Statewide Education Summit
April 18, 2008

Opening Remarks - Summary

Jon Fleming, Chairman, Texas Education Reform Foundation

“Welcome to the 5th Annual Statewide Summit where we will give serious consideration to the world of the intellect which is what our schools are.  I welcome you to discuss educational reform and improvement.  Are our schools the place where teaching and learning takes place or are they are marginalized and irrelevant?  I would suggest that improvement would result from payment of teachers’ salaries commensurate with other higher professionals.  I feel that schools are not the problem but rather that they are the solution.  We must focus on what we do right.  All of life is a big bell curve, and there is a huge mass in the middle with the capacity to achieve and do well.  I applaud school leadership and business leaders for coming today.”