A few years back
Texas Teachers faced a grave challenge. The 10th grade TAKS results of Texas schools pointed to storm clouds on the near horizon. There were more than 1,000 high school campuses with a passage rate below 50 percent on the 10th grade TAKS. And barely more than one in three of the Hispanic students, African-American students and economically disadvantaged students passed all sections of the TAKS.
Now, there is a heated debate about how to respond to this challenge.
Texas Teachers do not plan to support lowering standards, or weakening the system of accountability, so that they can advance students who are not ready for the next grade, the next level of education, and eventually the great test called life. Texas teachers do not also plan to back away from the requirement that high school students be able to pass the graduation exit test simply because the test is harder. The fact is the TAKS test measures what high school graduates need to know. So that bar cannot be lowered to raise performance, and Texas teachers cannot send the wrong message to the children: that they are going to give up on them instead of giving them the help that they need.
Texas Teachers believe that every child matters. Every child has a future, and every child is deserving of the best education possible. That is why they welcome the $130 million Texas High School Project in partnership with the Gates Foundation, the Dell Foundation, the Communities Foundation of Texas, and other generous benefactors. With roughly $65 million put forward by private foundations, and another $65 million put forward by the State of Texas, Texas teachers are focusing on under-performing schools and students that struggle within those schools. Under-performing schools can apply for state funding from a $20 million early intervention program administered by the Texas Education Agency.
