Nov
24
Written by:
Mark Lavergne
11/24/2009 5:23 PM
Today one candidate for Texas Governor unveiled an education plan, another unveiled an education funding plan, and the actual Governor told the Commissioner of Education not to change Texas' education standards in hopes of attaining the federal government's stimulus carrot on an stick.
Hutchison's "e-Learning device"
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison proposed that the Texas education system should be brought into the "21st century". She wants to "devise new technologies and new formats" to track progress, leveraging "the private market to develop a hybrid e-Learning device especially tailored for students."
In other words, Hutchison seems to support some variation of laptops for students, and is looking to engage private corporations to provide them to classrooms. The natural question being -- at what cost to the taxpayer?
Campaign spokesman Joe Pounder said that Hutchison's goal was for the new devices to be as "inexpensive as possible" and paid for through funds repurposed through cost savings achieved by applying best practices from charter schools to public schools across the state. See below for more on that.
The release from the Hutchison campaign says that the "e-Learning" device could serve as a textbook but could also be used for test-taking purposes and tracking student performance. Most recently in Texas controversy has swirled over using education dollars to fund laptops rather than textbooks, as well as over who would approve the curriculum material that goes onto those laptops.
"As it is now, e-curriculum will still be approved by the State Board of Education," Pounder told LSR in an email moments ago. "By bringing together leaders from across the spectrum, Kay Bailey Hutchison is hoping to leverage the private market to develop as many options as possible for the delivery of this e-curriculum, especially through enhanced e-reader devices. It will still be the prerogative of the local school boards to determine which option best fits their needs when it comes to e-curriculum. Kay Bailey Hutchison also did propose a state buying pool that could help smaller districts get technology cheaper."
Hutchison's other proposals include a focus on teacher recruitment and retention, dropout prevention, and financial accountability. One of her dropout recommendations deals with open enrollment charter schools.
Texas currently has about 200 charter schools serving more than 113,000 students. The Hutchison administration will support both the continued development of these schools and the adoption of their best practices by all Texas public schools.
Pounder told LSR that Hutchison "would support lifting the cap" on charter schools.
Mark Miner, spokesman for the Perry campaign, said today in a response to Hutchison's education plan that her proposals were "without one new policy initiative."
Gilbert's vision for education funding: tax and gamble
Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hank Gilbert unveiled his new education funding plan -- which comes down to new taxes and bigtime gambling.
He announced today that he wants a new "big box" tax, which is a gross receipts tax on retail stores that earn more than $20 million in sales annually. He also called for "internet sales tax fairness," a legislative mandate that Internet retailers (e.g. Amazon) operating "affiliate programs" in Texas and making more than $10,000 a year through in-state affiliates charge Texas sales tax to Texas residents on internet purchases.
And Gilbert proposed having voters decide whether to allow existing Texas racetracks to operate full casinos and whether the state should give out a limited number of licenses to build and operate Destination Resort Casinos in Texas.
Perry: Education standards should be determined by the State
Also today Gov. Rick Perry issued a letter to Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott urging him not to commit the state to adopting national standards and assessments in its application to Race to the Top stimulus funding. The U.S. Dept. of Education has said it would give preferences to schools that adopted national standards, though no standards have yet been adopted.
Said Perry:
Texas is already ahead of most other states in setting college and career-ready standards in our schools. The citizens of Texas, not the federal government, know what is best for our children. As the federal government continues its sweeping expansion of federal authority from the financial, energy and health care systems, it is now attempting to increase their intrusion into Texas classrooms.
While Texas' curriculum standards are largely set by the elected State Board of Education (SBOE), Perry's press release argues that the U.S.DOE is attempting to "coerce" states like Texas into adopting federal standards.
The Governor's Office said that Texas is eligible for $750 million in Race to the Top funding.