Give Education Reform in Texas a Chance to Work
Now that the Texas Legislature is taking a hard look at the way education reforms are being implemented across the state, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my recent experience traveling to Austin to talk with the State Board of Education about this important issue. As you might have heard, lawmakers passed a reform bill last year that created more flexibility for students who are trying to get a high school diploma in Texas. Those of us in the trades, like construction, have been very supportive of this for two main reasons: we want to see as many young people succeed as possible, and we feel there’s a career for many of them in our industries.
When I went to Austin to give public testimony on behalf of our education partner, NCCER, I understood that my goal was to provide an employer’s perspective of the relevance and rigor we find within the NCCER curricula and why we think utilizing industry standard curricula would give high school students an advantage in the work place.