"I appreciate the work that FOTPS does to highlight all the wonderful things happening in public education. I am a huge advocate of public education and know without a doubt that I'm in a profession that makes a difference in kids' lives every single day. I feel that there is no higher calling. I wish you the very best in your very important work."  

~Jeanie Johnson, Ed.D., Executive Director of Administrative Services, Midway ISD

"I just wanted to take a minute to let you know how much I enjoyed your session at Admin Academy. I was so excited during it I couldn't help but tell my leadership team about it right away; we are incorporating some of the book Hard Optimism into our back-to-school training.  Your session was so positive and reminded all of us why we became educators in the first place.  I truly thank you for that!  I can't wait to go to ambassador training throughout the year.  It will be a source of encouragement to keep us focused on all the things that are going well!"  

~ Jenny McGown, Principal Zwink Elementary, Klein ISD

 ...read more  

 Share your testimony with us 

Leslie and I were in the car and heard a misleading story on AM radio about the ACT results when this information released last week. They accurately reported that the percentage of ACT test takers is up 39% between 2008 and 2012. They also accurately reported that our ACT score was unchanged this year over last at 20.8 and that our score falls short of the national score of 21.1. That's where the report ended, and that's where we all need to continue telling this story!

Average Joe Texan doesn't understand two important factors not reported in this story. First, unlike many states, Texas strongly encourages all students to aspire to college and therefore to take the ACT exam. And second, Texas has much higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students, students in poverty, students living in single parent homes, and students with limited English proficiency. Since we know these challenges are factors that impact student performance, we also know that the more students we have taking the ACT, the lower the score will tend to be.

What this AM radio news report failed to explain is that Texas educators have done a tremendous job of increasing the numbers and percentages of students taking the ACT while preventing a natural decrease in the score. The fact that the score has remained constant with increasing numbers of students taking the exam is remarkable! Texas educators should be congratulated. Instead, we are left with the typical impression that our students are lagging behind their peers nationally when the opposite is actually true.

If we were to break down the ACT results by groups of students at various levels of poverty, and we will do that this fall, we predict, at every level, Texas students will be outperforming their peers across the U.S.

read the press release... 

Check out our rock star founder of Friends of Texas Public Schools, Leslie Milder! Her new book, "Hello! My Name is Public School and I Have an Image Problem", just released last week and is available on Amazon.

Co-authored with colleague Jane Braddock, this book is a must read for all educators... the best teacher book since The First Days of School.

order the book...  

Texas school districts are invited to link to and share a new TASB web resource for parents of students new to Texas public schools. MyTexasPublicSchool.org provides answers to commonly asked questions and need-to-know information for parents of incoming kindergartners, as well as students moving to Texas or who are transitioning from private school or homeschooling to Texas public schools.
 

The site covers key topics, such as how to enroll, how the school system is structured, and how parents can get involved in their child's education. Also available are downloadable handouts for districts to use in their own information sharing.