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Minority students represent more than half of Texas Advanced Placement test takers in 2007

For several years, undercurrents of greatness have been bubbling gently beneath the surface at San Marcos High School, according to AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) teacher Rick Hardy who has been working with a very special group of high school students for four years, helping them identify and cultivate their academic possibilities. Hardy explains that AVID is an exceptional program designed to meet the needs of a particular underrepresented portion of the high school's population.

These reports pull together a wide range of information on the performance of students in each school and district in Texas annually.

Published, August 26, 2007 in the Sunday Letters section of The Dallas Morning News

Re: Schools falling further behind

by Terrence Stutz and Holly Hacker

This story's reporting and headline leaves the impression that our schools are not making progress, when the opposite is true. While much of the story is technically accurate, the true story is our schools are making significant progress.

Myth #4: Per Pupil Spending on Education Has Tripled Since 1960

The landscape of public education has drastically changed since 1960, with most new spending going to programs that serve children who had been ignored by the system and who require special services. Beginning in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act added federal dollars targeted toward schools educating low-income children. In 1974, English language learners secured the right to appropriate services if they attend public schools, and in 1975 Congress began to require public schools to provide services to students with disabilities. Between 1960 and 1978, inflation-adjusted per pupil expenditures on public education increased much more rapidly than they have in the years since then. Furthermore, the costs of services, such as education, have a much faster rate of inflation than the CPI (the traditional measure). Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute has estimated that since the 1960's, "real school spending" has grown nearly 40% slower than many pundits claim.

more myths

* National Assessment of Educational Progress

The following question is taken from the 11th grade TAKS test.

Texas public schools provide a host of services that are designed to support students and teachers in the classroom, but that are not captured in many definitions of instruction that are included in reporting from various sources .  School library books and librarians' salaries, for example, are included in the definition of instruction, but not by other sources that report on education spending.

The cost of cleaning classrooms and providing heating and cooling is almost never included, nor is the cost of construction. School security, student lunches, and school nurses are among the many other services that are provided by schools but considered "outside the classroom". 

On November 1, Tom Frost, Senior Chairman of Frost Bank, became the 2007 Friend of the Year. 

We need volunteers willing to serve on several of our committees, which include Website Committee, eNews Committee, Rapid Response Team Committee, Friend of the Year Event Committee, and our Proud Campaign Committee If interested, please contact Brandie Cleaver at brandie@fotps.org.

Friends of Texas Public Schools
Scott Milder, President & Chief Executive
P.O. Box 3526