Time Magazine’s Andrew Rotherham professed to being “confused” over Arne Duncan’s attack on the performance of Texas schools — and his ignorance over the performance of the Chicago school district Duncan actually ran.  The Dallas Morning News’ editorial writer Rodger Jones isn’t confused at all.  He’s irate.  In a column that appeared in yesterday’s newspaper, Jones prints the response to Duncan from Robert Scott, Texas’ education chief, but not before getting in a few shots himself at Duncan’s “lies”:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s insult to Texas public education was a politically motivated distortion that doesn’t become a federal official in his position.

What a load this guy is.

We shouldn’t hear lies come out of the mouth of the nation’s top education official (photo at right) when he discusses the record of millions of students and dedicated educators.

What lies?  Well, Duncan told a whopper about Texas class sizes, for one, a rather shabby and easily checkable lie at that.

The tipoff that Duncan doesn’t care about facts was his statement about “massive increases in class size in Texas” during Rick Perry’s time in the governor’s office. …

I checked TEA records on statewide class size averages. Primary grades held steady, of course, while most secondary class averages went down during the Perry years.

Examples: Secondary math classes averaged 20.3 students in 2000-01 and dropped to 18.5 by last year. Average size of secondary English/language arts classes fell from 20.2 students in 2000-01 to 17.8 by last year.

Anybody could look this stuff up. It’s right there on the TEA website. Duncan surely has a few thousand employees who could help him find it.

Here’s another clue: Texas caps student-to-teacher ratios in primary and secondary education by statute at 22:1.  That limitation has been in place during the entire time that Perry has been governor in Texas.  The nation’s Secretary of Education apparently doesn’t know how to do research before positing claims, or — as Jones accuses — deliberately lied for political purposes.

The obvious political purpose is to attack a Republican challenger to his boss, which would put Duncan out of work.  Jones offers another motive: Perry’s refusal to join Duncan’s Race to the Top.  Perry balked at the program as part of his general opposition to federal interference in state jurisdiction, which Jones calls “political,” but offers it as a reason that Duncan would want to make Texas’ education efforts look deficient.

But are they deficient?  TEA chief Scott argues in his open letter to Duncan that Texas is actually doing better than average on several important metrics:

– In 2009, Texas ranked 7th in a 26 state comparison of the only states reporting four-year on-time graduation rates. That year Texas’ on-time graduation rate was 80.6%. The Texas on-time graduation rate for 2010 is now 84.3%, an amazing 3.7 percentage point increase in a single year on the dropout indicator that you are now requiring all states to report to the Department.

– Texas is ranked 13th in Ed Week’s Quality Counts report. Quality Counts gave Texas an “A” in “Standards, Assessment and Accountability,” and an “A” in “Transitions and Alignment” of the Texas system with college and career readiness. This year’s graduating class is the first to graduate under Texas’ required 4×4 graduation requirements (four years of math, science, English language arts and social studies) and we are already seeing great things from the class of 2011.

– The Texas class of 2011 posted a record-high math score on the ACT college entrance exam. The Texas average math score was 21.5 and was higher than the national average of 21.1. ACT scores from 2007 to 2011 showed increases in all four subjects.

– The 2009 NAEP Science results were impressive, as well. Texas’ African American eighth-grade students earned the highest score in the nation and our Hispanic eighth-grade students were eighth. Only eighth-grade students attending the Department of Defense schools scored higher than Texas’ white students who were tied with white students in Massachusetts. On the fourth-grade test, Texas’ African American students out-performed their peers in every state accept Virginia and those students attending Department of Defense Schools. Texas’ fourth-grade white students were ranked third behind only Virginia and Massachusetts.

It seems that the Secretary of Education needs to repeat a course or two on research, honesty, and integrity.

One of the defined areas of San Antonio Tea Party concern is the “protection of individual rights and liberties while promoting personal responsibility, morality, and religious expression” (see SATP Mission).  Given that, we happily note the Department of Health and Human Services’ recent (though reluctant) release of a study that highlights the importance AND SUCCESS of this concept in the lives of the majority of American parents.  Following is the story, as reported by Bill Bumpas of OneNewsNow -You may also read the full report .

*****

Feds listen, release pro-abstinence study

Bill Bumpas – OneNewsNow – 8/30/2010 4:00:00 AM

In response to heavy criticism, the Department of Health and Human Services has reluctantly released the full results of a national study that favors abstinence education.

The survey, which was initially released in summary form only, revealed that about 70 percent of parents and their teenagers believed teens should wait until marriage to have sex. But when a researcher requested the full report and was denied by HHS officials, that launched a grassroots effort by pro-family groups encouraging the public to file Freedom of Information Act requests.

“As a result of the overwhelming support of citizens across the U.S. doing just that, [the government] relented and posted the full report,” explains Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA). “We’re glad that they made a good decision in that regard for clarity and openness.”

The full results show that a majority of those surveyed favor abstinence education. But Huber goes on to tell OneNewsNow that despite the good news, she is very concerned with the White House’s sex education policy.

“We know that the current administration does not support abstinence education, which is hard to understand in and of itself because this is kind of a common-sense approach and a common-sense strategy,” she notes. “You kind of scratch your head and wonder why anyone would not want young people to receive the message and the skills they need to avoid sexual experimentation when they’re teens.”

But the NAEA executive director is elated by the response that overwhelmed the Department of Health and Human Services and prompted the full release of the study.

This week, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) takes up the adoption of new social studies standards for public schools’ guidelines that will impact students around the country from kindergarten to 12th grade for the next ten years. Hearings begin Wednesday and run through Friday in Austin over curriculum requirements for U.S. History, U. S. Government, and other social studies-related courses. The controversy over the new requirements involves the impact and role of religion in America (including Christmas), the Founding Fathers, the greatness of America and the exclusion or inclusion of significant persons in U.S. history including Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Daniel Boone and more.

Stay on top of this issue! Visit our Texas Legislative Update blog here Wednesday through Friday as we blog from the hearings.

Friends and Patriots,

Wednesday morning, 3/10/10, I drove to Austin and arrived at the Texas Education Agency in time to be present when Fox and other news agencies gathered for a preliminary news conference concerning “testimony to the State Board of Education” (S.B.O.E.). After the news session, we adjourned into the SBOE chambers. I was honored to be given the information and to be invited to testify today and thanks in a large part goes to Jonathan Saenz, Esq., Director of Legislative Affairs & Attorney for the Liberty Institute.

I was up late preparing the one-pager (time limit of 3 minutes) and I appreciate the efforts and help from Dr. John Bell, Hope d’Amore, and Jonathan Saenz. I’ve included at the attachment my summary and I can tell you this: 3 minutes goes by quickly. I did not have time to quickly read though this before my time expired; however, 2 Board members (who had copies of my sheet) wanted to address the items I didn’t cover, and they assured me the items in question would not be removed from the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills). I found the Board to be friendly and reassuring about the message I brought. My prayers were answered — and hopefully, this will bring about good fruit for the school children of Texas (and other states) over the next 10 years (at least in the areas of Social Studies, Government, and World History).

Thanks to all of you who lent encouragement and support. It is only with the help of friends, Patriots, and those who pray that we will stand and prevail.

Standing fast for ‘Liberty’,
Gary D. Nunn, Chairman Precinct 4054
SATP Education Tiger Team Leader
***********************************************************************************************************************************

Testimony to the Texas State Board of Education
Gary D. Nunn

Hello and thank you for this wonderful opportunity today. I am Gary Nunn, U.S. Air Force retired, with 24 years — at which time I chose a teaching career. This new career allowed me to use what I’d learned while serving my country and traveling to other states and countries as well. I taught Social Studies – and integrated that across the curriculum, since I taught all classes in 5th and 6th grade Special Education. I became an Administrator and served as assistant principal at both junior high and at elementary and was a Director when the first Alternative Education Programs were put in place in 1996. After 16 years, a year ago in December, I retired but kept abreast of Education. I know how important the standards are that the State Board of Education will pass and that they will be in effect for the next 10 years . Because “what happens in Texas doesn’t just stay in Texas”, I know the standards you enact will be viable across most of the nation.
There were “unelected review members” who had a chance to ‘tinker with Social Studies, U.S. Government and World History and more. Some of the changes were outrageous – and, thankfully, the SBOE has voted to reject many of those proposals. Many of those things have already been addressed and those who did the “revision” did an exceptional job in my opinion. However, a few things, I feel, are yet to be resolved and I trust this Board will address these.

First, Social Studies, Grade 1, page 7, Sections (b)(1)(A) July 2009 Draft:
I understand Independence Day, Neil Armstrong, Daniel Boone, Christopher Columbus were all previously removed – but have now been returned. I’m glad somebody put them back. Thank you.

However, on Section (b)(15) Culture. It used to say: “The student understands the importance of family beliefs, customs, language, and traditions of communities, etc., etc. Families and traditions of families has become unimportant. The community has gained more importance; “ No, really, the word “family” and “families” has been removed. “Family” was taken out in the revision and the word “community” is taking its’ place??? It seems to me those who edited this draft overlooked “the family” as being a vital part of THE CULTURE IN TEXAS. I HOPE that will strike a note with the BOARD and that the BOARD will LOOK AT AND PROVIDE A REMEDY FOR THIS “OVERSIGHT” – THIS BLUNDER, to my way of thinking. It seems the “revisionists” have edited the “family” out of Texas culture – that’s what the Draft Recommendation says.

Second, U.S. Government, Page 2, Section (c)(1)(B) (October 2009 Draft):
Section (c) (1)(B) has been changed, adding something that was seriously lacking – and that concerned me greatly. I understand the Texas Freedom Network and other organizations were attempting to delete from our textbooks any mention of the religious background of our Founding Fathers – however, any objective reading of these Founding Fathers affirms our very existence as a nation is predicated upon universal principles, or Natural Laws, which transcend man-made laws – illustrated in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution and rooted in Judeo-Christian principals, as my friend Hope d’Amore so eloquently pointed out in her letter to Gail Lowe, Chairman of the State Board of Education, from Lampassas.

My friend, Dr. John Bell said this: “ rewriters of history delight in debunking historical truth. Even the most educated and articulate fall prey to perpetuating revisionist myths. Most recently, President Obama ignored these historical facts and cultural considerations in his apparent efforts to build goodwill in the Muslim world by declaring America is not a Christian nation. Nothing could be further from the truth. America is by no means perfect and has strayed from her principles on occasion – however, those principles derived from the Christian tradition have served her well for 233 years. For her future, and for the future of Texas, we would do better to “live the sentiment” of “one Nation under God” rather than to deny that part of her history. God bless America – God bless Texas – and God bless the Texas State Board of Education!!!

The Justice Foundation has put together a form that you can print out and give to your children’s school to protect their rights.

Click here to download or print it.