Education Reformers want improved Productivity in Schools

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 29, 2006

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brenda Bernet, brenda.bernet@amarillo.com, Amarillo Globe News

Amarillo, TX –A Houston-based group of working individuals supports changes in Texas education that will better prepare students for college and 21st-century jobs.

Jim Winham, president and director of the Texas Institute for Education Reform, discussed the group's vision for educating Texas' children with civic and business leaders in Amarillo on Tuesday at Amarillo Country Club.

"Reform is never over," Windham said. "We need to do things better. We're not asking educators and teachers to work longer and harder hours. We're asking them to be more productive."

Nearly everyone wants to ensure students are prepared for a rapidly changing future, said Rod Schroder, superintendent for the Amarillo Independent School District. How to accomplish that goal is debatable.

"I appreciate the interest our business community has in education," Schroder said. "The more discussion of issues, the clearer they become. I think there are clear differences of opinion about what's needed."

As legislators gear up for another legislative session, the education reform group supports policies that will increase the effectiveness of all educators, Windham said. That means evaluating the entire pipeline, including the way educators are identified, hired, trained, certified, mentored, evaluated, compensated and dismissed.

The group aims to raise expectations and increase the rigor for students. The group wants to require 90 percent of students at all campuses to pass state tests, strengthen consequences for school failure, and expand public school choice statewide.

The group supports end-of-course exams in high schools and connecting state tests to expectations, Windham said.

The truth is that higher standards do force teachers to work longer hours, said Keith Creager, president of the Amarillo Education Association. Teachers spend time before and after school and on weekends in tutorials to help students achieve higher standards.

"A lot of effective teachers are leaving education every year because they can go and get higher paying jobs in other fields," Creager said. "There are highly qualified teachers that are flat going to get burned out."

The United States faces increasing competition from countries worldwide that are producing more highly educated work forces, Windham said. Students in other industrialized nations must meet higher standards to receive their high school diplomas, he said.

The United States is losing its economic advantage over those countries, which could result in lower wages and a lower standard of life for future citizens, Windham said.

Yet Texas schools are considered acceptable when 35 percent of students pass state science tests, 40 percent pass state math tests and 60 percent pass state writing, social studies, and reading and English language arts tests, he said.

"We do need to expect more from our educators and our kids," Windham said.

Schools matter to a large portion of society, not just educators, said Bob Juba, who organized Tuesday's luncheon with Wales Madden and Sam Lovelady. Parents and grandchildren care about the education their children receive.