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May 18, 2005
It is an honor to appear before the membership of this distinguished
organization the TERF, not to be confused with the TPPF and certainly
not the CPPP! It wouldn’t be a government town without a lot
of acronyms. So I have come up with a couple of my own, such as
PERN, Pass Education Reform Now. And 140 DIE, in other words, 140
Days Is Enough!
With the legislature so busy these days, it is understandable that
two champions of public education reform couldn’t be with us
today, Senator Florence Shapiro and Representative Kent Grusendorf.
For many years, Kent must have felt like a lone voice in the wilderness
when he was talking about reforms that would bring free market principles
to education. Now he is a leading voice in this Legislature on the
verge of passing landmark reforms that will firmly cement his legacy
as a proponent for academic excellence. I also want to express my
great gratitude to the chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee,
Senator Florence Shapiro.
She did an outstanding job garnering bipartisan support for education
reform, and the school children of this state will greatly benefit
from her commitment to the classroom. It is good to see so many
leaders in the field of education reform. For years, many of you
have given voice to a movement based on higher standards, stronger
accountability and a tougher curriculum. Instead of accepting the
conventional wisdom that some children are destined to fail you
have stuck to your belief that every child can succeed when placed
in the right learning environment: one that stresses the basics,
measures progress, and expects results. Students and teachers have
risen to the challenge. Passing scores rose 32 points on the old
TAAS test and are on the rise again with the tougher new TAKS test.
Our students fare well compared to their peers nationwide on assessments
measuring proficiency in reading, writing and math. We are now the
first state in the nation to require a college-prep curriculum as
the standard coursework for a class in school today the Class of
2008. We are also the first state to provide individualized graduation
plans for students at risk of failure and to provide a personalized
study guide for those students who fail the state graduation test.
I’m proud we have raised the bar and even prouder that students
and teachers are clearing it. At the same time, I have never believed
education reform should lose steam or become a thing of the past.
As my friend Sandy Kress likes to say, we have climbed a long way
up the mountain, but that doesn’t mean we have reached the
top. And in many instances, our children don’t even have a
view of the top. That’s why we must pass landmark reform in
House Bill 2. As House and Senate Conferees negotiate the final
bill, I believe their efforts should be based on four important
principles: greater transparency and accountability, greater voter
control, improved college readiness standards and results-based
reforms. Central to this effort must be a robust effort focused
on schools that need the most help, schools that serve large numbers
of economically disadvantaged students.
Education is the great social equalizer, the roadmap to fulfillment
of the American Dream. Too often, our toughest learning environments
attract the most inexperienced teachers. That’s why we must
make two critical reforms: we must increase funding for teacher
mentoring so that young teachers grow professionally and succeed
in the classroom and we must appeal to our best and brightest teachers
to teach in difficult settings by paying them significantly more
to do so.
Along those lines, I also applaud members of the House and Senate
for enhancing bilingual funding with the goal of ensuring more students
reach English proficiency sooner so they can flourish in the classroom.
I also support the two-tiered approach to teacher pay increases.
Increased pay for teachers will keep more teachers in the classroom.
But why stop there? Performance pay that rewards results will lead
to greater results.
There is no reason to ignore more than 200 years of proven success
in the private sector that tells us rewarding top performers is
the best way to keep them on the job performing and the best way
to increase the number of top performers. We must also ensure that
parents and taxpayers have access to clear and concise information,
not undecipherable bureaucratic code on how schools spend tax dollars.
This concept is about the public’s right to know an idea espoused
with great regularity by our friends in the media. My philosophy
is simple: if the taxpayers are going to pick up the tab, they ought
to be able to look at every item on the receipt.
The only way to ensure more dollars make it to the classroom is
to make sure classroom expenditures are disclosed in plain terms.
I think taxpayers deserve to know how much is spent on administration
and instruction and how much they are paying lobbyists and lawyers
to extract more tax dollars from their pockets. Taxpayers should
also be empowered to control future spending by having the authority
to vote on future property tax enrichment increases. The decision
to spend more local tax dollars on local schools should be made
by local voters.
Most Texans support additional spending on public education. Since
1999, I have supported a $7 billion increase for public education
and we are on the verge of spending billions more in addition to
what we will spend to meet enrollment growth needs. That is an extraordinary
commitment over a six-year period, even if it doesn’t satisfy
the voracious spending appetite of some critics. But the measure
of our success is not whether we provide more money for education,
but more education for our money. Ultimately, our task is to usher
in a new era of academic achievement that is based not on the number
of students that pass state assessments, but the number of students
that graduate ready for college.
One of the most important components of House Bill 2 included in
the versions passed by both the Senate and House is an added emphasis
on preparing students for college. We will not only know the number
of students that pass the TAKS test we will know what percentage
of students graduate ready for college.
And we will help more students qualify for college by having the
state pay the cost of college boards like the SAT and ACT. Recognizing
that our greatest challenge is in our high schools, House Bill 2
as passed in the House wisely increases funding per student when
an eighth grader enrolls in ninth grade. This builds on the High
School Initiative, which focuses state and private sector dollars
on improving failing high schools. We also face some strong challenges
in charter schools.
I applaud the senate for their strong reforms to shut down failing
charter schools and provide facilities funding for high-performing
charter schools. It is important to shut down failing charter schools
run by fly-by-night operators because children suffer real consequences
when the quality of their education is neglected. Now, if so many
of my friends in both parties feel this way about failing charter
schools I encourage them to apply the same standard to traditional
public schools that chronically fail our children too. Public schools
that fail our children should get expert help.
But if they refuse to change their ways despite the state’s
best efforts, they do not deserve protected status they deserve
to be shut down and reopened under new management because our children
should not be sentenced to a lifetime of mediocrity! Innovation
in education doesn’t stop with bricks and mortar investments.
As a state we should not shy away from a greater utilization of
technology to teach our children the basics, or other subject areas
that enrich their education. Technology is a great tool in capturing
the imagination of young learners and heightening their curiosity.
And it can ultimately help the state save costs too, such as when
we use on-line testing tools as envisioned by Chairman Grusendorf.
Conferees are working hard to pass an education reform bill that
will once again put Texas on the leading edge of education reform.
Landmark reforms are on the table, such as the most sweeping performance
pay plan in the country that allows for both local innovation and
a state-designed program to reward our best teachers.
They are set to pass an education bill with a record funding increase,
comprehensive financial accountability reforms and new performance
indicators that will determine how many Texas students are college-ready.
And along with House Bill 3, they are on track to passing a record
property tax cut that will shift the burden of school financing
back to the state. The differences that may exist between the two
bodies concerning funding formulas and other issues are small when
compared to the sheer size of what they are on the verge of accomplishing.
Today, tomorrow and over the next twelve days I will continue to
work with legislative leaders to bridge any gaps that stand in the
way of the real reforms, historic funding increases, and property
tax relief Texans are clamoring for. By focusing on greater transparency
and accountability, more taxpayer protections to control local school
spending, improved college readiness standards and results-based
reforms legislators can pass a landmark education reform bill that
forever changes Texas.
I anxiously await the opportunity to sign it. Thank you and God
bless Texas.
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