Dr. Michael Soto, candidate for SAISD School Board

Dr. Michael Soto (logo)

Legislature

The 81st Texas Legislature convenes today, January 13th in Austin. A number of important bills pertaining to Texas public education have already been filed and will be assigned to committees by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R-Houston) and likely House Speaker Joe Straus. (R-San Antonio)

As a parent and an educator, I will fight for San Antonio families and taxpayers in Austin. My advocacy priorities include:

• relieving students, parents, and teachers from unnecessary TAKS test burdens;
• promoting universal pre-kindergarten; providing equitable funding for schools throughout the state;
• and increasing state support for teachers and other school staff

Our own SAISD delegation has already introduced legislation addressing such important issues as TAKS test reforms, higher education tuition relief, property sales price disclosure reforms, higher education tracking of public school graduates, and increased school-based access to dental care. This legislation will be of real benefit to students, parents, and taxpayers in SAISD District 7 and throughout our state.

Raising Expectations in SAISD & addressing the serious challenges facing SAISD will require teamwork involving everyone from PTAs and neighborhood associations to the Texas legislature. Among other things, we need to work together to stem the dropout crisis and to bring families back into SAISD.

It is absolutely critical that we raise academic standards for SAISD students. College and workforce readiness can't be mere buzzwords; everything that takes place in our schools should lead to success in college and in a career.

As your SAISD school board member, I will work tirelessly for: college prep expectations for all students, from pre-kindergarten through high school; a rigorous arts education program beginning in elementary school; character education that is thoroughly integrated into academic subjects; and policies that allow teachers the freedom to teach.

The Texas Education Agency reports that the Jefferson High School class of 2007 graduation rate stood at 65%. (The TEA reports a dropout rate of 23% for Jeff, but more reliable data from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA and IDRA in San Antonio suggest that the high school dropout/attrition rate is roughly twice as high)

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, 85% of students living in SAISD District 7 attend public schools. Until we expect the best from all students, we are selling our kids and community short. And when parents realize that we're serious about addressing the dropout crisis and about preparing students for college, we can expect to welcome back some of the 15% of families who have taken the private school route.