[TTPRW] DROPOUT PLAN UNDER FIRE — TFN NOT WORTHY TO BE QUOTED — 5.28.08

Carolyn Hileman - The Voice* | May 28, 2008

Dear Friends and Beloved Relatives,
Please pay special attention to the paragraph before the last one to learn the true nature and agenda of the ” Texas Freedom Network” ; we need to be vigilant concerning the activities of this organization- it is not” for religious freedom ” but for freedom FROM religion and it is” for individual liberties ” ONLY if those individuals are NOT PRO- LIFE- PRO- FAMILY CHRISTIANS.
Thanks for caring,
LJ

Don’t miss the comments in Donna Garner’s blog, below

From: J R
There is a large group of concerned citizens, parents, teachers, etc who are and have been working hard to improve Texas Schools.
There is a small but well funded band of self serving educrats who have been working equally hard to stop any improvement in our childrens education, and to further their anti-family, anti-child, anti-American, anti-God drive to make America the third world community they want it to become.

DROPOUT PLAN UNDER FIRE — TFN NOT WORTHY TO BE QUOTED — 5.28.08

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5804723.html
May 27, 2008, 10:45PM
TEA’s dropout plan under fire
State officials deny critics’ claims that the grants are a voucher program

By GARY SCHARRER
San Antonio Express-News

Excerpts from this article:

Critics complain it is an effort to create the state’s first publicly funded private school voucher program.

Scott [Commissioner of Education] denied the voucher claim.

“The Dropout Recovery Pilot Program is not a voucher program. It is an effort to bring dropouts back into the schoolhouse,” Scott said. “It uses state grant funds. It does not divert a penny of Foundation School Fund money from school districts. In fact, school districts are eligible to apply for this grant, as are universities, charter schools, county departments of education, regional education service centers and nonprofit organizations.”

…The Legislature has repeatedly made it clear that tax dollars should be used to fund public schools, not private schools, said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for public education, religious freedom and individual liberties.

=============================================================

Houston Chronicle blog:

Posted by Donna Garner:

Say what you will, but having taught for 33 years in large/small, urban/rural, wealthy/poor schools around the state of Texas, I can say this unequivocally: A student who is successful in her/his academic work is much less likely to drop out of school.

Therefore, if the public schools of Texas will embrace the new back-to-the-basics English / Language Arts / Reading (ELAR) standards that were passed last Friday, our state will see fewer dropouts.

If students learn to read with facility and learn to write and speak English well, they will perform much better in their other classes, will feel much more positive about themselves, and will look toward to the future with hopefulness. Such students are far less likely to drop out of school.

Meanwhile, I believe Commissioner Scott is trying to bring dropouts back to school through innovative dropout programs. It remains to be seen whether these dropout programs do what they should which is to help students master the basic concepts so that they can be successful in higher-level courses; but as Commissioner Scott said, public schools can apply for the Dropout Recovery grant if they have an innovative plan.

By the way, when is the news media going to stop quoting the Texas Freedom Network? What dropout program have they ever produced? In fact, what have they ever done to help bring about true education reform to our state?

In the recent ELAR standards debate in which there were countless document drafts produced over the three-year process, I do not remember TFN ever having done the “grunge” work of reading through the lengthy drafts and offering substantive suggestions.

I do not ever remember TFN having spent the countless hours to go page by page through a single textbook, painstakingly writing down the errors and carefully evaluating the textbooks in an effort to help schools to adopt the best books.

All TFN has ever done is to obstruct the efforts of people around this state who are doing their best to bring about real education reform. It is more important to TFN to attack the messenger than to improve education for the 4.6 million Texas schoolchildren.

Let’s be honest and tell it like it is. TFN does not care about the dropouts. They do not care about the education of the children in this state. They have one agenda and that agenda is wrapped around their sister organizations: Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign (largest homosexual organization in the country). Cecile Richards is the founder of TFN and president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Samantha Smoot was the executive director of TFN for six years and became the political director of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D. C.

If TFN ever throws its time and efforts into getting “in the trenches” and actually doing something substantive to help students learn to read, write, spell, calculate, learn science and history, be successful in their career/technology classes, and benefit from their fine arts and athletic activities, then perhaps TFN will deserve to be quoted by the news media about education issues. Until then, TFN does not deserve to be quoted about the dropout issue nor any other education issue.

5/28/2008 8:42:00 AM

Donna Garner
wgarner1

Contributor's website: http://thevoice.name

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