Proposed Charter School Would Focus on Adult Students
In 2009, all that stood between Anita Rodriguez and a high school diploma was one standardized test.
A student at the Austin Independent School District, she had the required credits for graduating but could not pass her TAKS math exam. Rodriguez, now 22, earned her GED in August.
The GED will help get her into cosmetology school, but its value in the workforce is still lower than the high school diploma she nearly received. To get it, she repeated much of her earlier coursework.
The Goodwill Industries of Central Texas program that helped Rodriguez get her GED is one of ...
Comments (8)
Chuck Waldrep via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Retraining and remedial training are both good ideas
Renee E. Babcock via Texas Tribune on Facebook
It benefits everyone when adults are able to get their GED. It gives those people potentially an opportunity to continue their education. People without high school diplomas are in the group with the highest amount of unemployment, so helping them be able to find jobs is good for them, good for us. Education is never a bad or wrong investment. But too many don't want to invest, because the ROI is not immediate.
Matthew Cowan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
The professional bureaucratic class of educators have pushed the notion that everyone should go to college and therefore our education system should be designed for that. Fact is not every kid should go to college. Not every kid wants to go to college. So in the end we may be preparing a set of kids for college but we are setting up a set of kids for failure. The education system has turned its back on vocational training. The system looks down on that. The education system needs to recognize the benefit of early vocational training and that it is just as important as preparing students for college.
Shawn AndMichelle Wehmeyer via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Hmmm....Our School District is currently helping to fund two programs that benefit post high school students of any age! One is a local branch of an area community college and the other is a technical training facility that trains workers for nearby chemical plants. Both programs exist in properties owned by the district, renovated by the district, and maintained by the district. Meanwhile we recently shuttered an award winning elementary school, laid off 20% of our elementary teachers, and have faced continuous cuts in the classroom due to lack of funds. You should contact our district and see how they are getting around this problem!
Matthew Cowan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Lack of funding? The state has been increasing state funding of education each session. What you refer to as a cut was a one time funding from the Federal Govt. The school districts were told that this would be a 1 time funding grant. So if the district did not take that into account then that is their problem. I suggest you take that up with your elected school board members.
STOPTHE MAGNET
Mathew's comment below is spot on.Taxpayers should not be burdened with education costs beyond K-12 and vocational training needs to be put back into the high schools. In this manner we also attack the problem of Third World Immigration crushing the West. The business lobby needs to get off the "crack immigration" addiction and start lobbying to transform our education system instead of writing checks to politicians to bypass immigration enforcement.
David Spratt
If I am not mistaken I have already paid 1 time to educate these people,,, even the ones learning English as a second language,, who I presume were not born here or they would know English. Maybe Anita Rodriguez should have studied a little harder the first time around,, but then she probably had better things to do. Good for Goodwill and any other org that will do it,, but quit coming to responsible people who are working and paying their taxes trying to fund their own lives and asking them to pay for your mistakes.
Texas RMS
Education is good for the state of Texas. Good education is even better. Matthew, what is your expertise in school funding issues? Do you have any idea how much goes into teaching children to become lifelong learners? If you truly believe that schools are not struggling, please dig deeper. Find out about the total cuts to programs such as Pre-kindergarten, a program that puts children from low income families on a good start to education. Do some research into the value of a child having a hot breakfast before his day starts. You think we are admin heavy, but do you have any idea how much work is involved in adhering to state and federal guidelines on a multitude of topics? In my small town, the school system is the biggest employer. That requires people in payroll, technology, transportation, food services, maintenance as well as those who actually teach. And then let's factor in those children with disabilities. They deserve a chance, too, but they are expensive to educate.
The current climate of pushback on educating our children and doing it well is very discouraging. The governor touts people moving to Texas but has no plan to provide funding for growth. So yes, spreading the same funding to cover more children amounts to a cut. Less funding per child means less teaching per child.
What I keep hearing is a desire to abandon the constitutional requirement to educate our children. This is going to bring a uneducated workforce to this state. And that will hurt you.