District Administration - May 2010 - (Page 38)

Lone Star Controversial Board of Education Most state boards of education do not come under intense national scrutiny. Controversies on the Texas board, however, become national issues because for decades, as the largest textbook market (second only to California), Texas inﬂuences many publishers’ content decisions. Hence the national media attention in March, when the board approved by a 10-5 vote new state standards in social studies reﬂecting conservative values, countering what some felt was a liberal slant. Changes included reduced emphasis on race and gender issues, and increased content on gun rights, Judeo-Christian inﬂuences on America, the virtues of free markets and the presidency of Ronald Reagan. “We’re adding balance,” leading socially conservative Republican board member Don McLeroy explained to e New York Times. “Academia is skewed too far to the left.” Democratic board member Mary Helen Berlanga walked out of one meeting in frustration. “ ey are rewriting history, not only of Texas but of the United States and the world,” she said as she left a meeting for the ﬁrst time since her ﬁrst election in 1982. Controversy versus Reality Many are concerned such controversies distort the reality of the state’s education. “It’s easy to misread Texas because of these political debates,” says William McKenzie, who covers education as an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News. On Race to the Top and common state standards, for example, “Perry is clearly playing politics, and is more interested in the political side than he is about the actual issues,” he says. Perry is preparing to face Democrat Bill White in what could be a close November election for governor, and positioning himself as the candidate most independent from Washington. “Common standards and Race to the Top became mired in state politics,” laments Abilene ISD’s Ashby. “Like a lot of political debates, these issues aren’t really what are driving the people that are actually doing the work. ere are a lot of forward-looking principals and superintendents that are very serious about education in this state,” says McKenzie. McKenzie cites the Texas High School Project, a public-private partnership including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and is focused on reforming struggling, high-poverty high schools to ensure students’ college and career readiness, as one example. “To characterize over a thousand school districts [by these controversies] would not be fair to the thousands of teachers and administrators doing great work in the state,” says new state board of education nominee omas Ratliﬀ, a moderate Republican, who defeated McLeroy in the March Republican primary by campaigning on “taking politics out of education.” “ ere are a lot of progressive districts doing progressive things in Texas,” says Hinojosa, whose district has its own publicprivate partnership called Dallas Achieves, with a stated goal of making Dallas one of the highest-achieving urban districts in the country. Since the Broad Prize for Urban Education was established in 2002 recognizing districts making the largest improvements in student performance and in reducing achievement gaps, several ﬁnalists and three of the eight winners have been from Texas: Houston ISD in 2002, Brownsville ISD in 2008 and Aldine ISD in 2009. Two of the ﬁve 2010 ﬁnalists announced in April, Socorro ISD and Ysleta ISD, are from El Paso. Heather Zavadsky, former project coordinator for the National Center for Education Accountability, which managed the prize from 2002 to 2006, feels that Texas districts are some of the best in the country because of the state’s use of data and its pioneering accountability system. “It’s hard to argue when you have high-minority, high-poverty and high-ELL population districts like Aldine ISD, for example, do so well for so long,” she says. “In education, particularly in the area of school accountability, other states today have come up to the level of Texas. Clearly the state has paved the way.” DA Kurt Eisele-Dyrli is products editor. 38 May 2010 District Administration Educators asked. Epson delivered. When Epson comes to class, every educator can be more effective. Sound Solutions Interactive Projectors AP-60 Projector Sound Solution Captivate the entire classroom. Add four speakers and a wireless IR pendant microphone. BrightLink™ Step up engagement with interactivity. The new high-performance interactive projector. Classroom, Mobile & Auditorium Projection Solutions PowerLite® 83V+ Vivid images ignite learning. High-color light output and powerful sound, communication, and connectivity. Visit www.epson.com/Dadmin today! Epson is a registered trademark and Epson Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark of Seiko Epson Corporation. BrightLink is a trademark and Brighter Futures and PowerLite are registered trademarks of Epson America, Inc. Copyright 2010 Epson America, Inc. Product specifications are subject to change without notice. http://www.epson.com/Dadmin http://www.epson.com/Dadmin

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - May 2010

District Administration - May 2010
Contents
Tech Disruptions
From the Editor
News Update
Technology
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Problem Solution
Power to the Students!
Lone Star
Racing for Reform
Department of Education Revives Civil Rights Office
New Products
Product Focus
Crisis Response
Supervisor’s Opinion
Professional Opinion

District Administration - May 2010