Nick Jimenez
Nick
Jimenez, Caller-Times editor, writes a weekly editorial column Sundays.
He can be reached at 361-886-3787 or
jimenezn@caller.com.
Sunday, September 26, 1999
When students like Maria fail, we all fail
The network of former newspaper reporters stretches far and wide. They form a kind of common bond, perhaps linked by footprints they permanently carry from the editors they have worked for. That's why I called Joey Lozano this week.
Joey is the chief spokesman for the Texas Education Agency, and a long time ago in a newsroom far far away in time, we both labored side by side as reporters for the Caller-Times.
I thought of Joey after running across Maria (which is not her real name), a young woman who works in a local taqueria. Maria finished high school more than a year ago, but did not get her diploma. The reason: she has yet to pass the TAAS test.
Maria is not alone. More than 5,000 Texas high school seniors last year did not get their degrees because of failing to pass all sections of the TAAS, or the Texas Assessments of Academic Skills. That's a lot of kids.
Maria wants her high-school degree. A lot of kids in her situation, unable to pass the state-mandated TAAS despite numerous attempts, would opt out for a GED certificate. But she's smart enough to know that a GED is not a high-school diploma.
Maria is Hispanic (what used to be called Mexican-American when Joe and I were reporters). She and the thousands of other Hispanics and blacks who have failed the TAAS are the reason that the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund want to get rid of the TAAS. They say the test is a barrier to minorities, keeping them from graduating and discouraging them from continuing their education. MALDEF has gone to court to get rid of the test.
Who can blame all the Marias of Texas and their parents who so want their kids to get their diplomas if they agree with MALDEF's point?
But I think the state's accountability system, including the TAAS test, is the greatest thing to ever happen to minority education in Texas. That's because I remember when no one outside of their families cared much when Hispanic kids dropped out of school, drifted off into low-wage jobs and onto the fringes of society. I remember when only the most committed teachers were concerned that few Hispanics were found in the higher levels of algebra, geometry and literature classes. And people who called themselves educators discouraged generations of Hispanics from going to college. The damage they did to lives and to Texas is now incalculable. The state's accountability system is making minority success everybody's business. Superintendents are hired and fired on the strength of their district's performance on the ratings system. And that ratings system is largely based on the 10th grade TAAS test scores, with specific attention paid to minority performance and dropout rates. Superintendents prod principals who in turn prod teachers.
Coercive? You bet. But it has had its intended effect. Texas public school education, on the whole, is better for it, and minority education has specifically benefited. Since 1994, the percentage of minorities passing all portions of the 10th grade exam has virtually doubled. The number of kids like Maria who fail to receive diplomas because of the TAAS is falling every year.
Is it perfect? Not by any means. The percentage of minorities failing the 10th-grade exam is still too high, and too big a gap exists between minority passing rates and Anglo passing rates. But will minorities be better off if TAAS is tossed out? I don't think so.
There are plenty of other places to look to improve schools before we toss out the state's accountability system. We must be sure that every kid has access to first-class science labs, the best teachers, the best computers, and the most committed counselors.
That means we still have a way to go on achieving equity in facilities, on acquiring the best-paid and best-trained teachers, and in setting the highest expectations for students, teachers, and everyone involved in education. We're not there as long as academic success remains largely a function of wealth, which it still is.
I hope Maria goes back to high school, takes the TAAS and passes it. Once, her future wouldn't have meant much to the majority of Texans. Now, all our own hopes ride with her.
