Why Am I Marching for Texas Schools?
Because the 5.2 million children in our 1,039 independent school districts here in Texas have endured over a decade of bad education policy. Those children don’t have a voice and don’t get to vote.
But I do.
And I believe ALL children can learn, ALL children have value, and access to quality public education is a HUMAN RIGHT.
Free public education is the best aspect of our imperfect union. But in Texas, it has been under assault by lawmakers and governors for years. Currently, Texas ranks 43rd in the nation in the amount of spending per pupil.
From 2008 to 2017, the state’s share of funding public education has decreased from 44.9% to 38.4%. Over the same period, the local taxpayers’ share has grown from 44.8% to 51.5%. Furthermore, state spending per student is lower than it was ten years ago, while local spending has risen to compensate.
When you consider decreases in state funding, along with all-too-common teacher bashing, the barrage of unfunded mandates, exhaustive high-stakes standardized testing, and constant efforts by some legislators to introduce a voucher system, you get a sense of the perfect storm that’s brewing.
So I decided to attend the Save Texas Schools Rally on March 25, 2017.
Save Texas Schools is a nonpartisan statewide volunteer coalition whose primary goal is to encourage elected officials to support quality public education for all students, pre-K through college, in Texas. Their advocacy efforts are excellent and include providing resources, helping concerned Texans contact their representatives, and organizing events such as the rally that I attended.
The rally, scheduled weeks in advance, happened the day after the failed attempt by Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare. I felt encouraged and emboldened.
When my son and I arrived, the sounds of the Eastside Memorial Panther Band filled the Texas Capitol’s south steps with energy and excitement. The crowd was smaller than I had expected — with around 500 in attendance — but displayed the passion of thousands.
Directly behind me was a large contingent of parents and teachers from a South Texas school district who had driven for hours to attend the rally.
Rev. Charles Foster Johnson, Executive Director of Pastors for Texas Children, began the rally with prayer and a powerful come-to-Jesus style testimony on social justice and advancing legislation that enriches families and communities.
Rev. Johnson’s firebrand message of “caring for the least of these” deeply resonated with me, and I bemoaned the many apolitical church services I’ve sat through in my 45 years.
Shortly afterwards, parent, activist, accountant, and author of HB 1336, Michael Messer, described his commonsense bill: the “Transparency in Testing” bill.
Currently, Texas has no way to track how much is actually spent on standardized testing or test prep. The state’s contract with ETS to print tests and supply a few consultants is often quoted as $90 million per year. But that figure does not include salaries, maintenance, daily operations, and security expenses related to testing, test prep, and retesting.
I had never thought of our state tests in these terms.
Messer systematically explained how he read open financial records and applied simple accounting practices to find an actual cost. His analysis: The total spent on standardized tests could run as high as $13 billion a year, or roughly one fifth of the state’s total education budget. Un-freaking-believable!
The Texas legislature can’t fund full-day pre-K or increase the basic allotment, but they can squander up to 20% of the education budget on a test that doesn’t effectively assess learning?!
As Messer explains, “This bill will give the public (and the legislature) a full account of all costs related to the test, giving us the data necessary to make informed decisions about the future of our children’s education. After all, we can’t fix what we don’t know.”
Messer was a crowd favorite for his common sense and hands-on approach to problem solving. I found this deliciously ironic: This is exactly what is asked of our public school kids every day. And our public school kids deliver.
Hometowners Senator Kirk Watson and Representative Gina Hinojosa also delivered strong messages of commitment to public education. “It is the legislature that meets in this building that has the constitutional responsibility to provide for our public schools,” said Watson. “It’s the legislature that’s failing our kids.” Thunderous applause.
Parents, teachers, the Austin High School student body president, and rapper A.H.M.A.D.D. all gave inspiring speeches. But the words that most impressed me were spoken by Mineral Wells ISD Superintendent John Kuhn.
Kuhn made national headlines two years ago when he penned a Remember-the-Alamo-style letter describing the 2015 legislative climate as “besieged, by a hundred or more of the legislators under Rick Perry.” Full transcript here.
On this day, Kuhn’s rally remarks picked up right where that letter left off.
Our ability to survive as a state, to not fall into the clutches of tyrants and charlatans, our ability to protect our own freedom from the schemes of con men and dictators hinges on the education of every Texas child, funded by the public treasury and open to all Texas children, as was guaranteed long ago.
But that promise is under siege, and the siege is relentless.
Kuhn didn’t stop there. He praised the contribution of public schools as our democracy in action, where the wealth of our nation is translated into greater good. And this greater good makes us strong, thoughtful, wise, free, and capable of self-government.
I felt uplifted and inspired to keep up the good fight.
Kuhn then disassembled the pro-voucher argument like a politician on the campaign trail. In response to the idea that vouchers, choice, and competition are good for education and even better for kids, Kuhn had this to say:
Free market schools are under no obligation to serve all children, and voucher schools don’t serve all children. Competition doesn’t breed excellence. If it did, our fast food restaurants would serve the healthiest food around. Competition breeds marketing and cost-cutting. It breeds the desperate search for any and all competitive advantages. This ethic is toxic to the collaborative nature of education.
Kuhn went on to address the ugly but real truth about the state of public education: “Public education is made of and by and for the public; it can never be any better or worse than we are. If our schools are sick, it’s because our society is sick.”
The truth hurts. It seems our country is more politically divided than ever. Thus, the move to separate our children into the haves and have-nots.
I see two paths forward:
1. Watch a discriminatory two-tiered system of education spread throughout Texas like a virus,
OR
2. Fight like hell to preserve the integrity and community of our public school system.
So I march. I’ve been marching on behalf of public school kids for the past four years and will continue to do so.
And I write. I’ve sent so many emails to elected officials that all their email addresses are auto-saved in my contacts.
And I vote. In Texas, it’s the primaries that truly get officials elected. I show up for these races. I also study local candidates, vote in May council races, and watch members’ policies because these council members are likely to be candidates for larger offices in the future.
The public school kids of Texas are depending on you and me to use our voices and our votes to preserve their future. And our future is inextricably linked to theirs. When we adequately fund our schools, we preserve the long-term strength of our communities.
The children of Texas are worth it!
