Education

As a teacher, I had a lesson plan for my students.  As land commissioner, I will have a plan for our schools:

• Raise standards.
• Emphasize math and science.
• Create more school choices.

Hi, I’m George P. Bush and I’m running for Texas Land Commissioner because I believe that although things are good in Texas…we can make them even better.

And it starts…with education.

On our website and in our campaign, we’re going to be talking about education.  A lot.  It’s not just something I talk about…it’s something that I’ve lived.

After graduation from college, I taught at a low income inner-city high school and I saw firsthand the challenges we must overcome to restore American’s greatness as a world leader.

My time as a teacher certainly helped define my views about education. I taught U.S. and World History in a school where many my students were children of migrant farm workers or working-class parents struggling to make ends meet. I lost several students to teenage pregnancy and others to lack of motivation and family support.

During that time, I was dismayed to learn that we spend more per student than any country in the world.  Despite being number 1 in spending our outcomes in both achievement and completion rates do not place us first in the world.   I believe a revamped education system will do just that.

We still have a school year based on seat time as the foundation of whether students advance.

What does education have to do with the Land Commission Office?  The Land Commissioner oversees the permanent school fund which affords me an opportunity to weigh in on our education system in Texas.  And I intend to do just that.

As a teacher, I had a lesson plan for my students.  As land commissioner, I will have a plan for our schools.

First, we must raise standards.  Too many kids with high school diplomas enter college only to be sent to remedial classes.   Students should be prepared to excel and not be discouraged when they arrive on a community college campus or 4 year university.

Second, we must emphasize math and science so that we don’t have to import our scientists and engineers from a different hemisphere. Right now, industry leaders can’t find enough American scientists and engineers to fill all the job openings.  We need to change that.  We have talent here in North America and education is the key to unlocking that talent.

Finally, we must create more school choices, both private and public, to give parents and students alternatives and to create competition for continuous improvement.  My philosophy is this: When we give parents a choice we give students a chance.

Education matters to me. Together, we can build a better future by creating better schools.  Right here.  Right now.