The Fifteen Great Results We’d See If Education Leaders Were Trained In and Fulfilled Their Job Descriptions.

Too many education leaders in our ISDs are not trained in and fulfilling their lawful responsibilities. So what would be different if the situation changed, and if they were trained in and fulfilled their lawful job description? Here are some key examples of what would happen.

1. Education leaders would be trained in and fulfil their responsibilities in the Texas Education Code and school district policies serving fulfilling the rights of students, parents, teachers and taxpayers.

2. Students would be provided the right conditions for learning and meaningful educational experiences and their achievement levels would rise.

3. “Drill and kill testing” would no longer exist. This kind of testing forces teachers to “teach to the test”, thereby denying them the opportunity to use their full range of teaching skills in the classroom and to truly engage students. It also suffocates learning, and unfairly stigmatizes many students who perform poorly on a single test. Furthermore, “drill and kill testing” triggers extreme stress and even depression in many students.

4. The “school to prison pipeline” would end. It’s not uncommon for children who are viewed as “problems” to end up in a correctional facility rather than having the opportunity to receive the counseling, extra education and/or additional services they need. Once they are gone, they are no longer the school’s problem. https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline

5. All ISD resources would be used effectively on behalf of students, not wasted as is too often the reality today. For example, in many Texas ISDs, millions of dollars are spent on instructional materials, like books and technology, despite a lack of research to show that those resources will actually improve student achievement. In addition, money is spent without any monitoring of its effectiveness.

6. Elected officials, including city council members, school board members, and county commissioners as well as those in charge of community colleges, universities and local nonprofits, would work together to serve the needs of students.

7. Schools would not be closed due to poor performance.

8. The current A-F rating system for ISDs and individual schools would end. It is irresponsible to rate them when the performances of the Texas State Senators, commissioner of education and the board of the TEA — the people who are ultimately responsible for the quality of education in Texas and for student achievement — are not rated.

9. Businesses and nonprofits would not be doing what administrators should be doing.

10. There would be no need to turn schools over to for-profit entities.

11. Teachers would feel supported and valued.

12. Parents and taxpayers would feel like their education-related concerns were heard and truly responded to.

13. There would be less of a reliance on easy “solutions,” quick fixes and platitudes.

14. Students would feel like they are being heard and respected. Their issues would be treated as legitimate.

15. The State of Texas would be a leader in public education. In its 2018 ranking of the states with the best (and worst) schools, Education Week rated Texas #40, which is not far from the “bottom of the barrel,” https://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/quality-counts-2018-state-grades/report-card-map-rankings.html. Also, a national study by educationnext.org, an online publication sponsored by the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University’s Kennedy School, indicated that Texas has the lowest education standards in the nation.

MORE INFORMATION

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KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY read more ➡ 

THE MOST IMPORTANT RESPONSIBILITIES OF LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS read more ➡