The 4th of July this month marks an opportunity to reflect on our mission to protect the fundamental rights of all Texans to a free, quality public education. We share that mission not only with you but with generations of Texas families, civil rights advocates, and community leaders who recognize that strong public schools that welcome all students are an essential cornerstone to our democracy. Thank you for all that you do for our schools!
Our Schools Our Democracy in Action
- Network for Public Education: Our friends at NPE just released their schedule for this year’s conference happening in Conroe this September, including multiple panels featuring OSOD. Registration is still open!
- Standing up for Texas public schools: OSOD testified against a concerning new charter application at the State Board of Education. Along with district leadership, teachers, and Aldine AFT, we highlighted the unneeded duplication of existing services and the potential harm from unlimited charter expansion.
- OSOD on the road: OSOD staff traveled from Lubbock to Houston last month to hear from Texans how education privatization is affecting their communities. We also were proud to join the Texas Rural Education Association’s annual conference to share our work!
Our work is free to use but not free to produce.
Your donation will enable OSOD to continue our fight to protect public schools through research, education, and advocacy and help put the brakes on runaway efforts to privatize our public education system.
News You Can Use
Find more news and resources at https://osod.org/news/.
- Texas voucher promise tracker: Houston Chronicle reports that fewer than 30 students with disabilities received a maximum $30,000 voucher, quoting OSOD’s Dee Carney: “That disconnect raises important questions about whether the program can deliver on its supporters’ promises or whether vouchers will offer more options on paper than in practice.”
- Charter schools losing students: IDRA published an analysis of Texas school attrition that finds that the dropout rate at charters is triple the rate of Texas public school districts. According to the analysis, attrition rates approached half of all students in Bexar County (49%), Hidalgo County (49%) and Travis County (47%).
- State takeovers vs. local control: Austin American-Statesman walked through what could happen next if the Texas Education Agency adds Austin ISD to the growing list of districts that have been taken over by the state. OSOD Executive Director Carrie Griffith spoke to the Statesman about how state takeovers strip local control away from communities.
- School closures sweep the state: Carrie Griffith also spoke to the Texas Observer about our map tracking school closures across Texas: “It’s not specific to urban or rural areas… It’s not confined to any sort of racial or ethnic breakdown. That is why we say it’s not a local failure; it’s a statewide trend.” Read the full story here.
Our Schools Our Stories
OSOD got the chance to visit Region One last month and hear directly from local leaders about some of the amazing programs in public school districts regionwide. View the full Our Schools, Our Stories collection and submit your own story to add your school to the map!
- El Paso ISD: If you’ve been watching the World Cup, you may have been cheering on a Texas public school success story! The U.S. Men’s National Team’s Alex Zendejas played at Tippin Elementary and Hornedo Middle School in El Paso ISD.
- McKinney ISD: Public Schools First McKinney shared a recent partnership between McKinney ISD and First United Bank to teach personal financial literacy to secondary students. Texas public schools are deeply rooted in our communities and teach life skills to millions of students every day.
- Dripping Springs ISD: Congratulations to the students and staff who create Dripping Springs High School’s yearbook – recognized this year as one of the best in the country! The Tiger Cry features award winning photos and received high marks for excellent coverage.
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For our schools and our democracy,
Maggie Stern
Director of Community Engagement