State officials and Valley residents debate TAKS at accountability hearing
Posted by Texas Education on July 17, 2008
This was the sixth community meeting the committee has held across the state.
Co-chairs Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and Rep. Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, listened to expert and public testimony on the state’s systemic inadequacies, including the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.
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The testimony of BISD Superintendent Hector Gonzales exemplified the funding paradox low-income, low-testing schools face.
“(English language learner) students enter kindergarten with multiple risk factors, yet they’re expected to be at the same level by third grade,” Gonzales said. “We’re stuck at 2006 funding, even though we know that it takes just as much money to educate a student in Brownsville as it does in Austin.”
Gonzales’ testimony highlighted the modern-day segregation low-income students face. By teaching primarily the content on a standardized test, students miss out on the rich, creative learning that higher-income children can experience through private extracurricular activities.
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