THE CARGILL CONNECTION, April 2011

Dear friends and supporters,

As I have said many times, I represent the most wonderful people in the 24 counties of District 8!  Thank you for the great response to my plea for volunteers for the Fine Arts and Math review committees and for the Supplemental Science materials review committees.  Many of you contacted me and I was honored to nominate fine educators, parents, and business professionals to the committees.

UPDATE ON THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION:

·         The legislature has been busy at work and redistricting has been big news for the past few weeks.  It is vitally important that the State Board of Education (SBOE) districts help retain conservative Board members. 

Here is the link to the redistricting maps. 

http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us/

This takes you to the District Viewer.  Click on "Select Plan" and then "Base plan."  If you scroll with your mouse, it will enlarge the map.  The map that passed in the Senate Redistricting committee meeting is E120.

·         Also, I want to thank Rep. Rob Eissler, Chair of the House Pubic Ed Committee, for working diligently to protect the SBOE’s authority over the content of our children’s’ instructional materials.  If you have heard me speak, then you may remember that I often compare the work of the Board to that of a “filter” when it comes to content.  Because of our rigorous textbook adoption process, we are the filter between liberal publishers and our precious schoolchildren.  The same holds true for the Board’s role in overseeing the curriculum standards that are developed in our great state. 

ACTION ITEM:

Please read this good information sent out by SBOE member Ken Mercer, District 5.  

The 2010 Texas State Board of Education (SBOE), led by Chairman Gail Lowe (R - Lampasas), voted to send the 2011 Texas Legislature $3 billion dollars of new funding for public education. 

 

How?  The forefathers of Texas had the foresight to create the Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) to ensure that all children in Texas will receive free textbooks.   

 

While some elected officials are promoting the idea of raising taxes and fees on the backs of hard-working Texas families, the SBOE is blessing Texas with a $3 billion payout generated from the PSF endowment.

 

Lowe sent a letter to the Texas Legislature, signed by all fifteen members of the 2010 SBOE, asking that the first $500 million be used to purchase new textbooks built upon the newly adopted standards and that the remaining $2.5 billion that is left over should be dedicated to education funding.

 

Some of the textbooks being replaced are 12-18 years old.

 

That $2.5 billion could pay the salaries of 25,000 English, math, or science educators for the next two years.

 

On January 18, 2011, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus released a formal letter praising the SBOE for this huge distribution of new funding for education.

 

The SBOE is the only entity in Texas that sends the Legislature a "bill" for $500 million and then provides $3 billion in new education funding which is six times the amount needed to pay that $500 million bill.

 

The SBOE is fulfilling what our founders intended - free textbooks for Texas children.

 

That $500 million secures two major victories for Texas' parents.

 

First, the new English Language Arts textbooks will include a strong emphasis on phonics, explicit grammar, spelling, and handwriting. These English skills are critical to help students gain English proficiency.

 

The SBOE listened to their constituent's cry to go "back to the basics" and return to a proven success, phonics.  Now our students need those new textbooks to help them learn the new standards.

 

Second, the public has screamed for an end to "high stakes testing" and "teaching to a test."   These new textbooks and standards will move Texas to the sensible end-of-course exams championed by Sen. Florence Shapiro (R - Plano) and mandated by the Texas Legislature.

 

Our educators cannot achieve that 2012 Legislative mandate without new textbook materials that are aligned with the new standards.  Failure to fund these new textbooks means another unfunded mandate for educators.

 

Please call or e-mail to remind your State Legislators that the SBOE provided $3 billion of new funding for education.  Ask them to spend $500 million on the new textbooks and dedicate the remaining $2.5 billion to public education.  

 

Contact information:

House: http://www.house.state.tx.us/

Senate: http://www.senate.state.tx.us/

  

UPDATE ON SBOE ISSUES:

 

Science:  The links to the online supplemental science materials for high school courses are available on the TEA website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=2147487077. The links are listed under the “Pre-Adoption Samples” heading.  This material will cover new or changed science curriculum standards for Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and IPC (Integrated Physics and Chemistry) that were adopted by the SBOE. 

There are many publishers who have made submissions, so your help in looking over the material would be greatly appreciated!  Help me as we filter through these submissions.  The review committees will meet in Austin in June.

The online supplements for Grades 5-8 will hopefully be available the second week of May.

Math:  K-12 math curriculum standards (TEKS) will be revised. Committees will review math for K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, Algebra I and II, Geometry, Precalculus, Math Models, and other high school math courses. Be sure and check this link over the next few months for the public comment period. 

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148&menu_id=720&menu_id2=785

Fine Arts: The curriculum standards for grades K-12 art, music, theatre and dance are also scheduled for revision.  Be sure and check this link over the next few months for the public comment period. 

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148&menu_id=720&menu_id2=785

RECAP OF THE APRIL SBOE MEETING:                                              

This is part of the TEA press release for our April meeting:

·        Because of the changing nature of computer science and the digital environment, the State Board of Education today gave final approval to a substantial revision and expansion of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Technology Applications for kindergarten through eighth grade, as well as to 13 high school courses.

The new curriculum standards will be implemented in 2012 -2013. These replace standards in use in Texas classrooms since 1998. More information about the curriculum standards update is available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=8192

The board is considering ultimately expanding the number of high school level technology application classes from the current eight to a total of 19.  Some of the new courses approved today were Robotics Programming and Development, Game Programming and Design, Mobile Application Development, and Digital Design and Media Production.

·        In a precedent setting move, the board also voted to penalize a publisher for making unauthorized updates to instructional materials adopted under Proclamation 2010. The publisher made updates to adopted materials for English Language Arts, grade 1; reading, grades 2-8; and Literature I-IV without SBOE approval.

Because textbooks and other instructional materials undergo rigorous review prior to state adoption, board rule requires that the SBOE approve any content change made to materials after they have been state-adopted.

·        The board also agreed to extend the investment counsel services contract with NEPC for four years. The firm provides investment guidance for the $25 billion Permanent School Fund.

For our children,

Barbara Cargill
State Board of Education, District 8
Chair, Committee on Instruction

 

 

 

Please forward this e-mail to parents, teachers, administrators, and others who have an interest in education.