We ask that the governor and the Texas Education Agency learn lessons from the Coronavirus pandemic to focus on the whole child including paid sick leave, wraparound services, health care, and ensuring that homeless students have a roof over their heads, not just a place to sleep at night.

The governor has cancelled the STAAR this year. 

We want to take this moment to emphasize that children are more than a score and education is vital. Education, not STAAR, is fundamental to a child, a family, and a community’s well-being. 

What is most important is taking care of those who cannot care for themselves, looking out for our neighbors, and good values that individualism and STAAR take away. Let’s continue with compassion, dignity, and justice for all. Please help spread this message in this time where the world is our classroom.

To keep the phone lines open to the Texas Education Agency and the governor’s office, please do not call today. Continue to uplift the needs of vulnerable populations via social media; oppose takeover and high-stakes testing and support fully funded schools in every neighborhood.

As recently as yesterday, the governor had planned to postpone—not cancel—the STAAR. Your calls, texts and social media posts helped ensure that the governor cancelled 2020 STAAR testing.

However, the governor and the Texas Education Agency commissioner remain convinced that high stakes testing is more important than teaching the whole child,  rich meaningful instruction, and student supports. We need to keep standing up for our children.

Morath’s testing cancellation statement claims that “in normal times, STAAR serves as an invaluable tool to accurately and reliably diagnose how well students have learned to read, write, and do math.” We know that this is demonstrably untrue.

It’s about time we focus on students’ well-being instead of endless high stakes testing and accountability and our state needs to PERMANENTLY end high stakes testing.

We ask that the governor and the Texas Education Agency learn lessons from the Coronavirus pandemic to focus on the whole child including paid sick leave, wraparound services, health care, and ensuring that homeless students have a roof over their heads, not just a place to sleep at night.

We must stop Houston ISD takeover to focus on the important issues facing our families and children right now. 

Test scores are highly correlated to socioeconomic status and cannot be used to take over schools or school districts. Let’s stand with our children, and oppose this power grab. 

Stay in the fight and oppose any effort to remove democratic control from local districts like Houston ISD.