In the public interest
and courtesy to all of the candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, State
Senator, and State Representative, I present the Texas Model Education and
Ensured Economic Prosperity Plan.
Feel free to discuss and use as if it is your own.
1. Significantly
increase the quality of candidates attempting to enter the teaching profession. How?
A. Increase ACT / SAT score
requirements to enter state college of education programs.
B. Increase Alternative Certification
Program entrance GPA requirements or require a minimum GRE score to be accepted
into the program.
2. Significantly
increase the quality of teacher training and preparation. How? Teacher
preparation programs should focus on both content and pedagogical
knowledge.
A. Which means that a
potential math teacher should graduate from a college of education with a major
in the content, a minor in pedagogy, and a full semester of student teaching.
B. A graduate from an Alternative Certification Program (ACP) should have a
degree related to the content area (a prerequisite) and the equivalent of 18
hours of pedagogy course work. The
student teaching for the ACP candidate can be covered through supported and
mentored classroom teaching while in the ACP program.
3. Pay teachers a
professional salary. This goes
hand-in-hand with increasing the quality of the candidate pool for
teaching. The more a candidate
brings to the table, the more options she has. If teacher salaries are not comparable to the professional
salaries of those with a similar education then the best candidates will
continue to shun education careers for better economic options. So here is your professional salary scale
for teachers.
A. $45,000
minimum salary for starting teachers.
B. $65,000
minimum salary for a core content teacher with 5-years experience, and 3-years
in the same district, and multiple certifications (example: K-8 reading and ESL
certifications).
C. $75,000
minimum salary for a core content teacher with 10-years experience, and 5-years
in the same district, and multiple certifications, and a Master’s degree.
D. $85,000
minimum salary for a core content teacher with 15-years experience, and 8-years
in the same district, and multiple certifications, and a Doctorate degree.
4. Extend teacher
contracts to 200 days. Do this concurrently with the increase in minimum
teacher salaries. Use the extra 20 days for training and extended teaching
options for struggling students.
5. Have clear, deep
curriculum standards that schools are required to teach. How? We are close to
this in Texas. The TEKS are a good
start. They are just too broad. Narrow the overall focus and increase the emphasis
on critical thinking.
6. Mandate a maximum 21:1
student/teacher ratio in grade K-6 core content courses. Mandate a maximum 24:1 student/teacher ratio in
grade 7-11 STAAR/EOC courses.
7. Increase the
number of hours and days students devote to academics and school. How? This is easier to do than you might
think, it just requires two simple (on paper) changes.
A. Move all
athletic based extra-curricular activities to outside the school day. This ensures that all students engaged
in athletics will receive an extra 45 to 90 minutes of academic instruction in
either core content, fine arts, foreign language or career based classes, EVERY
DAY.
B. Move all EOC /
STAAR tests to May. This will
encourage (force) schools to teach the content deeper into the year.
C. Mandatory (in
lieu of retention) 3 to 5-week summer school session for all students who
failed either a STAAR/EOC test or a core content course.
8. Increase the
stakes on the high school exit exams. How? Now everyone immediately thinks this
is about increasing punitive measures and consequences. That is the novice move. If bigger sticks were the answer, we
wouldn’t have our current agenda driven “Failing Schools” problem. No, we want carrots, BIG FREAKIN’
CARROTS.
A. We still keep
some floor performance requirements.
The diploma should guarantee a level of basic skills. Right now there are 5 EOC tests. I
would prefer seven: two tests for English - ELA 2 and ELA 3; two tests for math
- Algebra 1 and either Geometry or Algebra II (student choice); two tests for
science - Biology and either Chemistry or Physics (student choice); one test
for Social Studies - U.S. History To graduate the student must score at least
60% on 4 of the 7 tests.
B. We add a
performance bonus for a defined level of commended results that could work something
like this. For every test the student scores at least an 85% on there is an
automatic scholarship that is awarded to the student, redeemable at any state
institution (2-year or 4-year) during the freshman and sophomore years. Prorate the scholarship amount based on
need, for example:
a. Student
qualifies for free lunch - $2,000 per exam, which represents a potential
scholarship amount of $14,000.
b. Student
qualifies for reduced lunch - $1,000 per exam, which represents a potential
scholarship amount of $7,000.
c. Student not
eligible for free/reduced lunch - $500 per exam, which represents a potential
scholarship amount of $3,500
Now all students
have a significant incentive to take higher-level courses and perform in those
courses. And if parents want to opt out their students from testing, they can
do so for the advanced tests, but at a potential economic loss (reduced
scholarship eligibility).
Accountability still
in place but success is driven through the positives of earned scholarships and
extended learning opportunities for struggling students. Not school sanctions
and mandatory student retention.
9. Implement the
following Superintendent Salary Schedule:
A. District
with fewer than 500 students, Superintendent salary no higher than 1.5 times
the average teacher salary in the district.
B. District
with 501 – 1,000 students, Superintendent salary no more than 2 times the
average teacher salary in the district.
C. District
with 1,001 – 5,000 students, Superintendent salary no more than 2.5 times the
average teacher salary in the district.
D. District
with 5,001 – 15,000 students, Superintendent salary no more than 3 times the
average teacher salary in the district.
E. District
with 15,001 – 30,000 students, Superintendent salary no more than 3.5 times the
average teacher salary in the district.
F. District
with 30,001 – 70,000 students, Superintendent salary no more than 4 times the
average teacher salary in the district.
G. District
with more than 70,00 students, Superintendent salary no more than 5 times the
average teacher salary in the district.
10. Make charter schools
subject to the same teacher pay, class ratio and superintendent pay standards
as traditional public school districts.
Think about this
plan overnight because tomorrow we tackle the big problem, how to pay for this
ambitious plan.
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
- Call Jo at (832)
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