TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE--TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2009
(copyright 2009 Texas AFT)

* Urge U.S. Senators to Support Health-Care Reform--Today is Virtual Lobby Day
* Achievement Gap Narrows, With Texas Making a Strong Showing in Math

Urge Your U.S. Senators to Back Health-Care Reform Now! Make your voice heard in support of health-care reform. Join AFT's "virtual" lobby day and help us flood the switchboards on Capitol Hill with thousands of calls. Your calls will coincide with visits from scores of AFT members who are meeting today with their U.S. senators in Washington, D.C., on health-care reform.

Go to http://www.aft.org/fight4america/click2call_june25.cfm to call your senators in support of passing comprehensive health-care reform. When prompted, enter your phone number. The system will automatically dial your senator and call you when connected. (Or you may call your senators directly at  866-327-8670, toll-free, to be connected to the Capitol switchboard.)

Already called your senator? Send an e-mail to your senators today at http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/HCreform060809. Health-care reform is just a click away.

Achievement Gap Narrows, With Texas Math Students in the Vanguard: The National Center for Education Statistics has released a report finding improved math and reading scores for African-American and white students, a slight narrowing of achievement gaps between the two groups, but little overall improvement in eighth-grade reading. The study found that Texas was one of four states that narrowed the achievement gap in eighth-grade math performance between 1990 and 2007 and one of 15 states to narrow the math achievement gap since 1992 between those student groups in the fourth grade.

The Texas Education Agency also noted that Texas is one of only 13 states that saw an increase in NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) reading scores for both black and white students at the fourth grade. "However, the achievement gap on the reading test did not significantly change for Texas students at either the fourth or eighth grade," TEA said.

The American Federation of Teachers said today’s report is a credit to the hard work of parents, educators, and students, but noted that the achievement gap persists, even as all subgroups rise.
AFT proposed specific policies to address the issue head on. "Narrowing the gap," AFT said, "requires developing strong core standards for what students should learn, accompanied by tools and resources for teachers. Research shows that a content-rich curriculum can have a positive effect on reading achievement for middle-school and high-school students. And, because schools alone cannot eliminate achievement gaps, we need a broad agenda to address poverty, and innovative ideas such as community schools, which provide wraparound academic, health-care, and social services for students and their families."