As our state begins a new year, we face a familiar challenge: How do we better prepare the next generation of Texas leaders?
As a former public school teacher, I think the answer to that question is found in our schools. The workers of tomorrow are being trained in the classrooms of today. So, are the leaders of tomorrow adequately prepared in our classrooms?
The Texas General Land Office is one of the largest financiers of public education in the state. As land commissioner and a former educator, I felt it was important to get an inside look at what our students are doing in the classroom, lend a helping hand, and speak with administrators and teachers. Too often, we strive to enhance education without understanding exactly where the need resides.
This past year, I decided to personally invest my time and energy in Texas students and schools. During the Texas General Land Office’s Year of Education, I visited with more than 80 administrators, 60 teachers and almost 4,000 students from across the state. I didn’t limit these visits to one region or one type of school. Rather, I visited educational environments of all types: public, private, charter, home-school, rural, urban and suburban.
For most of these lessons, I taught a class on Texas history featuring primary source material from the GLO archives, like a historic map of Texas. But what I found to be most rewarding were the moments not when I was talking, but when I was listening. And after hearing from so many administrators, teachers and students, some of the next steps our state needs to take in improving Texas education became clear.
Better education means a stronger emphasis on a flexible curriculum. We need to give schools and teachers the ability to find the sources and methods that work best for their kids. One size certainly does not fit all.
Better education means teaching critical thinking. With the age of artificial intelligence upon us, we need to ensure that our students are learning to think and ask the right questions. This requires a stronger emphasis on writing, reading and projects that require students to think hard and get to the bottom of tough questions.
Better education means a greater emphasis on vocational education. Not every child needs to go to college. The Texas economy of the future will undoubtedly require scientists and engineers, but it will also require carpenters, plumbers and electricians — jobs that require not college but training and that pay well, too.
Better education means more school choice. When we give parents a choice, we give kids a chance. Children should not be stuck in schools that don’t perform and won’t change. A ZIP code should not determine a child’s success in life.
But better education means focusing on models that work, like Dallas ISD. Schools that are implementing this model are quickly turning around, improving their ratings across the board. Thought leaders should seek to further explore models such as this, and act quickly to enact changes to improve failing school districts.
And better education means doing more to teach the history of our great state. The leaders of Texas’ future must know the story of Texas’ past. When I visited classrooms last year, I took actual primary source material from our archives to teach the heroism of the Alamo defenders, including a cannonball fired at the Battle of the Alamo. It’s one thing to read a textbook; it’s another thing to hold a piece of Texas history in your hands. I saw the light in the eyes of so many young Texans as they learned about the Alamo by experiencing it.
This year at the General Land Office, we will continue to build on the Year of Education and continue distributing more money than ever before to public education. I call on our legislative leaders to enact common-sense, conservative reforms to make our schools better.
Far too often, decision-makers in Austin sit back and decide our children’s future without understanding the challenges faced by teachers and administrators each and every day. As a former teacher, I know that these heroes deserve our support. And I’ll continue to look for ways to help them succeed in the classroom. That’s what the Year of Education was all about — understanding what our future needs.
As Texas looks to the future, we must focus on improving and dedicating additional resources to education. That is an investment we can make today that will pay dividends for years to come.
George P. Bush is the Texas General Land Office commissioner. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.