Carla Ranger - Dallas ISD Education Blog: Texas Observer forum on education reform movement LBJ School of Public Affairs

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Texas Observer forum on education reform movement LBJ School of Public Affairs - University of Texas

As a follow-up to the "Save Texas Schools" rally in Austin, Texas on Saturday, February 23, 2013, the Texas Observer sponsored a public forum at the University of Texas.

Texas Observer Forum

LBJ School of Public Affairs

Bass Lecture Hall - University of Texas

3:00-5:00 P.M.

Saturday, February 23, 2013


Diane Ravitch - Keynote

Julian Vasquez Helig - University of Texas
Jane Lincove - University of Texas Education Policy Researcher
Michael Soto - Trinity University Professor and former member - State Board of Education
Carla Ranger - District 6 Trustee - Dallas ISD
Patrick Michels - Texas Observer staff writer - Moderator

This in-depth panel discussion considered how the national school reform movement has taken root in Texas, and the challenges facing public school advocates in Texas cities.

It was an interesting discussion by people who have much knowledge and information on education reform developments throughout America and Texas.

I enjoyed participating on the panel.

A Teacher's Creed

"In the classroom on the first day of a new school year, I am eager to meet my students. I have rehearsed my greeting and first day’s remarks, but no matter how many years I’ve prepared for this procedure, it’s always new. My heart pumps a bit harder, faster; I feel adrenaline like an athlete, or like an actor, or maybe like a novice public speaker. It’s a marvelous feeling, this first day, because I know that something special is going to happen, and I know it because I’ve experienced it before and I know that I will experience it every time I meet a new class throughout my venerable career. And then they’re seated before me and I smile at this special feeling. This is an assembly of students, yes. But there’s so much more, because each of these young persons is more than just a student entrusted to me. Each of these students has a story to tell, a lifetime, however brief, of experiences, a history in volumes whose richness and depth I can barely begin to fathom. And so as I absorb the first glimpse of these young charges, I must appreciate the extent of my responsibility, of the privilege I’ve accepted in presenting these young souls my special knowledge. In offering them my talent and passion, I am adding an enormous array of new bright stars to the vast firmament of their minds, stars that will never have time to fade in their lifetimes. I will be part of their story. And I know that each of them will always be part of mine. And that’s a good feeling, a feeling that is perpetually renewed, revisited, and rewritten in A Teacher’s Creed."

Carla Ranger - Dallas ISD Education Blog

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Texas Observer forum on education reform movement LBJ School of Public Affairs - University of Texas

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