumping in with both feet, or you're just so conspiratorial as to believe that George W. Bush and Rod Paige are so powerful that they can un-teach three and a half years of high school with 5 power-packed months of their educational reforms (naturally assuming that these reforms went immediately into effect on Day 1 of Bush's term). =)
I needn't further remind you of exactly who was President for the majority of these graduates' high school career.
Of course, as you so clearly point out, we could just blame the Texas GOP. Those money-grabbing punks! This could be entirely their fault...
Except that they did not become the majority party in both houses until the 2002 elections. Even the almighty Craddick didn't take the reins until 2003.
2002-2001 = 1 year of separation
hehehe
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 27, 2004 04:35 PM
Oh Chris, say it ain't so. Have you forgotten Bush's tenure as governor so easily? Policies aren't propped up overnight, as you may well know.
So let's re-check the math now ... six years and five months I believe we're up to. Plus there's Paige's tenure as HISD cheif to factor in ... carry the one ... yeah, but it's really all due to a lone State Rep, isn't it? Yeah, that's so much easier to believe. ;-)
Nice try ... well, not really. But thanks for the softball up the middle anyways.
Posted by: Greg Wythe | September 27, 2004 04:52 PM
Greg, I know you don't believe that the Texas Governor and HISD superintendent are omnipotent and make laws independently of the Legislature and School Board. Bush and Paige's true influence in educational reform has come in their current positions where they operate with much more independence.
No wonder Dems are so turned off towards Bush and Paige. Apparently, they have the power to dupe and have their way with a Democrat-controlled legislature, and the HISD school board. I'll admit, I'd be wary of two men with that much influence as well. Scary, huh? =)
Its so much easier to believe that scenario than to expect Democrat lawmakers to shoulder any accountability. =)
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 27, 2004 05:05 PM
Another great reason to vote for Ann Witt. Scott Hochberg got duped by George Bush in his 6-year, 5-month tenure as governor. =)
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 27, 2004 05:10 PM
Yeah, Governors don't have any power here in Texas ... that sure was what Bush ran on in 2000, wasn't it? Omniscient? No. But he holds the pen that signs bills into law (must I break out the Schoolhouse Rocks set one more time?).
And Texas has had a conservative majority (regardless of party) since the dawn of time. Amazing, though, that you can try to pin all those failings on one State Rep, before you ever accept blame for a Governor, a School Board Super, or a President who signs into law his signature legislation involving the greatest expansion of the federal government into education since the Dept. of Education was established. Ah what the hell, let's split the difference and pin it on Talmadge Heflin. He's going down anyways (or at least he should if your logic re: Witt is to be consistently applied).
Posted by: Greg Wythe | September 27, 2004 05:14 PM
I hate to troll you like this, but you've dug a huge hole. =) But, I'm in a good enough mood to rationally lay out my points and poke holes in your post.
If you're going to continue holding onto the main point of your post, let's discuss the testing.
TAAS began in 1990 when George W. Bush was NOT governor. I won't bother doing the math on the years again. =)
However, in fairness, Bush did have something to do with that awful test. With a stroke of that magic pen, one of his accomplishments was to make that test tougher and more challenging for students.
http://www.tbec.org/2001session/tekstaas.htm
Beginning in the 1999-2000 school year, the statewide testing program (TAAS) began the transition to measuring the knowledge and skill objectives outlined in the TEKS rather than the old Essential Elements. This transition will be fully completed over the next few school years. These new tests (now being called TAAS II) will be more rigorous than the TAAS, because they will be aligned with the TEKS, which are more rigorous than the Essential Elements they replaced.
TAKS, the exit exams, did not become a requirement for graduation until the 2003-2004 school year.
http://www.fortworthisd.org/departments/curriculum/texas_req.pdf
New point... since you dragged Rod Paige into the debate, let's quote the Chronicle article again - "A report released this spring by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board found that half of the state's 2001 high school graduates needed remedial help in college."
Wow, I had no idea Rod Paige could influence the entire state like that from the post of HISD super. =)
BTW, I am not blaming Scott Hochberg for anything except being an ineffective legislator. I think Ann Witt will do better. =)
Oh yes, and I said "omniPOTENT", not omniscient. I know a good Dem like yourself would never argue that about Bush. =)
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 27, 2004 06:07 PM
Yeah, I really feel claustrophobic in this hole I've dug ... the one where I recall Bush's term as Governor and the claims he made on the stump in 2000. The one where I'm not advocating a River Oaks GOP activist who doesn't understand anything about Gulfton, Sharpstown, or Alief. The one that isn't trying to concoct stories about how ineffectual an HISD superintendent is (nevermind that he got promoted to Sec. of Education).
My my my, Chris ... what a twisted little world you live in ;-)
Posted by: Greg Wythe | September 28, 2004 08:32 AM
Its fun to have facts and dates to back up my points and to watch you change the subject.
I like my "twisted little world". Its good to be the majority party in Texas. I've worked very hard for many years to help GOP conservatives get here. =)
Feeling snarky recently, huh? I don't know why you feel like you have to start calling me "twisted". What did I ever do to you to make you start with the name-calling?
I even came to your little blogger meeting! I thought we could be friends... =) lol
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 28, 2004 10:48 AM
Fear not, Chris ... if we didn't have friends to pick on, we'd just end up in barfights more often. Reminds me ... I think its worthwhile to plot a post-election event among the Houston geek squad known as 'bloggers.' Next time, grab a seat closer to me next time and I'll call you twisted to your face ... I promise.
Posted by: Greg Wythe | September 28, 2004 11:24 AM
Well... as long as you say it to my face. =)
I'm afraid I'm no help in determining a date that far in advance. However, it sounds like fun, and I'm usually available most evenings except Tuesday.
Posted by: Chris Elam | September 28, 2004 01:34 PM