|
|
|
|
| ||||
|
|
THE CARGILL CONNECTION,April 2005 Dear friends and supporters, What a beautiful spring it has been! I hope that you have enjoyed it with your family. We had a wonderful time on our Spring Break trip to Louisiana with two other families. Other than a “fishhook in a leg” incident, we made it through the week very well with eight active boys! Let me update you on some important issues that are going on with the State Board of Education: ACTION ITEMS: 1. Textbook Review by ELECTED SBOE, HB 4 by Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington HB 4, that deals with technology in public schools, was left pending in the House Education Committee after a public hearing on March 15. This bill would limit the textbook review responsibilities of the State Board of Education (SBOE). Removing quality control over instructional material is NOT in the best interests of our schoolchildren. Furthermore a “rider” in the Texas Education Agency budget would limit textbook responsibilities of the SBOE. Please ask your legislator to make sure that the review of instructional materials by the elected, and thus accountable to YOU, State Board of Education is NOT compromised. List of House Committee on Public Education: (Please e-mail them soon!) Kent.Grusendorf@house.state.tx.us
Rene.Oliveira@house.state.tx.us Capitol switchboard: 512-463-4630 Email for State Representatives: first.last@house.state.tx.us E-mail for Senators: first.last@senate.state.tx.us 2. I recently received this message: “The UIL Advisory Council meets on April 14. This is a public hearing that allows the general public to make suggestions for UIL rules changes. If you have items for discussion, I will be glad to include them on the agenda but I must hear from you by April 8 in order to do so. The only specific item now on the agenda is a discussion of steroid usage by high school athletes and whether or not there should by mandatory testing.” If you have concerns about UIL issues, please e-mail me at sboe@barbaracargill.com and I will forward your message to the UIL Council member ON THE APRIL SBOE MEETING AGENDA: Here is a brief description of some of the issues that are on the agenda for our meeting April 27-29 in Austin:
Additionally, I am on the Committee on Planning and we will meet to discuss many things including: ongoing State Board for Educator Certification activities, certificate renewal and continuing professional education requirements, certification requirements for classroom teachers, and charter schools. To see the complete agenda for more information, please go to the Texas Education Agency website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us. The agenda is posted under “State Board of Education and Commissioner” (on the left). After that screen appears, click on “Meeting Schedule and Agendas” (on the right). OTHER HAPPENINGS: *I did receive a detailed response from TEA about the TAKS essay selection process. (It was brought to my attention that there was questionable content in an essay on a previous TAKS test.) I will continue to work on this issue. Content standards must be improved to make sure that our students are reading good quality literature when taking the TAKS. *Thank you to all of the wise math teachers who have given me their opinions about the proposed changes to the elementary math TEKS! (I am still collecting input.) *Another thanks to all of the wonderful kindergarten teachers who have given feedback about systems (all of the curriculum for the entire year is by one publisher, includes additional teaching aides) or single textbook adoptions (multiple publishers, your choice of individual books). You can still let me know what you think. *Finally, a big thanks goes to the dedicated District 8 constituents who volunteered to help read Charter School applications. You are making a difference for children! *On May 6-7, I will be attending the annual Texas Charter School conference in San Antonio. It will be a privilege to meet many of the educators who work with children at Charter Schools in Texas. Thank you for taking the time to read this update about the SBOE. Your opinion does matter, so please feel free to contact me about education concerns. Most of all, pray for the schoolchildren and their teachers in our great state. May God bless you in all that you do! Barbara Cargill
Pictures at: www.barbaracargill.com/pictures.htm.
Texas Education Agency SBOE Minutes here (Check out things for yourself!)
Coming Events... Come show your support for Barbara Cargill. If you'd be interested in having Barbara come speak to you, let us know at any of the contact numbers and e-mail below. Thanks!
"He only asks thee to yield thyself to Him, that He may work in thee to will and to do by His own mighty power. Thy part is to yield thyself and His part is to work; and never, never will He give thee any command which is not accompanied by ample power to obey it." - Hannah W. Smith |
|
