Hunter Crow

Education

Texas teachers are underpaid, overworked, and rarely supplied with the resources necessary to reach their students. Classroom teachers at the elementary and secondary levels should receive professional status, fully funded health insurance, and salaries comparable to related professions requiring advanced education, training, and responsibility. Learn more

The unions that represent teachers ought to have the same right to call strikes that any other union does. Texas ought to remove legal restrictions that prevent teachers from participating fully in political life. Learn more

Within public education, we believe in broad choices. Curricula should include instruction in languages, arts and sciences, critical thinking, citizenship, and the history of social movements. Students must be taught nonintellectual skills such as interpersonal relations, dealing with emotions, nonviolent conflict resolution at every grade level, environmental appreciation, and vocational training. They should be taught in the arts of democracy, including how to be involved politically in their communities. Teaching should focus on helping people to learn at their own rate rather than encouraging rote learning and submission to authority. Learn more

The state must substantially increase funding of local education budgets. Only by spending large sums on education and by making education a national priority with clearly defined goals and priorities can we reduce class sizes and teach special classes for youth with special and different needs, maintain and rebuild school facilities, which are deteriorating nearly everywhere, and modernize the curriculum. Furthermore, acknowledging and addressing the serious problems children bring with them to school will be as undeniably costly as it is essential. Learn more

I do regard education as the basic requirement of a democracy based on an informed, responsible, and active citizenry. The quality of children's education should not be dependent on the wealth of their parents or community. Learn more

We encourage flexibility in the structure of the school day and how individuals are taught, going beyond the traditional concept of the classroom. Teachers must bring the world into the classroom, and bring the classroom out into the community. Learn more

We support the elimination of tuition and student fees at Texas public colleges and universities for Texas high school graduates. Learn more

We support the continuation and expansion of bilingual education. In order to place Texas education on a par with most other countries, we believe that all students should be taught a second or third language, beginning in the first grade. Learn more

Principals are also essential people in effective educational institutions. We encourage the state and local school boards to deliver more programmatic support and move decision making to the true grassroots level - the classroom teacher and school principal. Learn more

I do oppose over reliance on high-stakes standardized tests when such tests are used as the primary criterion for grade advancement, graduation, or teacher pay. Likewise, I do refute that the averaged scores from such tests can be used to make fair or meaningful comparisons between schools. Learn more

I would support new educational entitlements that shall include the opportunity for school students to learn about food and to gain direct experience of growing food plants. Learn more

I do oppose school vouchers. Learn more