Nonfiction Makes Better Reading
The Fact Is That Texas Public Schools Are Succeeding Like Never Before
by Roger White
Kids these days.
How many times have you
heard that in conversation?
Well, I’ll tell you something:
These days, kids—and their
public schools—are doing very
well, thank you. Despite severe
economic hardships, consistent
bashing by mainstream media,
politicians, special-interest
groups, and those who carry
narrow agendas and sharpened
axes, as well as an ever-shifting
legislative and regulatory
landscape, the public schools
and students of Texas and the
nation continue to raise the bar
in achievement and accountability.
Here’s just a sample:
• Texas is the first—and so
far, only—state to meet all
the American Diploma
Project’s five key college
and career readiness
measures, according to a
March announcement by
Achieve, a national
bipartisan organization.
schools in the nation,
according to U.S. News &
World Report’s America’s
Best High Schools rankings, released late last year.
Nine other Texas schools
made the Top 100 list.
• The Texas ACT composite
score reached an all-time
high in 2009, as did the
number of students tested.
• Texas was recognized in
April by the College Board
as one of 20 states with the
greatest percentage of
students earning scores of
3 or higher on Advanced
Placement (AP) exams.
And the good news comes
not just from the traditional
“high-achieving” schools and
districts. Remarkable success
stories—on individual,
campus, and district levels—
are transpiring all across this
great state. Take Davis High
School in Houston ISD, for
example. Davis High’s graduation rate climbed from 59.3
percent in 2004–05 to 68.2
percent in 2007–08, and the
estimates for determining the
school’s Adequate Yearly
Progress status were 75
percent in 2008–09 and 80
percent or more this school
year.
The stories aren’t just
about academic scores or
statistics, either. Success and
accomplishment can be
extremely personal, as well.
Take the compassion shown by
English language learner
students in a Harris County
Department of Education
civics class, who chose to help
the Haitian earthquake victims
as part of their community
service project. These students,
many of whom face serious
financial challenges of their
own, raised more than $1,100
for Haitian relief.
Unfortunately, it seems the
bits of bad news continually
outweigh the bounty of good
news that comes from our
public schools. The nature of
news apparently dictates that
crisis and controversy rate
page one, while accomplish-
ment and accolades become
buried in the back pages.
• Two Dallas ISD schools
were among the top 10
Roger White is managing editor
of Texas Lone Star.