Standardized testing is garbage. All they end up doing is force teachers to teach to the tests to try and get more money. The tests become the education, it's insane. I am so glad we didn't have that growing up. And look at their salaries for compared to the amount of crap they deal with. "No Teacher Left Behind" is pretty cool. http://www.bookslut.com/features/2005_12_007323.php Have you been talking to any schoolteachers as part of your campaign? All the time. They come up to me with tears in their eyes, Mike. And as I’ve said before, if you care about education in Texas, you should have tears in your eyes. I say no teacher left behind, and in order to do that, we’re going to have to leave behind one governor. What are the teachers most frustrated about? Is it that they’re tired of being forced to teach to the (Texas standardized) tests? Well, teaching to the test is probably what singlehandedly has plunged us to the bottom. That’s why the folks in Mississippi are now saying “Thank God for Texas.” That’s why we’re 50th. And it’s not educating kids. And it’s part of the reason that the mental health and mental r****dation programs have been stripped, just cut into by this administration. It just does not serve the special-education kids well at all. In other words, now there’s a reason teachers don’t want special-ed kids in their classes. Before there was a chance to mainstream the kids. Now there’s not. Get rid of the tests. The people that need to be appointed (to education positions) are people like my friend Dylan Ferrerro. Because that’s a resume. Dylan Ferrerro taught in the jungle in Borneo in the Peace Corps, when I was over there. He taught in the ghettos of Oakland for eight years. He’s got a bachelor’s in education from Berkeley. And he taught special-ed in Comfort, Texas, for twenty years. And he doesn’t care about Democrats or Republicans; he cares about kids. And he’s seen the inside of a classroom, which many of Perry’s appointments have never done.
just an update: it's official now, Kinky is on the Nov ballot... he got 137,154 valid signatures, strayhorn only pulled out 108,512. interesting to note, kinky had a 81 percent validity rate on the signatures, while strayhorn only had a 49 percent validity rate. so its official, and now its time to get kinky we'll see a new gov in nov!!! bigtexx, eat your words and batman, (since gammage didn't make it) are you gonna vote for bell?
Kinky is in, with more valid signatures than one tough hypocritical grandma. The debate later this year is going to be off the chain. They ought to make it pay per view. This is freaking fantastic!
i think it would go the way of the texas lotto and how "well" it has funded education... but alteast it would keep all that money in state rather than going to NM OK or LA.
Heck ya. Build a casino downtown so I can go and play poker after school instead of going home and playing Party Poker.
Yeah, I had seen an ad, but didn't know when it started. I will say that I hope he wins. Texas could really use the change. There are some issues where I disagree with him(school prayer), but I think his ideas on education are better than anyone in the whole country from what little I know.
I actually saw a guy up here in New York wearing a shirt that said, "KINKY IN '06!" a few weeks back. It made me laugh as I thought of this guy.