Paige & Spellings: The TT Interview
Last week, a group of mostly conservative-leaning education leaders — including former University of Texas System Board of Regents Chairman Charles Miller and House Public Education Chair Rob Eissler — gathered in Austin for a forum titled "Improving Productivity in Public Education." Former U.S. Secretaries of Education Rod Paige and Margaret Spellings under President George W. Bush took time to discuss the state's looming budget cuts, the Bush legacy, President Obama and what should change in public education.
Comments (11)
Connor Kilpatrick via Texas Tribune on Facebook
And yet Texans (and Americans) will probably just nod and say "yes, yes they are."
Hey, it's not like there's--you know--huge concentrations of fraudulent wealth in this country that could fund this stuff!
Stephen Pollard via Texas Tribune on Facebook
How many buzz words can these two use in an interview? Accountability, standards, as if we do not talk about this everyday. Seriously, these two are out of touch with reality and simply continue the attack on public education. Spellings ...said that public education will destroy itself under its own weight. What? Really? How so? We do very well under the constraints we have both financial and political. Do these two even look at how we are held accountable by the state financially? Does the public even know this? Districts care greatly about how monies are spent, but the cost of educating children continues to rise just like everything else in this world! How hard is this to understand people? Certainly, we can look at how to spend money better, but listening to these two bloviate, makes me ill. http://c0032622.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/FASTp2districts.pdf
Paige, well, his legacy his well known in Houston...enough said.
Tommie Duncan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Amazing that the US is willing to cut education...yet fund MORE AND MORE prisons...the answer is simple...legalize drugs, prostitution, and gambling...tax them...release all non-violent offenders...there is your savings...and your education...but hey, there is BIG money for corporations in incarcerations and very little in education...the US will for sure slide towards third world status...
Mark Lusk via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Education is the future. Do not cut there.
Melody Simon via Texas Tribune on Facebook
As an attendee to this forum, I feel the video interview misrepresents the point of it. I will never defend the Leave No Child Behind Act, but I think there have been some false assumptions made about education and spending.
We should not assume that throwing more money at education necessarily solves the problem of poor education - this is a major fallacy. Most educators around the world, including those at this forum, laud the "Finland model." Fins, as you probably know, are intelligent people, and score near the top in every sort of metric. But it would probably surprise you to know that they spend, on average, quite a bit less per pupil than we do here in the States. The forum merely sought to introduce accountability standards and efficiencies into how we spend our dollars, especially as they are becoming less and less. And I would have to disagree with Mr. Pollard's point that districts care greatly about how monies are spent - some, but not all. They are interested in receiving as much tax dollars as they can, which does not imply that they are using the money efficiently. If you look at Mr. Pollard's link, take a look at Alief Montessori School - rated exemplary, but is one of the lowest spenders per pupil. Compare to Andrews ISD, which spends one of the greatest amounts per pupil, but is rated Academically Unacceptable. Therefore, demonizing cuts in education at large ignores this problem entirely.
Paige and Spellings weren't the major players at this forum, yet they were chosen to speak for it - I find that really, really unfortunate on behalf of the Texas Tribune to choose to represent this angle of it.
Texas Tribune via Texas Tribune on Facebook
@Melody — Paige and Spellings are both expressing their own views, not speaking for the forum — that just happens to be where both interviews were conducted.
Debra Haas
Cuts to public education are ONLY inevitable if the state of Texas continue to ignore the need for tax restructuring. We don't lack the ability to pay for public education in Texas, we lack political will.
Debra Haas via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Cuts to public education are ONLY inevitable if the state of Texas continues to ignore the need for tax restructuring. We don't lack the ability to pay for public education in Texas, we lack political will.
psymetric
It's sad. Words, words, words. They just don't understand how little intellectual substatnce there is to what they say.
Pat Morford Smith via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Why does Paige assume that the general public will take a stand to uphold the bureaucracy and waste of management in education? Don't most of us support the students as our central concern?
Tommie Duncan via Texas Tribune on Facebook
@ Pat, unfortunately most folks really don't give a damn...if they did the schools would be far better then they are now...