Greg Abbott’s Educating Texans plan will make Texas first in the nation in education.
The 2nd phase of Greg Abbott’s “Educating Texans” plan focuses on school governance, which includes who decides how schools operate and where children go to school. In this plan he outlines a series of recommendations to give greater control to local school districts and empowers families to make decisions for their children’s education.
This portion of Greg Abbott’s Educating Texans plan focuses on returning GENUINE LOCAL CONTROL to our education system by giving local school districts operational flexibility in the daily management of their schools.
Greg Abbott believes that our public education system has become too centralized with one-size-fits-all solutions and unnecessary and unfunded mandates from Austin that tie educators’ hands and limit parents’ choices.
Greg Abbott’s plan puts trust in those who make the biggest difference: Parents, Teachers, and Principals.
Under Greg Abbott’s Educating Texans plan, the state should set high standards, provide the tools for success—and then get out of the way!
Greg Abbott is proposing that school districts – in consultation with parents –be permitted to exempt themselves from state mandates related to daily operations, allowing them to devise individualized plans that are more responsive to the needs & the aspirations of their students & parents.
Greg Abbott believes that parental involvement & empowerment are cornerstones of a strong education system and his plan ensures that parents will have access to more information about schools, allowing them to be an active partner in their child’s education.
Greg Abbott’s Educating Texans plan includes essential tools for parents to be better informed about their children’s educational options, including 4 key campus-level ratings that will be displayed prominently on the home page of each school’s website:
- A-F rating of academic performance
- Percentage of students performing at grade level in math & reading in the third and fifth grade
- Total amount the campus is spending per student along with the campus’s FAST rating, which measures financial efficiency
- Percentage of parents who selected each campus as their #1 choice
Greg Abbott believes that no child should be stuck in an under-performing school and no parent should be powerless to improve their child’s future. His Educating Texans plan strengthens parents’ ability to petition the Commissioner of Education to place a “F”- rated campus under alternative management, shortening the wait time from 5 years to 2 years before parents can intervene.
To help failing schools turn around quicker, Greg Abbott’s plan creates a Texas Achievement School District to give the Commissioner of Education the ability to intervene with the worst-performing elementary schools.
Greg Abbott knows that great schools start with great teachers. His plan creates Reading To Learn Academies that will offer innovative resources for 4th & 5th grade teachers & principals to improve students’ reading comprehension skills.
To ensure we have more teachers who are prepared to train students for one million new STEM-related jobs, Greg Abbott’s Educating Texans plan increases state support for the UTeach program, which was started at UT-Austin, and similar programs across the state that prepare talented math & science majors for teaching careers.
Greg Abbott’s plan also increases support for the Teach for America program which recruits high achieving college graduates to teach in underserved communities.
