As a Texan I can say beware the numbers from TEA. It is all about revenue. High graduation rates mean more fed money. The public schools here are not allowed to fail anyone with few exceptions. No grade below a 50. If you do not turn in work you can turn it in late for a 70. There is no content mastery being taught. The number of students repeating a grade in Texas is basically non-existent anymore.
We have some very bright students here, but we also have many that are there only to compliment their facebook status or get the free breakfast and lunch or play sports (this could be a whole separate conversation).
I hate to bring this up because many libs and blue states use it as ammo to say Texas takes more from the feds than we get back. As a border state we have a major problem with kids in our schools who do not speak English so they get to go through the ESL (English as a Second Language) program and are never forced to learn English. Every school just as our illustrious state government has to print every form in Spanish as well and give tests in Spanish (and not Spanish class). It sickens me.
You still see high achievers in some of the suburban schools and magnet/charter schools. I can say many Texans are fleeing the public school system (we are in that group). There are private schools popping up all over the state. Homeschooling is on the rise as well.
Spot on assessment. All these glowing reports about Texas public schools need to be taken with a huge grain of salt. Federal dollars through standardized tests are driving the outcome to such an extent that the glowing results becomes a self fulfilling prophesy.
My youngest is now near to graduating from college, and she can recognize how pathetic her high school prepared her for university study.
Getting kids out the door with a diploma is no biggie. Any state can do it if it's willing to degrade the product to a level where any nincompoop can pass the state graduaqtion exam.
We often considered homeschooling. Indeed, we did so with each child for the sixth grade only. That along with continual monitoring and frequent counter-teaching allowed our children to escape. Today, I cannot imagine how bad things are.
Good and very accurate information on our school situation down here. Public schools, especially in our part of Texas, are generally horrible, except for high schools like Bellaire which has a significant Asian population and high academic scores. My grandson also goes to private school. He ran cross country this fall and we literally had meets at other private schools all across this part of Texas. Didn’t realize there were so many. Some are huge and others growing rapidly. Grandson’s school is only grades pre-k to 8 but they have thousands on the waiting list. Most of my neighbors homeschool.
Our neighbor is a teacher in the local high school and she despises that part. She is not a member of the teachers' union and would not vote for any dem - ever.
There are also several middle and high schools in Austin that have daycare centers in the school for single moms. That is part of "Keep Austin weird".