New Partnership Launches to Support Teachers, Parents and Students to Reform Texas Curriculum
A group of education advocates and business leaders announced today the formation of the Coalition for Education Excellence (CEE), a new organization dedicated to advancing high-quality education for all Texas students and supporting hardworking Texas teachers.
“A recent study found that Texas students are being taught below grade-level content in our public schools. They are being left behind. That is unacceptable, and we owe it to those students to fix it before it is too late,” said Gay Gaddis, immediate past Chairman and current Executive Committee member of the Texas Business Leadership Council (TBLC). “Anyone who takes a close look at our education system can see that students are being under-educated, teachers are exhausted, and parents are frustrated. Something needs to change. Through this new partnership of our member organizations, we are bringing parents, teachers, education experts, and local and state leaders together to find solutions that will give our children the education they deserve.”
CEE’s priorities for the 88th Legislative Session are:
1. Reforming K-12 curriculum to increase rigor and improve student outcomes.
2. Increasing access to high-quality instructional materials for teachers and districts.
3. Providing parents increased visibility into what their students are learning.
“Many teachers in Texas are currently working two jobs—designing lessons and teaching them—which is contributing to their exhaustion and teacher shortages. Access to high-quality instructional material can reduce teacher workloads and play a critical role in delivering quality education to our students,” said Kevin Malonson, Texas Executive Director of Teach Plus. “Joining forces in this coalition, we are committed to providing our hardworking teachers with the necessary resources to not only effectively engage and inspire Texas students but to ultimately set them up for a brighter future.”
CEE, made up of state and local education and public policy advocacy organizations across Texas, has been created to take the under-education crisis head-on. Founding members of CEE include The Commit Partnership, the Greater Houston Partnership, Teach Plus Texas, Texas 2036, the Texas Association of Business, the Texas Business Leadership Council, the Texas District Charter Alliance and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, with more members to be announced in the coming weeks.