Education now vs education then.


In the commentary "Let our children inherit an old-fashioned education," written by Allen Weeks ,Special to the Austin American Statesman, Weeks worries that education today is not the same as it was when you and I were attending school. This article is directed towards parents of youth in todays school sysytem. Weeks argues that since the budget cuts of 2011,caused by faulty projections rather than a true fiscal emergency, many schools are lacking key programs and the fews schools that have been able to retain some of these programs are too far for low income students to reach due to lack of transportation.

Weeks obviously valued his own educational upbringing and seems to put emphasis on the fact that he had a trade to fall back on. Being a teacher and a parent of a first and second grader, Weeks offers his valuable opinions on standarized testing in Texas, showing that the state of Texas is currently overtesting its students. Weeks provides evidence that high schoolers now must pass 15 state-mandated tests to graduate as opposed to most other states which only require 0-3. These tests are overwhelming and offsetting over half the freshman and sophmores who didnt pass their first five tests and are already on to the next five. He makes the point that with all the time spent learning test taking strategies it takes away from actual engaged learning.

Weeks gives tangible ways to solve the needs for our children to succeed academically. He claims that we need to give back the 5.4 billion that was "stolen" from Texas students in 2011, being that we have an $8.8 billion budget surplus and almost $9 billion in the states "Rainy Day Fund." He feels we need to restore these funds immediately.

I agree with his argument being that I am a mother of a student in grade school and I feel that we need to focus more on the development of the children and their learning skills rather than put so much emphasis on taking so many tests. I also strongly agree with his statement that we need a generation of critical thinkers and not accompished test takers.


http://www.statesman.com/news/news/opinion/weeks-let-our-children-inherit-an-old-fashioned-ed/nWWbh/

Ending The Driver Responsibility Program

 

 

 

This article written by Cody Permenter for The Texas Tribune talks about ending The Texas Driver Responsibility Program, which is a program where the DPS administers surcharges on the drivers' license of people convicted of driving offenses, from a minor traffic violation to major offenses like DWI and if the driver doesn't pay the fines their license can be revoked.

The program was started to help raise funds for trauma hospitals. Three Texas lawmakers announcing House Bill 104, State Rep. Larry Gonzales, R-Round Rock, State Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, state that the program was created with good intentions, but is now causing a headache for many Texans.

The article states that this program has had some very bad outcomes resulting in 1.3 million Texas drivers with invalid licenses. All of this because people simply cant afford to pay surcharges on top of fines. I agree with this bill and believe this is worth reading because I know quite a few people that are dealing with these charges including myself. I am still paying on surcharges from a traffic violation years ago. Not many people know that getting pulled over for something as small as not changing your address on your drivers' license can result in you paying hundreds of dollars if you don't take care of the fine immediately. Many people I know are forced to drive with an invalid license because they have no choice but to get to school or work. Gonzales says that this has created a "compounding cycle," where people who cannot pay the surcharges continue to drive out of necessity, and rack up additional charges from penalties.

The article also states that only 40 percent of the charges have been collected through the program which amounts to $370 million, which the lawmakers say will fund the trauma facilities until 2019, thus giving the Legislature time to find a solution for future funding. I believe that even if they just continue to give surcharges to DWI offenders and not minor traffic offenders, the number of Texas drivers with invalid licenses will decrease.

http://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/07/lawmakers-advocate-ending-driver-responsibility-pr/