Texas Business Leaders Explain Call for Education Reform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 8, 2006

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Eric Finely , Avalanche Journal, eric.finley@lubbockonline.com

Lubbock, TX – A group of Texas business leaders brought its push for education reform to Lubbock on Wednesday.

The Texas Institute for Education Freedom, or TIER, plans to call for stricter oversight of teachers and higher standards for students in next year's Legislative session.

Texas, while it has made strides in the past decade in public education, still has academic gaps between minority and white students and only a third of high school graduates are prepared to attend college, speaker Jim Windham of Houston, said.

"Part of what we are doing is the truth squad, folks," Windham said.

Windham spoke at the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce luncheon, part of what he said was a 23-city road show in preparation of the Legislative session. TIER is a nonprofit organization of state business leaders. Its members will try to persuade lawmakers to include their business philosophy in public school legislation.

Wayne Havens, superintendent of the Lubbock Independent School District, attended the luncheon along with about a dozen local educators. He said he hopes administrators, principals and teachers are not left out of the process. He said the district has a good relationship with business leaders locally and wants the same in Austin.

"When you get (educators') buy-in, you get real results," Havens said.

TIER has a lofty goal of preparing all high school graduates for college, the work force and responsible citizenship.

To get there, some of the steps TIER proposes include tougher standards for teacher certification and simplifying the process for districts to dismiss teachers. TIER also wants stronger accountability for low performing schools, expansion of charter schools with equalized funding and tougher standards and an overhaul of the state's education curriculum, called Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS.