Obama Administration Disses Perry’s Education Record (314 hits)
August 22, 2011 Politicos and education wonks alike are calling out Education Secretary Arne Duncan over statements he made this weekend concerning Texas education under Gov. Rick Perry, one of the Republican presidential hopefuls.
“You have seen massive increases in class size. You’ve seen cutbacks in funding,” Duncan told Bloomberg Television in an interview that aired Aug. 18 and 19. “It doesn’t serve the children well. It doesn’t serve the state well. It doesn’t serve the state’s economy well. And ultimately it hurts the country.”
According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), state law caps student-teacher ratios at 22:1. The Dallas Morning News reports high school class sizes have actually dropped over the last 11 years.
In an open letter to Duncan, TEA chief Robert Scott notes the class of 2011 “posted a record-high math score on the ACT college entrance exam. The Texas average math score was 21.5 and was higher than the national average of 21.1. ACT scores from 2007 to 2011 showed increases in (math, science, English language arts and social studies).”
The Lone Star State graduates 73 percent of its high school students, compared to just 56 percent in Chicago — the school district Duncan oversaw before joining the Obama administration. by Karla Dial
