Texas Is Right to Quit the ‘Race for the Top’ Education Program
by Brooke Dollens TerryAs if bailing out banks and the auto industry wasn’t enough, now Washington, D.C. wants more control over schools.
In order for a state to apply for its share of President Obama’s Race to the Top stimulus funds, it will have to explain how it will use those federal dollars on a list of suggested education reforms. This week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said “thanks but no thanks.”
This was the proper decision for Texas, and here’s why:
- Education has historically been a state issue, with power in Texas delegated to the Texas Legislature and the State Board of Education. Texas lawmakers control funding and school requirements, and the State Board makes decisions about curriculum. All of these are elected positions directly accountable to the voters at least once every four years.
- States such as Texas may have to spend state funds to access the federal dollars. The Texas Education Agency estimates that Texas will have to spend $3 billion just to have the chance to access, at most, $750 million.
- The federal funding will dry up. As we are seeing with other stimulus funds, states and local school districts would need to find funding for the reforms after the federal money goes away.
- What if the “reform” could be a step backwards for quality of a state’s education system?
It seems that if Texas continues to hold out on moving towards a national curriculum, Texas will lose points on its application for Race to the Top funds. Why should a state that has steadily improved the rigor of its own K-12 curriculum be forced to adopt national curriculum standards that have not been developed and could wind up being weaker than what we already have in place?
Since adding more math and science course requirements and college-readiness components, Texas is in the process of updating its textbooks and designing state end-of-course exams that align to the new curriculum. Yet if Texas were to scrap its own curriculum in favor a national curriculum, Texas would have to spend an estimated $3 billion – $2 billion to purchase new textbooks and $1 billion to redesign our state tests.
Education is a state issue, and the federal government has no business dictating academic standards or curriculum to states. Washington, please leave Texas alone.
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136 Comments
Congratulations to Governor Perry. He made the right decision.
Everyone knows that in President Obama’s Race to the Top stimulus funds, the race is fixed. Everyone also knows "white men can't jump". They probably can't run either…………
/sarc off…..
An excellent example of "looking down the road." The author is correct, what happens when the money from Washington runs out? I'm all for saying "thanks but no thanks" too!
They want states to apply for the funds so they can control the education agenda. Have you read a textbook for children published in the the past 10 years? They are already a disgrace. Can you imagine how bad they will become in a few years? Every person needs to be raising hell over the progressive re-writing of history and the dumbing down of all educational materials. Oh that's right the NEA is a big voting block and many of the teachers are stupid as well. The state of education is a disgrace and they want to attack charter and home schooling? Teachers and materials are a flippin joke. Parents need to wake up and we all need to demand better. This will propel future generations into a 3rd world nation once known as the the USA if we do not demand better all the way around..
It is abojut time the States started to claim back what has been theirs consitutionally and not be bribed by the Federal Government.
Foxnation.com has a great reminder on what belongs to the States and what belongs to the Federal Government.
Time for all states to take back their rights and tell the Fed to back off. Give us our freedoms back.
I love living in a state that doesn't need a "Nanny"
hopefully the republic of Texas will be the trendsetter, giving other states the balls to say 'no thanks' to DC. states rights, budgets and identities have been under assault for many moons with being held hostage for federal dollars and unfunded mandates.
What some of us Coloradans would do to have someone like Rick Perry leading our state!!! Even in my worst nightmares I never thought Bill (tax) Ritter could be as bad as he has been.
GW Bush signed back on with UNESCO from which Reagan had departed. The plan is globalized education, the text books are already written, and probably in use in some areas. The Obama administration have taken over the banks, housing, car industry, possibly Medical Facilities, Education is quite likely in the plans. The man in the WH is a Marxist.
My children are now in Texas colleges, having gone K-12 in various Texas schools. Our schools are the finest in the nation, bar none. We do not need, and will not permit, the Federal government sticking their Socialist noses into our excellent education system.
Anything the Federal government does to anything, makes it worse, with the exception of bulding Interstate highways and blowing stuff up.
The sad part is, the Socialists in Austin will make Perry out to be a bad guy for doing this. When he tried to refuse the fake "Stimulus" money from the Feds, the Legislature overrode him. Now we are beginning to see the strings attached to that money, and it isn't pretty. The Socialists in Austin love it because they can give more port to their Messiah, Obama.
Rick Perry is a true Texas hero.
Here in Texas we do love teaching the story of Adam and Eve to our science students. And then we are shocked when only 67 percent of high school students graduate. No. 51 in the nation, Yeah Baby! God bless Texas.
We may be stupid here in Texas, but it's a proud stupid.
There's no such thing as "free government money". It ain't free, it doesn't really belong to the government, and it has handcuffs attached.
Number 51 in the nation?
Would that be including all 57 States?
Wait until they take over the energy industry.
Stick to your guns, Perry.
With the first round of 'Stimulus', some institutions, after declining assistance, were given "an offer they couldn't refuse." I am sure that the few states that decide they'd prefer to run their own education-programs will be given similar offers.
Fortunately, a State has a much clearer definition in the Constitution, and the powers granted to it are likewise clearer. This could turn out to be a rather interesting conflict.
Like all federal programs, this one is all about conning local entities into becoming agencies of the federal government. “Take this money, but give us this control in exchange”. The ultimate goal of this may well be to give the NEA control of the local school boards by requiring that the union be the only representative for the teachers. Teachers do a job most of us won’t do. If the cost of living wasn’t so high, I would go back to school and become certified to teach because our children are being turned into mindless slaves that can be led around by the nose.
Sorry teach, but you made my life difficult with your incompetence when I was a K-12 student. Your methods were so bad that for my senior year history class, I only had to take all the tests every week and never crack a book, or read a magazine. Fortunately, I had grade school and junior high school teachers who were still dedicated to the job, but that was because they didn’t get tenure. Tenure for college professors is essential to the college since they are “rainmakers” for the institution. But beyond that, tenure is a way to prevent incompetent teachers from being fired and keeping unions in charge of our kids. The time has come for this fraud to be ended. School districts must give back all federal money and find ways to get by until we the people clean house on the congress and eliminate the department of education, reduce taxes by the amount the department steals from the taxpayers, so school districts can get that money from their patrons. We must hold K-12 teachers to a higher standard. Since they are government employees, if they “go on strike”, then employ the Regan option and fire them all for just cause.
That was a few years ago. We've come up a point and some other states have lost ground. So we no longer can claim those bragging rights.
Are you trying to tell us that there is no such thing as a free lunch? Does Milton Freidman know about this?
Obama and his pervs probably want want Jennings to spread his fodder to the children of Texas about fisting under the guise of excellence. Perry is a smart man.
Say no to Marxism, tell Obama to shove it up his ………..
Actually, here in Texas we love teaching how to pass the standardized tests. Now they are offering students a chance to opt-out of summer school by taking shorter easier courses after failing. Whoever said that Texas has the best education system is mistaken. As much as I love Texas and the people here, they are mistaken. In my city alone, the second largest employer is the school system. Yet, when comparing taxes collected to grade scores, we are far behind. Let's be real here please.
Yeah, cause you just know that more enlightened places like Detroit, Washington DC, and LA are just bursting at the seams with highly educated and upwardly mobile high school students.
Ironic how the program has the word "race" in it.
In Texas the religious right has permeated the state school board to push their agendas. Starting as early as 1994 the RR has pushed hard to get their people on the board. We're not talking about education professionals, we're talking about people that don't even have college degrees. The agendas range from removing minority achievements to removing women carrying briefcases! The intent seems to be to rewrite American history.
The feds will pimp the program. They wnant to have local districts go broke so they can bail out and take them over. It is not safe to have a wolf for a family pet.
Texas actually ranks #25 in public education and great strides have been made in their high school graduation rates. They aggressively went after high school graduate rates, raising it by 11% in 2 years.
While you sneeringly deride that it's a paltry 67%, let's compare it to Liberal's Bright Shining Cities on the Hills:
California #47.
Michigan #39.
Louisiana #44.
Oregon #40
Putting your "only 67% of high school students graduate" in context, coming in at #25, Mr. Perry doesn't look so "proud stupid", does he?
Look at the controversy brewing over the Beverly Hills Ca School district that has decided to forgo the acceptance of state funding. They have decided to rely solely on the local taxpayers to fund the schools and have thrown out all the inter district transfers. This was a preemptive strike on Race to the Top. They knew that they would be flooded with transfers from the bottom 10% of schools that they would not be able to deny if they had space and took the funding. The district, which has some of the highest performing public schools in the nation, would have been swamped with low performing students many of which would bring gang and other problems with them.
Expect this to become a new trend for various wealthy communities that have good public schools and are located within easy commute of the 10% of failing schools. This is an unintended consequence of Race to the Top. It is totally predictable.
Pundits of Race to the Top, say that the parents and students will just take over their local failing school and will stay to make it better. You know that is BS. Lets see.. on one hand, stay in the hell hole school and fight to make it better…Hmm…..Drive 8 miles to send the kid to Beverly Hills where the schools are good.. That is a toughie, a real head scratcher. Meanwhile the kid can make more money selling crack, as the rich kids have big allowances.
The education system is already Marxist…well, maybe that's too harsh…"Socialist" is really correct-o., caused primarily by John Dewey, who held the Chair of Educational Philosophy at New York University, in 1904…He introduced the subject of Social Studies. He changed the goals of the system… He believed that the system needed to produce a result…Progressive education. He was a Nat'l Influence in the Socialist, Progressive movement, a European dream….really a nightmare.
And the left, under Jennings the Safe School Czar, is aggressively pushing teaching kids as young as kindergarten homoerotica.
You are right Connie. My wife is a long time Catholic school principal and she says it is nearly impossible to find textbooks that are not filled with "progressive" ideology and revisionist history, ie; Christopher Columbus was a bad guy as were the early settlers.
Missouri-
One of the key but quiet aspects of both the Stimulus ed money provided under the State Fiscal Stabilization grant and also under RttT has to do with "equitable assignment of effective teachers".
The idea according to the fed DOE is that the achievement gap exists because high poverty and high minority schools do not have enough of the most effective teachers. RttT did nothing to increase the total number of effective teachers or trying to enact changes that would likely increase efficacy.
No – it's to be another redistribution with the effective teachers to be identified through student test scores and reassigned to high poverty or high minority schools. Seniority is no longer to be a safety net to avoid such involuntary transfers.
They tried this with the ESEA reauth in 2007 but the unions balked. All those stimulus funds to education were another bribe to unions to go along with such involuntary transfers of effective teachers from high functioning schools to needier schools. There go your favorite Calc or AP teachers. Off to teach arithmetic and reading strategies.
Why don't you "real" Texans throw the Socialists out of Austin?
good one Cowboy
When people resort to name calling then you know they have run out of arguments. We're so stupid we actually have a surplus in our bank account. We are so stupid we have a right to work in Texas. We are so stupid that people are moving here by the droves. We are so stupid that, per capita, we have the largest representation in the Armed Forces. We are so stupid we want to keep our tax dollars rather than send them to the most corrupt place in the United States. We are so stupid we will determine our own destiny. It will be clear to everyone. If you are living in Texas and don't like the future of our state, GET THE HELL OUT!
There is a similair power grab going on in the Fisheries world right now. The Fed has taken control over state powers on harvesting fish. They have also mandated that every fisherman (Commercial/recreational) register with them one way or another. No Fee's yet…..
I would like to see an investigation on that level too.
What's wrong with da "diversity" schools in Washington, D.C.? Black Democrats ensure da these schools bees da best! You bees racist! REV Jeremiah Wright
First, it is imperative that we get the corporatist out of the government, only then can the people of the US even consider regaining control of their nation!! Campaign finance reform would be a great start!! Do like all other industrialized democracies, and make corporate influence a crime, [bribery]!!!
There's little wonder that home schooling in on the rise…
While I can not agree with all that the religous right wants I will applaud them for getting involved. Educated PC idiots have re-written history and it is wrong. The USA is more than a war machine and is very generous. All Italians are not bad. All people will not always get along. Having babies as a single female is not the best way to be a parent. The ability to read and do math at more than an 8th grade level does not prepare you for the work force or college. Science experiments need to consistenly work and not be dangerous for children which one reason that the Texans demanded involvment and review of textbooks which were turned into drivel over the past 2 decades. Sit down an read some of the books that 10 year olds have for educational material. I read the 5th grade books last year and wanted to vomit. Hats off to Texans for getting some real world people engaged in the review process. Their is more to life than PC and some of it has to come from the schools.
I heard 58 now… counting Haiti
I'll be voting for Perry this coming elections. Kay Baily Hutchison is a McCain in drag and Medina is supported by Ron Paul who doesn't think that we should be taken Iran seriously.
I've spent my entire life here in Texas and Perry is the one who should win for governor. He knows how to protect us.
As Little Texas used to sing God Bless Texas
Go Texas! Someone on Rush's show yesterday said he worked for a school (not in Texas) and in order to get federal funding, he had to lie and say the school had created jobs. They are making people lie about job creation in order to get some govt. money. This is how they fudge job numbers. Nothing in this administration is real, except they are crooks!
Excellent it's good to see Obama getting more and more of the middle finger salute. I bet it's finally starting to register on the idiot. It has had to come as a shocker though to the imbecile. It also has to make him feel very uncomfortable, good get used to it Obama the American People are just getting warmed up. Get ready to be stripped of anyreal power. You abuse our trust and The People, we'll rise up to remind a tyrannt that without The People they are powerless and humbled.
thank God I live in Texas.
…now Washington, D.C. wants more control over schools.
Sorry, too late…the unions/NEA already beat you to it.
Mikatollah still doesn't get
As a native Californian, my girl friend and I been considering moving to Texas. My brother lives there and loves it. Texan's are good people and I like Perry's approach to education and health care.
in order to get stimuls funds 11 of our local schools were told to fire everyone and have them reapply for their positions.
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...
You're an idiot. I'm a life long Texan and I can ASSURE you Texas' education stats are SKEWED by illegal and legal immigrants pulling down test scores.
Let's see some numbers out of Plano or Carrollton you moron.
There are more top Texas 10% students (with requisite SATS) trying to get into the University of Texas than they have room to seat. SAme at A & M.
Nice try troll.
Being a native born Texan, there are many a day that I don't think of this sentiment with one provision. As long as the carpetbagger is nothing more than a real conservative who had the misfortune of being born in a state other than Texas, they can stay. All the rest, to quote a infamous haunted house movie, "Get out."
I'm with you, see below.
The good folks of Texas understand this is not a 'Race to the Top', but just another disasterous 'Cash for Flunkers' arm twisting program. Keep messin' with Texas, Washington. You'll wish you hadn't. America still lives there.
Well, if you do it with a fist he'll probably like it and commend you for it. You might even make you a czar.
Washington has no place in the education of our children. Why would we want the the most corrupt group of people in the free world dictating what they think is best for our children?
You have any other "pearls of wisdom" dumbass?
1. Good education starts at home and is enhanced by community involvement. The federal dept. of education needs to be abolished and teacher unions should be outlawed and dissolved. In fact, no taxpayer funded employees should be allowed to unionize- I think most of us resent funding unions.
2. Bring traditional values back into the classroom. Start each day with silent prayer (or just silence for those who believe otherwise), the Pledge of Allegiance and singing our National Anthem. Allow parents to sign off on giving the school faculty and staff permission to administer "appropriate discipline" (the stick and ball coaches in my schools were very effective at this). For parents who choose not to sign off- when your child repeatedly misbehaves or disrupts class, you will be given 30 minutes to retrieve your child from the principal's office and take them home… each time until you figure out how to fix things or let the school help.
3. No child should be allowed to touch a computer until they demonstrate basic skills including, but not limited to:
reading, writing, spelling, basic math, American history, Constitution 101 and basic etiquette including table manners.
That would be a good start.
Sure, Personally I'm enjoying the panic and horror in Massachussettes, how about you?
Thank God for Rick Perry;It seems he is the only one who will stand up against this invasive government.They take the the taxpayers money,and then use it to try to blackmail,or bribe the states into furthering their agenda.Control,rewriting history,teaching homosexuality in the schools under tolerance,etc.We need to secede from the U.S.If they put me on an enemy of the state list,so be it.
I'm here for ya Bill. Glad to help.
Not right at this minute jimbo, but thanks for playing.
Only those willing to work Jordan. We've got a wad of leftover lefties from New Orleans that we're still carrying. (Thanks 2 Katrina, don't ya know – they keep the trashy ones like Sheila Jackson Lee in office, to our GREAT embarrassment!)
Anybody heard of No Child Left Behind? Government intrusion into state education programs. And you wouldn't believe the fraud. Money that the state department had to jump through hoops for was spent on moving expenses and office furniture to the tune of hundreds of thousands. Tell me how this bettered the education of the students in this state. Washington, stay the hell out of things you have no business sticking your nose into.
Keep rubbing both brain cells together – something is bound to "pop up".
Because of a federal 'open borders' policy, our Texas is overrun with illegal aliens. They are a huge strain on local schools, yet we manage to have improving schools AND a balanced budget. Rick Perry will likely be a presidential candidate soon, so there is hope for the rest of the nation.
Absolutely. Kay will only screw things up, and I'd rather have a governor who hasn't been indicted.
I took a quiz on Constitutional and American Revolutionary History. I am ashamed to say 81% of Americans failed it. thank you Washington for writing civics, the constitution, and the American system of government out our schools.
http://www.americanrevolutioncenter.org/node/198
Jules is right, Jordan. If you're willing to work hard, come on down. If you think you're entitled to anything, stay out.
Don'cha jus feel the love?
I told ya, dont mess w/ Texas, lived in Dallas for a couple years.
Some the greatest Americans in the land…
So it's those Mexicans gumming up the works for us, ey jimbo? That's a good answer. At least it relieves us of any responsibility to try and improve. Because we're just fine, it's those people.
Yeah, I guess he's just proud stupid.
Well like they say YOU CAN’T FIX stupid
Voracious Reader – are you in Missouri. I would like to find more information that supports your arguments. I don't want to let DESE off the hook for this. I have spoken to my State Rep and Senator and they are in the dark about this.
Yeah, sure. We should just hand over the reins to Obamao's gov't goons. We all know how well things worked out in Chicago's(i.e. Obama's) progressive schools. What was that failure rate again…… more than 50% I believe. Boy, who would hesitate to jump on that bandwagon of crap????
Jordan,
Texans are having a "State's Rights Rally" on the Capitol steps tommorrow.
If you agree, come join us!
[...] [...]
I sent Governor Perry a congrats e-mail. Told him to standby..he might have to do the same thing on Obamacare.
Nice try DemocratKKK racist. I'm half Mexican and my grandparents were from Mexico. It's a fact that students not proficient in English are driving down scores in border communities. If lived in El Paso on and off most of my life. Honest people admit it's a problem. If test scores are bad im a middle or Eastern state they can't cite a huge immigrant (legal and illegal) issue hurting scores.
How much Spanish do you speak tu` boboso pendejado?
Ever been to Mexico?
Just a Harry Reid /Bobby Byrd/Bill Clinton RACIST Demon-cRat?
Ya, I thought so.
Most Haitians will be bussed to MASS this weekend by ACORN to get ready for next week's election!
You CAN fix stupid. 6 feet of rope and a shovel.
My wife is a teacher in Missouri and DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) has stated that we will do Race to the Top with OR without fed funds……we have no say!
Where have you been? do you not know that Texas currently has control of text books being supplied to schools through out the US. They are the ones who are dictating the message that students of today are getting, So tell me again who it is that is re-writing history?
Here is a comment by Don McLeroy, of the Texas Board of education.
The Texas State Board of Education decides the textbooks standards for Texas and influences the rest of the country “I don’t care what the educational political lobby and their allies on the left say,” he declared at one point. “Evolution is hooey.” This bled into a rant about American history. “The secular humanists may argue that we are a secular nation,” McLeroy said, jabbing his finger in the air for emphasis. “But we are a Christian nation founded on Christian principals. The way I evaluate history textbooks is first I see how they cover Christianity and Israel. Then I see how they treat Ronald Reagan—he needs to get credit for saving the world from communism and for the good economy over the last twenty years because he lowered taxes., and it is simply scary what those ideologues are trying to do.
Holy sh….! These are the words of Don McLeroy (he's a dentist), and that's just awful. Talk about religion influencing science and education – and he isn't shy about breaking down the separation of church and state either.
I live in Illinois (unfortunately) and you are dead wrong with that 76% crapola…. That might be the rate anywhere other than the City State of Chicago, but within Cook County, the high school graduation rate compares with Detroit – between 35 and 45 percent at best!
Furthermore… it is a well known FACT that Texas sets the textbooks that will be used for the coming year for the entire country and has been doing it since way back in the early 70's. It is only when the kids get to college that textbooks are chosen at the whim of the professor.
As my favorite cartoon character says – what a maroon!
Hallelujah! This is the most positive news I have seen on education in a long time!!!! When Obama took office many thought he would scrap "No Child Left Behind"…the previous administration's handcuffs from our child's education to federal law which left us as parents out of the legislative process….Did Obama scrap it? Nope.
~To be continued in the next post.~
Texas is starting to really appeal to me as a place to live. Anyone down there need a graphic designer?
Continued from above post
Obama one upped Bush x 8 so far when it comes to public education:
1.Obama resigned us all back up recently to "No Child Left Behind."
2.Obama started his whisper campaign for longer school days and school year, complete with green carrots.
~To be continued in the next post~
Continued from above post
3.Obama announced, without too much prior notice, at the most inconvenient of times in a parent's life, that he wanted to give an "innocuous speech" to our children accompanied by a in-depth lesson plan for both the younger student & for the older student, many who conveniently will be voters in 2012. Then, he tried to assign parents who resented his approach as the bad or crazy or even the racist parent while pitting School District Administrations and teachers in the middle.
4. Arne Duncan, upon getting the message that so many parents were none to thrilled with Obama's approach, hits the ground immediately with a PR campaign and orders up an on-line town hall meeting for parents to engage in the week after his "innocuous" speech takes place.
5. Obama appointed Kevin Jennings, Asst. Secretary of Education to Arne Duncan , with all of his distinct controversial background check problems, to what CZAR position? "Safe School Czar"….as if that makes ANY sense whatsoever! Except that it does provide the convenient label of homophobic if we speak up.
~To be continued in the next post~
Continued from above post
6. Obama announced "Race To The Top" stimulas funds as an "incentive" to those states who WANT those funds if they follow his rules…..while working the bank bail-out with stimulas funds, care of our taxes and loans from other countries. The timing and the premise of "Race To The Top" were both completely innappropriate…and mark my words… now that Texas has said "No thanks"….we will get smeared once again in the MSM.
7. Obama offered "free" H1N1 immunizations, conveniently on our campuses, without parents even needing to be present if our schedules would not allow such.
~To be continued in the next post~
Continued from above post
8. Obama's most sneaky plan yet? Including education in his quest to reform healthcare and the insurance industry by way of amendment 399z-1 in Pelosi bill HR3962 sec. 2511 and Reid's bill HR 3590 sec. 4101, titled "School Based Health Clinics" (also known as School Based Health Centers). 1700 SBHCs already exist in 43 states by way of other state funded and federal funded social programs….so he wants to make SBHCs a federal program. This is the literal "Trojan Horse" in the school yard. If parents are upset about the word "abortion" being in linked any way, shape or form to Obamacare, wait till they find out that some existing SBHC's offer "condom covering contest" ( SBHC in SE Oregon), vasectomy counseling for youths (SBHC in Rhode Island) and many SBHC advocate for "student's rights" (AdvocatesFor Youth.Org) while dismissing congressional lead abstinence programs!
~To be continued in the next post~
Continued from above post
And there is more to come with 399z-1 if Obamacare passes….it will serve up Mental Health as it sees fit by granting the Secretary of Health and Human Services just about omnipotent power in our children's schools. And when I balk about this, many take me to task because they think I do not want children to have healthcare. For the love of all that is precious to us as a nation, I balk because I am the parent of my children and I see the writing on the wall with "School Based Health Clinics"…it does not take a rocket scientist to google "School Based Health Clinics and Planned Parenthood"….(do it…I dare ya!) but it does take time and then backbone to start screaming from the mountain tops when you see that low and behold, Planned Parenthood is already sponsoring MANY SBHC already in the country.
~To be continued in the next post~
Continued from above post
If Obamacare passes, "No Child Left Behind" will become "No School Left Behind" and ultimately…this is the real "race to the top" for Obama because he will lead us up to the the single payer paradise that progressives have been working towards for a long, long time. Move over Woodrow Wilson and FDR.
With a fist in the air, because our children are at stake, I salute Texas for holding it's ground on this lollipop political ploy known as "Race To The Top"….and pray we will continue to hold our ground to help fail Obamacare now and then start taking back our government this Fall from the progressives who hope to fundementally change who America is.
Thanks for your considered coverage. Your explanations are frightening, and probably 99% correct. BTW, that should be "no child left alone."
Thank you for the point about the text books. Texas in fact does set the bench mark for books so the adoption process is extremely important here. This of course brings out kooks of all stripes.
If we're not careful George Washington, Jefferson and Frankiln will be replaced by Caesar Chavez, Oprah and the O'Jays.
We must be vigilant.
Mik, you are the only progressive shining light amongst all the flag waving 'hate mongers' around here.
Ah, what a breath of fresh air you are.
When Texas secedes and becomes a country…will they let Californian's move there? I hope so!
Who are well armed and tatooed…and could run really well, but of course their pants keep falling down.
AGREED! I think that is the great plan of theirs…..
Taking money from the feds gets the camel's nose into the tent.
As a native Texan I'm saddened and even shocked at the demise of California, a state I love, I love to visit and a state I have relatives from both sides living in.
It's a damn shame productive Americans are being forced out by uber liberal craziness.
We love Californians, at least the ones that are repudiating RINO Ahnold and that wacky liberal Democrat legislature.
Let's keep things in perspective here. First of all, Obama was never king of Chicago. He served in the Illinois legislature and represented the state in the senate.
As for the numbers, Illinois has a high school graduation rate of about 76 percent compared to about 70 for Texas. So they measure up pretty well. Plus their students aren't forced to study from history textbooks that have to be approved by right wing theocrats like we do here in Texas.
The rewriting of history has been going on for years now from the radical left, their school boards and teachers unions which is why home schooling is the best remedy. They trash our history, teach our kids America, our forefathers and capitalism are all evil. Even the text books are full of leftist anti-American lies designed to indoctrinate our future generations into hating our country and wanting to embrace socialism. I don't live in Texas, but I'll take school boards full of religious folks over left-wing socialist any day, which unfortunately is just about everywhere in the country, because religious people will teach real American history, praise and teach its exceptionalism, and do it within a moral framework that is completely absent from the beliefs and lifestyles of those on the left. Good job Gov Perry, don't be bought out by Comrade Obama's bribes!
You should join your local school board, your suggestions should be policy in all of our schools!
Thanks for listing that test, I tried it and got 21 out of 30 (70%) and I have to say I'm not happy with that especially considering I had to make a few educated guesses and they had some freebie pop culture questions in there. Time to brush up on history, but at least I'm old enough that I went to school in an era where they taught real American history compared to the left-wing revisionist history our kids are learning now.
Let's keep this in perspective – Obama was a STATE Senator/Criminal in Illinois before being "selected" to the U.S. Senate. He OWNS the failures of Illinois (like the Chicago DISASTER) equally with any success Illinois had.
You can treat Chicago like any other state, some areas are way more successful than otthers. I cited Plano and Carrollton in Texas as successful without even looking it up because of demographics. South Chicago is a liberal enabled WAR ZONE so I'd expect scores to be lower.
Why do hate filled Demon-cRats oppose private schools that help minority students and give them hope? Why? Why is the modern Nazi party the modern Democrat Party?
Let me guess- these schools don't fit the "Master-slave" Democrat paradigm of liberalism, reich?
There is no bigger educational disaster then the Washington D.C. public school system. Yet no public school system is better funded. Perhaps the Federal government should fix D.C. first before it meddles in the State's affairs.
If you really want to piss mikatollah off, mention the Constitution, the Founders or be a 50 year dependent of military members and have an opinion (wife and daughter).You get called a traitor accused of inciting violence.
He is an officer. So is my husband, who got accuse of treason also. He has been going off on me in a big way.
He must like you guys, only calling you proud stupid.
Now if we could just get rid of the TAKS test…….
Thanks Gregory. Great information about specifics. I'd known that it was education that was the first indoctrination of Marxism a long time ago, but didn't have any specifics!
Great information! Keep on telling it like it is, not just what we want to hear to "prove" our agenda!
Makes sense to me!
Right ON!!! You're a real Texan American!!!
I'm afraid it's too little too late!
Because we like to keep them all "corralled" into one area where we can keep an eye on them. Unfortunately we couldn't convince them that El Paso was the progressive capitol of the state. We kept telling them all the pot was out on the border, but they didn't believe us.
Move to Austin. We need to level the playing field there. Plus you could probably find work more easily in that city. Just don't eat the wheat grass.
You are an ugly hate filled Atheist. I pity you. I truly do.
It would be a mistake to assume that you know me. Your pity is unwarranted.
It would be a mistake for you to think that I do not know you. We're not all as blind as you.
Alright sanity, I'll play. Tell me about myself. Don't leave out any details. Then I'll tell you if you are right.
Well put. We must be vigilant. 2 thumbs up!
He is an Air Force Officer who lives in Texas. He used to be an atheist/agnostic, but now calls himself a Deist. That is an atheist who is hedging his bets. He is proud of his military career, but doesn't feel that spouses have made the same sacrifices. He is a liberal.
I called him on his lack of a profile and he responded with this: http://www.hotberry.com/ .
I have been told by him that just because my husband has served for 34 years as an officer, that does not mean that I am one. By the way, I never said I was an officer. I have just spent 50 years in the military.
Now to be fair, I never said spouses have not sacrificed for the country. I said that that sacrifice didn't make them military experts. I have no doubt you have a good understanding of the military lifestyle, but that was not what we were talking about. We were discussing the Constitutional responsibilities of a military officer. It is very specific and doesn't include the interpretation of some of the right wing bloggers on this list.
The rest is pretty close. You've done your homework.
"We were discussing the Constitutional responsibilities of a military officer. It is very specific and doesn't include the interpretation of some of the right wing bloggers on this list."
In other words you don't doubt my sacrifice, just my intelligence. Just because I did not take the oath myself, so I am too stupid to understand it's implications? In the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter how you view me. I know what I know, I have lived my life with the husband of my youth. I love God, my family and country and that is all that matter.
He sounds like a Neanderthal who think that his wife is a piece of property. I know the type. I just don't like the type.
mikatollah, what do you know about Texas education? I was taught evolution in my science classes and I went to private catholic school.
Everything you've stated on this comment section has been nothing but lies. Did you seriously think that nobody would fact check your statements? At the rate you're going, there is enough here to doubt that you're even in this state.
The only people who call us stupid are generally elitist a$$clowns who aren't from Texas. You see mikatollah, people like you just whine and lie like spoiled teenage girls. So if I were you, I just would move on. If you stick around here, you're liable to tear your pantyhose.
We are a very welcoming kind of Republic. However, we don't welcome unions. We don't welcome those who would prey on society. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. State rights are sovereign. We honor and respect the military. And we earn our keep.
If you are good with that, you will do just fine here.
Oh yeah, and one other thing. Texas is the greatest land in all the world. But you can read about that when you get here…
You need to start a school or something. I'd put money down that you would have a near perfect graduation rate.
Sorry but you are wrong. there is a very serious book war going on right now between California and Texas, it has been California's board of education that has done most of the progressive rewriting.
All I have to say about progressives running a school system is DETROIT.
Actually the Catholics have no problem with evolution and a far more enlightened view of science than evangelical right. You are far more likely to leave Catholic school with a better understanding of evolutionary theory and process in Texas than you are in public school where there is a greater influence of anti science bias.
Our public schools in Texas are far less likely to provide basic biology skills than say, Minnesota… often depending on the part of the state you live in and the commitment of the teachers.
Anger and resentment that you display is also a hallmark of Texas fundamentalism. We are over 20 million people so it is impossible to put all of Texas into that class, but you are exhibit A.
Seriously, you believe progressives are what is wrong in Detroit? To make that leap you must vault the steady decline of auto and parts manufacturing that has led to the decay of the tax base and the inner city. No, the problems of Detroit and other cities in the rust belt are economic at their base and have little to do with political ideology.
The last time I looked I haven't found any science textbooks claiming that evolution doesn't exist. I have seen quite a few science text's that claim man made global warming is real though. I mean climate change, or AGW.
Unfortunately, Ritter decided not to run so he could turn his scorched earth policy on k-12 educatoin funds. He already did it to post-secondary education funds. But, hey at least he's a one-termer…there's hope for change yet!
I wonder where the hell you people were when GW Bush tied all the strings to federal money to No Child Left Behind? Oh, that's right…you were kissing his stupid, redneck, ass because he's your Lord and Savior, right? Why don't you idiots try thinking for yourselves instead of letting Rush Limbaugh and Fox "News" telling you what to think?
I love how you morons talk about Obama the socialist, but who was the president who gave your tax money to a bunch of rich, spoiled, wall street bankers? Hint: it wasn't Obama.
[...] Texas Is Right to Quit the ‘Race for the Top’ Education Program [...]
long neck beers , west texas sunsets and best of all you are not here to pollute my beautiful and abundant state…
"States such as Texas may have to spend state funds to access the federal dollars. The Texas Education Agency estimates that Texas will have to spend $3 billion just to have the chance to access, at most, $750 million."
Source?