The most important issue facing K-12 public education (1)
Keeping political ideology and sexualized content out of the curricula
teachers really don't care, parent do not even care if the kids can speak English
Teaching kids about social issues that should be left to the parents, not taught in school.
The attack on anyone who doesn’t subscribe to left wing values.
Not enough well paid teachers for number of students.
tooo much to list. everything is terrible
Get rid of the Staar test.Teach Civics again.
The loss of teachers due to Republican policies
Teaching students to know how to read and write a complete sentence.
New laws that limit what a history teacher can say about race is horrible. Limits on sex education. Low teacher pay.
Get back to reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Right wing influence in determining curricula.
Not enough emphasis on reading, math, sciences/STEM
Teachers and administrators being allowed to keep the kids under control and disciplined. Teaching skills that a child can build on to become self-supporting as an adult.
Removing all aspects of CRT, 1619 project, transgenderism and all leftist topics.
Getting back to teaching basics to prepare kids for employment and successful lives and away from "social engineering" and pushing political agendas.
Government /school boards interfering by banning books, ruling against TRANS kids, forcing STAR tests, eliminating critical thinking from the curriculum, disrespecting teachers/low pay, and no support for educators.....Let teachers TEACH.
Distractions from education caused by emphasizing social issues in curriculum.
Schools in Texas, and in every state, should focus on the basics; reading, writing, math and sciences. Nothing of the "woke" agenda should be tolerated. "Woke" agenda includes the entire LGBTQ spectrum, that America is somehow a racist nation. America isn't perfect, but until Biden and the left came along, it was good and getting better. Now, the "gay lobby" and the teachers unions have been working with the communists to destroy everything.
the most important issue right now is to make sure our kids are safe. The kids should be able to go to school and not worry about anything besides learning and having fun.
Access without prejudice to any and all books and reference materials...
Quality wholesome education as it has been in the past
The lack of parental involvement, support, and the effects of socialist meddling via unions, the federal government, and academia inculcating socialist thinking in undergraduate and graduate teaching curriculum's in colleges and universities.
Learning to read and write without woke agenda,.
Most of the teachers, administrators, and bureaucrats are Leftists. They think money should be spent on them, rather than educating students. They don't bother to actually teach students the skills and knowledge that will allow them to become knowledgeable and productive adults; rather, they think that nonsense like CRT and "gender issues" should be top priority. Their teaching methods are dangerously moronic, leading to terrible student outcomes (e.g. Common Core, and other useless reimaginings of how to teach simple concepts like math, reading, and writing). They hate and disrespect parents, thinking that students belong to them and not their families. There are a ridiculous number of groomers and sexual deviants masquerading as educators, because they have easy access to children, and school administrators turn a blind eye to it because they either agree with those sentiments, or because they are too cowardly to stand up to them. Teacher's unions demand that bad or ineffective teachers cannot be fired, and that teachers should receive lavish pay and benefits, at the expense of bestowing a quality education to the students. School libraries are stocked with sexually explicit (e.g. Lawn Boy) or blatantly racist (e.g. White Fragility) material, and curriculums are increasingly skewed toward racial bias against people who are any combination of straight, white, and /or male. There is a sickness in American schools, even in Texas, which can only be healed by exposing and expelling Leftism and its proselytizers from all education.
Shortage of teachers, curriculum based on achieving higher test scores instead is f real education.
Enriching children intellectually through difficult homework, difficult lectures, and ensuring that teachers are highly qualified (graduated top of their class in college, graduate degree, etc.)
Teach civics and the Constitution. DisaLlow LGBTQ evenys.
It has been 'dumbed down' to the point where it is almost useless.
Safety of children against terrorist attacts!
Student safety where bullying or outsiders entering school buildings without permission are concerned
Not teaching the basics. Too much touchy feely subjects.
The democrats trying to indoctrinate the youth.
Not enough discipline and communication between school and parents.
Teaching the Bible, prayer in school, pledge of allegiance
Student/teacher ratio (class size); pay rates; censorship of books, teaching materials; political interference; campus security; teaching "dumbed down" to lowest common denominator; lowered standards for teacher qualifications/certification
Teachers should be better funded, both in terms of pay and in terms of school funding.
Unsafe environment. Low pay. Republicans and their agenda to ban books, not teach history, deny science.
When I was a Freshman I was already taking college classes, and I was with people who were up to 5 years older than me. The only reason why I was "superior" to these people was because I studied in Mexico for a while and learned MULTIPLE things from there, even tho Mexico is considered a "3rd world country."
Right wing incentives being enforced on students.
Lack of morals and standards. We've become too focused on teaching kids to be exactly alike at the expense of teaching them how to be themselves. They now learn this from social media which corrupts them and leads to increased drug use and gang activity
Indoctrination.Marxiination and recruitment of ignorant education majors as degree of least difficulty. Post Modern reduction.. Trans and queer teachers who push communist reductionism’s tactics against western liberal familial structures Not teaching for knowledge no critical thinking
What they teach us. They teach us to be employees instead of successful.
Not teaching civics any more. Can't know your rights are being violated/taken away, if nobody knows what rights they're guaranteed.
Refusal of spanish speakers to embrace English. Two language system is non sustainable
Too many to count - book bans, claims CRT is taught in K-12 (it isn't), lack of gender affirming care, lack of school safety
Education based on passing standardized tests instead of learning/understanding a variety of information and influencing critical thinking
The teacher shortage is the most important issue in K-12 public education in Texas.
Teacher compensation and burnout, lack of resources for teachers to improve their classrooms, parents and school boards attempting to censor history into only the “nice events”.
Allowing to teach CRT and transgender studies
It is an online school, and the most important for me is because it is free, which affords a lot of people to access it.
Wasting taxpayer money teaching stuff that doesn't matter. Focus on subject matter- reading, writing, spelling (for the love of God teach people to spell), math, sciences, etc... and don't waste time on social bullshit. Also stop propagating socialist ideas. They fail every time and maybe if our teachers had studied the downfall of the Soviet Union or looked at how well the Nazi's socialism worked (newsflash- it didn't) they would avoid it like the plague it is, rather than embracing it and indoctrinating students with it.
No teaching of CRT and stopping the stupid masks on kids
Teaching the basics ("3 Rs") to children so they can survive outside an institution.
School systems have lost sight of their purpose. They are more focused on ideology than education. Affordable school choice is needed.
not enough basic skills in reading, writing and math; civics and physical education should also be a priority
The quality of the school districts is too imbalanced. Some are really good and others are very poor.
Getting back to core subjects and stopping teachers with their own agendas
promoting the right values to the children.
The teachers think they have control of what they teach the kids and they do not They have forgotten what they learned in college .
Child safety, Socialist agenda of teachers and administration.
The ridiculous republicans making school a battleground. Stop telling librarians from providing books in libraries that meet the needs of ALL children. Stop sugar coating American history. Quit suggesting that being honest about the slave trade in the US and the civil rights movements are critical race theory, which clearly republicans do not understand what critical rae theory is. Make school a welcoming place for all children. Pay teachers what they are worth and fund school supplies as needed and quit trying to shuffle money to non public schools.
Teaching basics and life skills. Stay out of politics. Stay out of social issues.
Funding and teacher support. Abbott is too busy trying to get school vouchers to get his constituency tax breaks for private schools so that he can't be bothered to actually fund public schools or give the teachers the needed support.
Overcrowded classrooms bcuz of lack of teachers
Texas schools still say the pledge of allegiance. Texas is trying to keep the woke BS from the public schools that you see in other states. We need to keep teaching to love our country, and get back to basics classes as a base that has served this country well for generations.
The Republican education board wants to remove history of the state of Texas from textbooks and, I feel, wants to push a Christian viewpoint.
Lack of emphasis on core skills in reading, math, and science.
Keeping religion and theocratic politics out of the education system.
Charter schools that drain public tax dollars to support evangelical agenda driven education to keep the base dumbed down and compliant. Many school boards and agencies that approve curriculum with stone age ideas about learning.
Underpaid teachers; lack of resources for classrooms; lack of parental involvement and using teachers as babysitters
The take over of school boards by bigoted, racist, conservative activists who want to destroy diversity and critical thinking in public schools.
Lack of parental involvement in seeing that education is a priority in a child’s life.
Start teaching kids how to think without computers for the first years and not start computers until HS.
Teachers do not have sufficient resources. Many purchase classroom items out of their own pockets.
Keeping the woke garbage out of the public schools.
lack of teachers because of teacher pay and bad oversight by administrators and parents
brainwashing our children to a liberal political agenda
Interference from far right or left activist groups is destroying the public education system.
Teachers should be monitored by school boards, not parents. There is too much emphasis on attaining a high grade. Students should taught at the level they are at, not necessarily the same as those of the same age.
Preventing CRT and gender issues being taught.
Not enough qualified teachers,administrative staff
The biggest issue is the imposition of hardcore Christian values,
Funding needed from Fed government to pay for all the illegal aliens that they are dumping in Texas
Too much liberalism and not enough GOD in schools
Trying to keep the children safe. They are all afraid to go to school and that makes it difficult to concentrate
Focus on reading, writing and math and no programs dealing CRT, diversity, now trending sexual education theories and practice, and Wokism
Lack of funding, quality of teachers & students - too many illegals draining resources.
The quality of the curriculum and interference by non-educators
Lack of control and discipline by teachers and administrators.
Putting rights over responsibility. Some many folks now think they are entitled to believe whatever they dream up about lifestyles, sex, race, etc. whether they actually are physically representative of those choices. And everyone has to pander to their ludicrous assertions. That's just ridiculous.
too low pay of teachers, too much paperwork for teachers. The overall stress of teaching now.
Getting back to traditional values, teaching these values, and protecting the schools from entry, etc., of unknown characters.
not enough money spent on education by the state
Need to professionalize the education system. Treat teachers with respect, administrators get a backbone, require credentialing and lift standards of behavior.
Too much bureaucracy, too many laws/rules made by people with no classroom teaching experience, too much testing
Teachers aren't paid enough so they have to work other jobs,and then somewhat lose their love of teaching
Lack of funding for teacher’s salaries. Poor school environment.
Funding in general, but especially unequal funding in areas with higher percentages of minority and low income households.
Teachers need to be supported more and paid more.
Focusing on basic necessary educatuon (reading, writing, math, history) and preventing the addition of harmful curriculum involving CRT and LGBTQ
Restricting access to textbooks that tell the truth
Classroom size, micro-management from the State. State is focused on STAAR; they ned to focus on student’s learning
fair and unbias curriculum. Get religion out of the classroom
Too expense for results, poor choice of leadership
Stop allowing illegal aliens who pay no taxes to take up resources from children of taxpaying citizens.
History, math, civics, awareness of what’s happing in their town, county and state. Basic financial awareness. Exposure to the U.S , corrupt political system. Survey of all the worlds religions and duplications and differences.
The idea that armed cops in schools will solve the problem, rather that restricting assess to assault weapons.
go back to basics, no CRT or gender studies
Prevent exposing CRT and adult sexual practices, I.è. LGBTQ, to school aged children
politicians involved in what should be taught in school trying to erase important history. teachers cannot teach what needs to be taught and are underpaid and sometimes have to deal with hostile situations
teacher autonomy, administrative bloat, wrong incentives, off mission
Teachers straying from book learning and getting into other things.
The standards should be much higher. STOP passing kids who cannot pass the tests, regardless of race/ethnicities. Demand respect and obedience whether the parents like it or not, stop teaching sex, especially gender abnormalities, etc.. Leave that to the parents and STOP talking about it in school. Stop the censorship of classic books and the Bible in our school libraries. Bring back the Pledge of Allegiance and prayer in school. Hire conservative teachers and get rid of the left-wing democratic school unions. (I taught 25 years in high school)
Parents should be more involved...a classroom should NEVER need supplies...parents should make sure they have them
The kids are not learning the necessities and are being moved forward. Some schools are not given the same opportunities and the same resources as other schools
The infiltration of local school boards by right-wing activists who want to limit public schools so severely that it effectively destroys public education in favor of privatized schools and “parent choice” education.
Not restricting what can be taught. No banning of books!
State Government allowing Christian right and fascist ideologies to interfere in the curriculum.
The most important issue in K-12 public education system in Texas is a complex combination of aspects regarding how it is funded, standardization of teaching, and unnecessary layers of beauracracy.
Lack of school choice. Funding should follow the student to the education of parents' choice, whether public, private, parochial, or home school. If a child is home schooled, the money for their education should be given to the parents to use as they see fit with no mandates. If a child goes to a public school, the public school will get the money to use as the local school administration desires. If a child attends a parochial school, the money for that child will be given to that school, for use as the church's school administration chooses.
Incomplete, selected partial education curriculum based on one group of people's beliefs. Not getting a full education.
The teacher it equips yo take care of little kids
Too much focus on things other than the basics, reading, writing and arithmetic.
Need teachers that actually care for their students and a better security plan to protect them and there students and not have to worry about there safety. And better mental health services for children suffering because of there home life
bad pay, state and GOP parents waging war against "CRT"
Groomers stealing the innocence of children by inflicting unnecessary LGBTQ agenda, SEL, and CRT Into the classroom.The education system needs to return to educating NOT indoctrination.
Too much emphasis on teaching to a test.
insufficient resources, ridiculous teacher pay, political interference, intimidation of educators and school boards, censorship -- all of these leading to a mass exodus of qualified educators and difficulty recruiting new ones
The need to squash the inclusion of divisive rhetoric in the curriculum. If my sons were young I would seriously consider home schooling - it was bad enough when they forced my left handed son to try to emulate a right handed person slant for handwriting (and permanently ruined his penmanship.) Now they are introducing gender topics in kindergarten - sex does not belong in schools outside of biology and health classes.
Focus on reading, writing and arithmetic! Eliminate focus on sex education; eliminate focus on race issues! Focus on character.
Take and keep CRT out of the schools. Take and keep all the LGBTQueers out of the schools.
Addressing signs of child abuse/domestic violence and allowing ALL children to Free breakfast and Lunch and, as needed, after School snacks or dinners, based on need.
passing students who do not learn to get rid of them
Let the teachers teach. Stop allowing the parents to dictate education policy. In order for our kids to become critical thinkers, they need to be exposed to a wide variety of age appropriate books and material. Most of the books that are currently under attack were available to me during my school years. Many effected the ways in which I interacted with the world. Banning these books is a serious blow to raising well-rounded critical thinking children as they become adults.
Teachers are not treated with respect and have to deal with too much meaningless red tape and paperwork.
Not enough good, devoted teachers due to burnout
The teachers have to teach to the star test instead of teaching what the kids need. A teacher can't be creative.
Not enough financial assistance going to the poorer school districts, AND conservative voices banning books and how American history is taught, and charter schools are killing our public education schools!
proper state funding needs to happen ASAP
Children should be safe from shooters. The legal age to purchase an assault rifle should be 21. Actually, I believe assault rifles should be banned. It’s not totally banned, highly restricted.
Conservatives attacking teachers for teaching the truth about this counties history/past. Conservatives banning of books to read that go against their authoritative agenda.
Teachers need to teach the subjects they are certified. They need to be allowed to tech the curriculum and not have to take time to teach a standardized test.
Getting an education. But now the added stress of school shootings takes away the safe place for students to concentrate on learning now they worry about being shot.
Not teaching traditional subjects and not having enough counseling and teachers involved in the students' lives
I'd like to note that like many of the other questions on this survey, asking for the "most important" amongst a complex scenario of a lot of equally important subjects really does a disservice to the issues at hand. With that said, if I had to choose one topic that grossly harms k-12 public education in Texas, it would be the absolutely ignorant adults who try to force their narrowed and uneducated views into the lessons and the school books. I'm not going to get started on how Texas school books are selected because I will end up ranting. Our schools are flawed because the adults governing them are often grotesquely unqualified to make the decisions they're making. Education should not be about religious, social, or cultural opinions. There are some schools who do their best to get things right, provide opportunity, and seek to empower the youth to be more intelligent and compassionate than previous generations. The majority do not. Money's thrown at football and other sports, but not at educational programs. School boards allow loudmouthed, boneheaded, and apparently very uneducated parents to promote hate, stupidity, and social intolerance during their meetings. When decisions are made about things like school uniforms, dress code, or backpacks it's obvious there's a real lack of social and economic understanding going into the decisions. And, I suppose that while there's definitely people who'd fall under a different label also causing ignorance based problems and ruining their children's opportunities for an excellent education, if I had to choose one or two words to describe the problem with today's k-12 education it'd be "Evangelicals" or "Evangelical Christians".
Pay teachers more and furnish school materials so teachers don't have to use their own money.
Stop testing to the Texas standard testing test. Educate educate educate
Teacher Accountability, using the starr test
Textbooks & instruction should be evidence based best practices reflecting scientific facts & accurate history rather than archaic evangelical “values”.
Stopping sex education. it is not the busines of the government it is the parents business
Funding and common sense programs. Banning books shouldn't be something that's done
Equity and respect regardless of race, gender, or label. That should be a minimum. Repeal Robin Hood act and fund all schools fairly, not by properly tax. No more tests! Critical thinking, pbl, real life skills
Moving away from historical teaching practices, not teaching the basics of arithmetic, reading, and writing. Concentrating more on garbage topics such as lgbtq+, crt, and gender studies.
Keep public school funds in public schools not charter schools
Teaching what is actually true rather than what politicians want to be true.
Indoctrination from the radical left is the most important issue.
Lack of science based factual information on sex education. Omitting historical facts.
Letting liberals and Democrats run the schools with their lack of morals and integrity.
inequitable funding including underpaid teachers, too much focus on standardized testing
teachers need to teach needed subjects the 3 R's and leave all the moral issues and confusion alone...stick to school teaching..
Evangelical Christians have too much control over the curriculum. Book bans are horrific. Allowing people with no experience in education to make decisions based on religion or right-wing political panics is a recipe for disaster. We need more education, not less. We need access to more information, not less. We need more resources in STEM and liberal arts. Public education should include K-12 second language instruction and more emphasis put on civics and history. History should not be dictated by the people that are afraid of the truth of how we got here. Children should learn the unvarnished truth about our past. White history is not the only history that should be taught.
Over crowding and lack of teacher support by administration
The teaching are not the same as before. Teach history as it is not as we want it to be.
Better pay means better teachers, better teachers means better students.
There is not enough emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Teaching the basics of reading and writing.
Too much indoctrination of ideology and not enough focus on basic education.
The politics are getting in the way of education
Standardized testing in basic skills; English and Math.
lack of comprehensive sex/reproductive education
Teaching the full spectrum of REAL history to ALL children … banning books and requiring bad, slanted textbooks hurts us all!! 🤬🤬🤬
lack of teachers because they get no support from the parents or the system
Let teachers teach. Stop banning books, too much high stakes testing.
coming to a consensus on what is appropriate or not to teach children
Bureaucracies are destroying the quality of education and driving up costs. School systems should not be allowed to be so too heavy with useless bureaucrats who get paid to teach racism and hate of America instead of Math, Science, Language.public Service Unions should be outlawed, or every contract issue should be voted on by the public.
Teachers are too restricted in what they can or can not teach and the lack of pay.
Better pay for educators, more resources.
Needs more emphasis on critical thinking as opposed to standardized testing.
Access to diverse ways of thinking- I.e., teaching children how to form their own, informed, opinions.
Children are not learning critical life skills such as reading comprehension and mathematics. Much of the school day is spent teaching students how to take the STARR tests.
Corruption and indoctrination of youth mental health through propaganda propagating teachers from both sides, but more so from democrats who force transgenderism which is classified as a mental illness by the DSM-V
the kids are being taught crap instead of school stuff.
Quality of teachers and remove indoctrination of kids based on political beliefs of right or left
Getting political views of teachers out of the classroom
Not being able to bring religion into the school.
Schools are underfunded, especially in low-income communities that have the greatest needs. Also, recently-passed legislation that limits what teachers can teach will lead to serious gaps in students' ability to understand current events.
Many districts represent families that are financially struggling. We are having problems finding teachers, bus drivers and other types of employees of the school system. Some children get the only meal sometimes at school. Our school tries to send home lunches for the weekends and special holiday meals to families in need. I think extra help from Texas government would help for those schools faced with this problem.
Right-wing political interference with teaching & curicula.
They're not giving children a proper education. The focus should be on educating children and teaching them how to think critically, not indoctrinating them.
Paying teachers enough and having free access to internet.
crt being taught. Political teachers pushing their agenda on students when they should be teaching how to read and write. With a lot more history and civics.
Possibility of included CRT and gender identity in education system. Not enough discipline control, not enough focus on reading, math, and science. The combination of high level learners with lower level learners has lowered the standard of education system and that is what appears to be what is referred to ‘decreasing the gap’. The gap has not been lowered, the higher level students have come down and lower level haven’t gone up. Lower student to teacher ratio is needed for lower level students. We need to focus on making sure every student can read and perform basic math. Also need classes on everyday economics (banking, household expenses…) , and criminal law. What’s legal and what is not. Need to restore respect for authority back in the students.
To actually teach our children Reading writing and arithmetic and cursive writing
Teachers do not receive the support they need from Admin, parents & the students themselves. Cell phones need to be banned while the student is in class...
Underpaid, overworked teachers forced to teach a curriculum that's anti-science, anti-thought, and fails to equip our future for the problems they will inevitably need to solve.
Lack of transparency for parents in what is being taught. Lack of school district responsiveness to concerns of parents. Too much emphasis on race relations, sexual identity, sexuality, diversity, social science, climate change, exploration of culture, etc at the expense of fundamentals such as reading, writing, math, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, geometry, basic science, basic history (and the appropriate context for that history).
Overcrowded classrooms, and gender activists infiltrating schools messing with young kids minds.
The system is handicapped by STAAR testing.
kindergarden kids some can't even speak, no prior help with colors or anything.
Making sure every student is proficient in basic NECESSARY academic fundamentals before being passed to the next grade.
Not allowing teachers to teach about slavery and racism
Better teacher quality, pay, and support.
The school system is broken. The teachers are treated with no respect & have no time for the children due to lack of teachers. Adminstration over puts to much weight on teachers and avoids dealing with the issues at hand, so they turn away concerns from parent & teachers. So the end, kids are bullyed or ignored.
Historical revisionism. Lack of counselors/psychologists/teacher aide's and enough teachers. Overcrowded classrooms. Schools funding coming from each school districts property taxes, i.e. low wealth/income neighborhoods lack funding to function adequately. Standardized testing being a major focus at all.
Pay teachers what they're worth, which a lot more than we do now.
We should be receiving the same education as rich neighborhoods plus we should be taught how to buy houses, how to buy, sell and trade stocks, ect..
Students are no longer engaged in learning. They aren't learning to think critically or creatively
Doesn't teach important things like how taxes work or enough about the law
Getting the students to grow their learning levels to top global competition
I think Bullying is a real problem. It often leads to the students retaliating and could cause harm to other students or themselves.
Indoctrination of CRT, SEL, white guilt, trans/gay agenda, and wanting to rewrite or drop Texas' unique history instead of teaching kids math, science, reading, etc.
Poor teacher quality. Not every teacher is prepared to face the social/emotional journey a child faces as they grow. Most I've seen only care about their popular status, videos to uploads for said popularity and probably the money even though teachers don't get paid much. I get more information out of the assistant teachers than I do the actual teachers and districts put too much concern in prepping young children for college. Children should be focused on their play and development that'll prepare them for the next grade and so on and so forth. Not every child progresses the same and not every child wants to go to college. Teachers are quick to leave behind the students that don't fit their mold or don't suck up to them.
Getting a better education in total - Texas schools are horrid. The quality of the education is very substandard to places like California, Michigan, Massachusetts, etc. The teachers also need to be paid A LOT more given the job they are entrusted with!!!
Quality education for all kids. Stop teaching kids to pass the STARR tests!
Focus should be teaching facts, not opinions. Keeping religiosity out of public education, specifically the move to push Christianity on students regardless of personal/ethnic/family beliefs. Separation of church and state is vital.
Religion/anti- science is infiltrating the schools through curriculum and practices
Bad curriculum on most things and low standards of performance.
Teacher/parent involvement in the development of the child. I think schools across the states need to be more consistent and uniform in their teachings and parents need to support teacher's decisions and methods to teaching.
Stop all of the book bans and teach facts not worrying about the political consequences.
Idiot politicians and parents that are interfering with our educators doing their jobs. If they keep doing this, then no one should have to get an education degree anymore. Just let any idiot in there to teach our kids!
Schools are no longer teaching things their parents were taught and learned in school. Prayer, significant times in history that need to be taught, which are being left out to make things politically correct. I can say my children graduated not knowing who Martin Luther king was, Malcolm X and other significant things and people in history, because these things were not taught to them. The only curriculum they had was being taught according to the test the needed to pass in order to graduate.
teachers leaving the profession, overcrowded classrooms, not enough funding
That pupils are learning well below their capacity.
Teaching critical thinking skills to students and improving education outcomes through better funding, pay, and training for teachers
they ban books , parents have little to no say in their kids education, kid are not safe in school and nothing is being done about it
The most important issue in K-12 public education in Texas is the attempts of far-right, racist elected officials to downplay the seriousness of slavery and white supremacy.
Segregation. It is not a coincidence that our education system took a nose dive after forced integration. They want it, we want it.. why not?
Lack of teachers. The pay is not good enough and this leads to less people wanting to teach
Too much focus on STAR testing and not enough on quality of education, along with too much propaganda in certain schools.
Standardized test should not be taken. They are too stressful on students and teachers. Children are not learning anything of value. The teachers are teaching the test and that test doesn't show what the student actually knows or what they will use in the future.
More discipline enforcement for poor behavior. Keep CRT away from all classrooms. Monitor the teaching and influencing of sexual behaviors to age appropriate levels, an let that be determined by parents, not teachers!!!!!
kids just learn how to pass a test and not actually learn
Let kids be kids, stop trying to politicize children by teaching them false narratives.
Parents need to have more say in what is taught in schools.
Teaching of gender ideology and critical race theory in classrooms
Change of curriculum. Erasing the history of America.
Keeping good teachers in the education system.
I feel like the most important issue facing the educational system is, the parents should know that they have more than 1 options of type oif schooling, the parents should also know that the teachers are being taken care of and that the administrations of the schools should be kept in strict discipline regarding the loss or poor moral of the teachers, as well as gauranteeing that the teachers and students should feel safe. 1 example is having armed teachers and security and 1 way in 1 way out.
The woke parents who are offended by everything telling our schools what to teach, but want to erase actual history
smaller classrooms so the teacher can teach.
Allow vouchers so that all children can get a quality education.
Bad socialist teachers that teach an ideology instead of school work
Focusing on learning, than too many extra curricular activities.
MORE RULES TO FOLLOW BY THE STUDENT AND BETTER PAY FOR TEACHERS.
Staff shortage, preschool teachers get paid such a low wage and are made to work full-time, but can’t live off the income.
Some districts are doing good while others districts are not, I think they should compare and see what the differences are.
People who have never been in education running the show.
Politicians won't let teachers do their job and teach. They want to make unrealistic demands on the school system. And public education should remain public education. Get rid of vouchers and charter schools. There should be more enforcements in private schools.
The negative effects of high-stakes standardized tests.
STOP reaching kids how to take a TEST (STARR) and start EDUCATING THEM. NOT INDOCTRINATING THEM
The influence of outside, nonteachers and academics in curriculum u
Student-teacher ratio, teachers’ salary, teachers’ support system, student discipline, mental health, safety.
Nowadays, Teaching is not important. Education is being undermined by the overwhelming issues teachers have to address. Mental health, hunger, gun violence, Covid-19, testing
The attempted takeover of all public education by religious extremists including the Wilks brothers, Zionists, and Christians who do not follow the actual teachings of Jesus. The radical Republicans assault on sanctity of life: preserving their weapons of war subverts protecting living breathing human beings.
It's very important for most of the families.
to make our children feel safe at school we have to do better
Effective curriculum, and testing standards are lacking. Disciplining unruly students is lacking. Focus on material concerning social issues that should be left to families to discuss. Teacher unions that protect poorly performing teachers. Unprofessional behavior by teachers.
Not enough focus on unbiased teaching of science and facts.
I think the schools use up too much money with very little accountability. I want more freedom to homeschool.
Christian Nationalists banning books, bullying teachers, wanting less diversity, trying to whitewash our history.
Being taught skills that will be used in the future
Preserving the ability of teachers to teach effectively without disastrous political influence from the state's current "leaders" looking to score political points.
Need more focus on math, science and less on social classes
The Republican constant assault on public schools, trying to force privatisation.
Not enough security. Common core is a joke.
Restriction to education and materials banned
Funding public schools and universities better
Critical Race Theory and teaching children basics of Reading, Writing and Arithmatic. I am a college tutor, who tutors the latter two subjects. Students do not graduate high school with sufficient knowledge of how to use english tools or how to do math.
Need to get back to basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. Phonics should be taught. Kids are not learning to read. That is a major failing and teachers should be ashamed.
Learning how to read, write and do basic arithmetic.
1. Being constantly defunded by the GOP to fund charters and give stipends to private schools… 2. Too much “mandatory” testing, the TEA and the state government dictate its of rigid and stupid rules and laws that districts need to follow. 3. The GOP pitting parents against education with lies, ie “critical race theory” taught at “kindergarten” when it’s actually only taught at college, and only for some mayors,
Wokeness has corrupted our educational system.
The Conservative's anti-science, anti-equality attempts to revert the state of education back to the 1930s.
Teaching american values and what it means to be an American in order to achieve your dreams.
Indoctrination/agenda driven …. Woke schools and policies. Teach
The stupidity of banning books and the Republicans pushing there ideology on impressionable children! The fact that want to distort the reality of the past. For example not teach about slavery!
right science with keeping the mental and physical health
Not enough funding and too much concern over banning books with not enough attention on supporting schools to provide for high quality education.
Teaching the basics. Not politics or gender inclusions.
Well, I am in my 15th year as a teacher in TX public schools, and to be honest, there's far too much to begin to address here. A few of the biggest problems are:* the overall lack of support and respect for classroom teachers *the inequality between schools in wealthy vs. less affluent neighborhoods, urban/rural/suburban schools and district inequality, predominantly white vs. "minority" schools and districts, *teacher shortages (due in part to inadequate pay, support, and respect), * unsafe working conditions, * unrealistic expectations, * too much emphasis placed on standardized testing, * job performance being judged by student test scores... I could go on for days. Basically, the entire system is broken and needs to be overhauled.
Standardized testing; poor curriculum and low expectations
Inequity between rich and poor districts. Lack of educators due to salaries that have no hope of paying back student loans.
Making sure they get out alive at this point.
MANDATORY TESTING FOR THE STATE INSTEAD OF TEACHING FOR THE FUTURE
Not enough teachers. Teacher to student ratio.
Students should be taught a trade so when they graduate they can go to work instead of college if they choose that path. Teach them life skills that everyone should know: how to use a bank account, how taxes work, how to be a responsible citizen, budgeting, how to do maintenance on a car.
Law makers are getting to much involved in the history story. Taking out important fact in books is a problem. Not allow teachers to teach . Most of the focus through the year is on a test that I’m sure government officials could not pass.
Teachers are over worked and not respected. Teachers cannot be effective if there is no respect from the general public.
Keeping CRT out of our school curriculum
Leaving some issues that need to be taught at home instead of school
Classroom discipline. Mainstreaming disruptive kids into classrooms punishes all the other kids and prevents the teacher from being able to engage with the entire class.
Keep in teaching students about the basics and not all this other stuff that people want to jam into students mind when it has nothing to do with basic studies.
Liberals trying to force sexual identity on children.
The state run Education. We need to let teachers teach and step back from traditional exams
School boards being filled with conservatives freaks
The state of Texas needs to work on the education for every children in school so kids have some education classes
Paying teachers and making sure all schools have resources
Right wing nut jobs trying to take over state and local school boards and implement radical policies
They are too focused on testing instead of actual education
Let the kids be innocent kids and don't teach things they don't need to know yet.
Children need to be taught a lot more stuff. In a 2 parent household where both parents work it's hard to make time for instruction. In a single parent home it's even worse. I feel as if we need to hire more teachers for specific classes and the kids take those classes. There is bookcsmart and street smart. We have to get our kids to both levels.
I'm a teacher. There is often not enough resources or funding. The State test is more important than teaching basics. We have to speed up subjects to meet test deadlines, therefore, not covering subjects in depth to fully grasp the concepts.
Schools being able to teach true history, not a whitewashed version. Students need to learn about the ugly things in history, like slavery and The Holocaust.
Teachers having a safe environment to teach in. While also receiving benefits and compensation worthy of a professional
Accuracy of the material being taught. Historical and scientific accuracy are distorted by politics.
Issues of what should be taught and shouldn’t be taught, when and how (and if) it should be taught, and what info and resources are accessible to students. Also, how certain material affects not only curriculum or access to library books but extracurricular programs
The education system here is awful it needs to be better
Teach kid Math, reading ect. not hate or hating your country.
Republicans banning books and educational topics for spurious reasons
Teachers with agendas other than reading, writing, math etc.
get back to actually teaching students how to think, not what to think
Stop teaching woke bullshit like CRT and trans bullshit And educate the children to succeed and arm and train the teachers that want to
Administration costs and rising bonds for unnecessary items
People trying to take control of kids they teach . and what they teach they should leave things the way they was and bring back prayer in the morning
Focusing too much on correctly gendering/sexualizing children and not focusing enough of curriculum and college prep.
Getting and keeping well qualified teachers
The administrators are too focused on politics and not enough on education.
Not enough teachers to be able to teach a subject thoroughly and not just a few minutes in each subject.
adequate funding and less administrative interference
CRT, sexual and biased indoctrination policies
Conservative ideology limiting curricula and lack of respect for secular public education system
Better pay for teachers and more parent input into curriculum
System is overburdened with non English speaking children. Top heavy administration. Let teachers do what they do best and not tie their hands with mandates. Focus on the three R’s and not social issues.
Staffing our schools with professionally trained and vetted individuals.
Not enough teachers and staff due to funding.
Brainwashing children to think like their teachers and not think for themselves
Teachers worried about pay over kids. They let anyone teach.
Creeping progressive agenda in public schools, critical race theory, attempts to destroy pride in USA, corruption of US history, acceptance of gender fluidity, normalization of transi issues, ignoring universal truths of human nature...
I think the teachers need to stop teaching just for the Starr test and teach about everything
Texas is 38th in the country for per student spending, which would lead one to assume that our students perform poorly as a result. However, Texas has the fourth highest graduation rate in the US, and has the highest graduation rate for blacks and Hispanics. Texas students have the eighth highest average GPA in the country, and is essentially tied for fourth place because number 4-8 are only separated by .02 points. We have a growing home school community as well. I think Texas should be a model for other states on how to run their education systems. We spend much less than most other states and have much better results. With that being said, I would still like to see Texas impose strict standards on teachers so that they are held accountable for the poor performance of their students. Despite the myth to the contrary, teachers are grossly overpaid, and no matter now much they suck at their job, they cannot be fired. No other industry functions that way. Just because you get a degree in teaching does not mean you will be a good teacher, the same way passing medical school or passing the Bar exam does not ensure you are a good doctor or lawyer. I want to see the teaching ranks purged of ineffective teachers. Technology enables school to be taught differently. You can have one teacher remotely teaching hundreds of classrooms. Each class can have an aide in the room to ensure order, but our students should only be taught by the best of the best.
Too much political interference in what is taught is schools.
The children's safety from shooters; the child's safety from other children whether from bullying, or violence due to mental issues. In my opinion, any child that shows any emotional or violent behavior should be put in the same classroom with other children who are not violent or have an emotional issue. This is will make it hard for the other children to get the attention they need in a safe learning environment.
Outdated textbooks/information. Courses don't go enough into depth on the material. We need teachers who are knowledgeable but also critical thinkers.
Discipline is lax & administration giving in tp parents whims.
Having better-equipped teachers and protection for students and faculty.
Lack of funding. Lack of teachers pay raises.
Shootings. Kids that are having problems and no other way of expressing other than in anger.
Keeping it about teaching math social studies and science not gender and pronouns
There are too many broken things for there to be one that is the most important without it being too vague. The safety and well being of our children is of paramount importance. They need to feel safe and they need to be taught how to learn, not how to score on a test.
The ability to choose your own school and the ability to get a tuition voucher from the state to use toward private education. Property taxes are outrageous, especially the ISD taxes. Vouchers would create choice which would create an atmosphere of competition, accountability, less wasteful spending, and better overall value of how tax dollars are spent.
they're not actually being educated they're being politically indoctrinated
The right to teach "controversal" issues.
Making sure that Texans are taught Texas History and the things that make our state unique, as well as STEM education
Texas has passed laws that prevent kids from learning true and correct history.
I think Texas should get rid of state testing. Teachers should teach kids the basics and not worry about passing a state test to make themselves and the school richer and look good.
Inserting conservative Christian values into public education has really dumbed things down. They passed a law requiring that Moses be considered and taught as one of the founding fathers of America. It's ridiculous.
Safety lack of ability to discuss subjects children need to learn
The most important issue in our school system is many young people have no direction after getting out school should lead into a stable job.
We don't give these kids the tools they need to survive and refuse to teach our history of violence and oppression
Learning actual information and not wasting time on pointless stuff like race/lgbt stuff
Keeping God out of school like prayer in schools and saying the pledge of allegiance with the words under God .
School safety and equally fair curriculum/resources.
i've worked in teaching and it's more about pushing numbers than imparting knowledge
Allow the teaching of critical race theory.
Limited access to knowledge and an increase in banning certain material is resulting Lin children who are not as educated as they should be
Making sure CRT and homosexual/transsexual propaganda does not make it's way into the classroom.
The quality of education and the qualification of the educators are big factor in the decline of schools in Texas.
Woke school districts and woke teachers/administrators in urban areas.
be a good law abiding citizen, learn math and english , how to serve your country.
Teaching the Basics/ Common Sense education.
A generation of entitled kids and parents that can't be taught the fundamentals by a universal system due to "other" agendas.
Texas places a lot of emphasis on the STAAR test, so teachers teach to the test and not to the students. We need qualified teachers who are paid a decent wage to teach our students the things they will need to be successful in life. More needs to be done to hire and retain quality teachers and more needs to be done to keep criminals out of our schools (this includes predatory teachers, etc.)
School choice isn't available everywhere.
Staff and funding teachers a wage that can support their families.
Teachers in certain districts just don't care. Those who do, are overwhelmed in every way.
Creating a safe environment for our kids while in school. PERIOD!!! The last place a mass shooting should occur is in our schools and universities. We must do more to prevent these type of tragedies.
Teachers with low comittement and too much vacation
the education system in this state doesn't want to teach history as it happened and they want to limit the information children can have access to
Making sure that our children are not taught extreme ideologies in the classroom from either side of the political spectrum. The focus must be on useful subjects such as classic literature, writing, math, science, the free discussion of religion, and life skills that will be useful when they become adults. The teacher's job should not be to take a side or promote a political agenda, but to teach our kids about personal responsibility and equip them with the tools they need to be productive members of society.
We are teaching a white-washed, inaccurate history of our state/country, and it isn’t preparing children to be adults and to listen to and find facts. Our system is made to indoctrinate, not educate.
Letting teachers teach and not have to worry about the government telling them what to teach. Also taking away books is a horrible thing. There should be more books, not less.
they are not being handled equally when they have questions. And making sure they are safety measures
People focusing too much on other things besides the education of students. They focus more on things like how kids are dressed.
Stop the indoctrination of our children.
funding and there's a shortage of teachers
Retired military should be hired to help police protect the students and should be able to carry firearms.
Actual education. Are books and teaching methods suck
More Educators, more teachers’ union, and less children getting murdered.
Not enough teachers in low income communities.
People saying in government they should teach the students these way their own way.
We need to trust teachers more and increase public school funding
The stress placed on standardized tests, especially the STAAR test.
Christian nationalist school board members
Good teachers, better pay, better school facilities (especially in rural areas) and allowing professionals to guide learning, materials and curriculum.
The burden placed on elementary teachers is insane, especially compared to their salary. I'm not sure why anyone would want to become an elementary teacher in Texas at this point.
Teachers salaries and access to resources.
I think that the mandated test create an environment that teachers are always trying to reach from the test instead of doing what’s best for the kids
The most important issue is providing actual education, that is teaching students to read, write (both grammatically and physically), and do math (without a calculator). The reasoning skills should be developed as part of writing and learning to communicate.
Teacher's being restricted on what they can and cannot say, not being able to discuss race and LGBT issues, banning books, not teaching the full history of our country as it relates to racism and salvery.
Underpaid and under appreciated teachers
Limiting the ability to teach history, and facts based off of political or religious opinion of some.
Not enough federal government civics, not enough rigorous evidence-based science teaching, terrible sex ed.
The issue is that white parents are trying to ban books and don't want Black history taught in schools
Funding for school choice to help students leave failing school districts.
Quality of public schools depends of where you live. My high school mostly consisted of people in the upper-middle class so we had a pretty good school district. However people in other cities in poorer neighborhoods, such as Dallas, probably aren’t as lucky.
The removal of: Critical race theory, woke ideas, and gender affirming teaching. We need to put God, the pledge of allegiance and daily prayer back in public schools.
Funding should be equal for all schools and there should be NO government support/vouchers for private education.
Taking money away from wealthy districts to support poor districts and raising property taxes
The students' lack of equal access to resources. And an inefficient and outdated curriculum.
Teacher recruitment and retention. By and large, teacher recruitment and retention were the biggest concerns across the state. Another common issue facing public schools is the mental health of students and teachers.
Need to hire teacher's who care about the kids, teach them courses to prepare them for life, history (not a justed to your beliefs) but as it happened. NO CRT EVER
Keeping teachers from indoctrination of children.
The education is remaining very stagnant and has not really evolved much.
DONT HAVE KIDS<PROBALY THE NEGATIVITY NEWS <WE NEED MORE POSITIVE INFLUENCES
teaching them core ideal to better there life
I think the current physical, emotional, and professional attacks on teachers is detrimental to the students.
Providing money and resources to teachers.
Sex issues. Let the kids just be kids. Not enough play time.
The need for appropriate funding given to teachers via pay or supplies as well as funding for school maintenance.
Not enough qualified & definitely underpaid teachers
Education for individuals to understand what K-12 may cause.
Every child should get free lunches and breakfasts
Indoctrination of children by left wing socialist (communist) instead of a true education.
The most important issues in K-12 is the educational budget
To many teachers are bringing their personal views into what is supposed to be a neutral and unbiased space.
To many schools teaching CRT, Sexual stuff, and other things in ways that are very hard to understand, like the new math. Go back to the old ways that proved to be good.
That the kids are always safe and that they can finish the school year without any accidents
Public education everywhere is horrible. Government interference and misuse of funds prevent teachers from being able to help students learn important subjects. Teachers now have to focus on too many side programs and not enough math, English, science, history, etc. We are failing the next generations.
Not having school choice. Citizens should be able to take their Tax dollars to any school they choose. This would create more of a market approach to education vs the monopoly in the state now.
so much change and more gay and racial issues out in the open
Students are teached more about subject skills that do not matter and are not really necessary for many of their future careers. It is instead important to teach about important life skills needed for the real world and also important to teach more about moments in history that should be talked about more
Teachers who are not there to teach but indoctrinate!
Security of children, the school authority should give adequate security of life
Just arrived going to get started on the way home and I was just wondering if you had any ideas on how
That teachers, not high-school drop-out racist parents, dictate what happens in the classrooms.
State Testing is stressed too much. We need to educate the whole child and not focus on state testing so much.
I believe they are, too often, passing children, due to lack of interest for the individual student
It whitewashes history and puts America in a good light only. Also, getting rid of discussions about racism is awful.
Seems like they are more worried about books they don't want in school than what the kids are really learning!!
public school system funding. it seems as if they never have any budget to help teachers out and they have to pay out of their own pocket
Inconsistencies in what is being taught and too much focus on Texas history/government
A funding system that provides equitable resources for all schools., not a system of funding determined by the whim of elected officials.
Not enough room in the classrooms. We need bigger schools. Also a big issue has been how the teachers and staff treat the mentally challenged children in the se classrooms. We need cameras and video that is accessable by the parents as well as staff to see these problems and catch them before they go to far.
Teaching of inappropriate material such as issues of gender and sexuality.
Because there is not enough gun violence control.
Most important issue is banning the truth from being taught in the classroom.
Most important issue for K-12 is not preparing them for a job right after graduation.
Most important issue is providing a place for pur children in society After completing their education.
Getting enough teachers to have an acceptable teacher to student ratio.
Reading and writing, critical thinking and comprehension.
Families having the means to send their children to school, free meals
Right-wing, evangelical influence in the curriculum
The whole system needs to be looked at and revamped and redone from the ground up!
Not enough play time. Too long of hours. Too early
not enough information on race and racism in history. very whitewashed
Teacher burn out and teachers not being paid enough
the unqualified teachers who try to take away parent's rights.
School funding for teachers/administrators/staff, better health insurance.
Not letting students learn at an appropriate pace or that makes sense.
Teaching kids what to think instead of how to think. Standardized tests need to be tossed out. Return to a classical education system teaching civics and basic life skills. Return the shop and Ag programs that teach kids how to do things and teach them responsibility for themselves. Allow school vouchers. Get rid of teachers unions.
Lack of discipline of students parents not raising their kids right
Getting the "woleness" out of schools and teaching the fundamental's again.
Teaching basics (reading, writing, STEM) and not social engineering, social justice, sexual identity, CRT.
School choice — the public school system is large, expensive, political and ineffective.
Removing any political indoctrination, including "climate change" hysteria indoctrination and racial focused anything (ie racism of any kind, particularly anti-white which is currently prevalent), and of course actually teaching math, science, history in context, etc and expecting the kids to learn the material.
teaching to the test has paid a toll on teachers and students.
Combating the liberal/progressive agenda to ruin our children by poisoning their minds with nonsense.
Getting enough teachers to teach the classes because a lot of them quit and don't want to ever come back
Reading, writing, math, science, technology
Indoctrination of children with political motivation like CRT, gender fluidity, hating the USA, social justice
Need to return to just teaching the 3 R’s and let their parents teach them about CRT, wokeness, socialism and other nonsense.
Hard to answer - I don't have children. From an outsiders view: I firmly oppose any "gender studies" with children under 18. 16 maybe. But it should NOT be part of school curriculum. Grade schoolers shouldn't have to be thinking about sex at all. Bullying is still an issue, that should always be addressed. I think children should be punished harder for things they say and do. Police (WELL-TRAINED Police) should be in all schools. More training for school shootings, for teachers and kids. Like they do with fire and tornado drills. Teachers need to be NEUTRAL when it comes to political, not pushing the liberal agenda. School should teach kids HOW to think not WHAT to think.
Pay teachers more!! We need the people who WANT to teach kids in the classroom. They should be allowed to discipline children and not just teach to a test. Public education is a freaking joke. Kids today are so behind and it’s terrible we’ve let it get to that.
Learning regular school work but how to manage finances as well as building social skill and self management skills.
The culture wars being fought in and about the classroom.
Stop with the excessive testing and the obnoxiously overpacked list of standards.
Allowing students to attend any school and have the funding follow the student
Getting back to normal, teaching the basics and getting the kids on track where they should be at their grade level, and no CRT or gender teaching or distractions. Parents also more involved in board meetings and communication with teachers.
Teaching skills, not social issues or sexual choice. Read, write, math, basic science, skills to function in life, having technical classes and certifications for options to obtain good jobs without college. No one should graduate and not be able to balance a checkbook or read a book.
The most important issue that K-12 public education faces is shortage of teachers..
Not enough teachers to teach and care about the individual student.
Right wing zealots forcing their Christian Nationalist agenda into the school boards then into classrooms