Janette Garza Lindner
Like you, I have many questions about the appointed Board of Managers and how they will operate, how they will oversee appointed Superintendent Mike Miles, how they’ll achieve the success they’ve been told to achieve, and more. As it happens, one of these people is a neighbor of mine, and I reached out to her to see if I could ask her these questions. Janette Garza Lindner was a candidate for the HISD Board of Trustees in 2021, losing to incumbent Elizabeth Santos. She was appointed to the Board of Managers along with eight other people and agreed to be interviewed about it. I may try to do this with some other Board members if time permits – we are, as you know, about to enter a big election season and I’ve got more candidates than I can count to try to interview for that. Regardless, here’s what we talked about:
We had a limited window in which to do this interview, so I didn’t have the time to ask all the questions I might have liked to. In particular, I didn’t ask about the Board’s plans for special education; there hasn’t been much on this so far anyway, so it may be a little premature for that. Be that as it may, please let me know what you think.
Thanks for doing this interview. For those willing to listen, I think they will hear that Mrs. Janette Garza Lindner genuinely wants to help improve HISD performance so that Houston kids, especially kids living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, can eventually compete for higher-paying jobs. A quality education has always been a good way for a person to overcome poverty and improve one’s standard of living.
To the group: I know a lot of people are critical of the TEA’s State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests. The STAAR tests are based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, which are the state curriculum standards. If we don’t want to use STAAR tests to measure a student’s knowledge and comprehension of the core educational subjects (e.g. reading, writing, math, science), what alternative should we use? There should be some gateway process to prevent school districts from promoting kids up the grade levels despite poor academic performance.
I’m curious what you guys think. If not via the STAAR or other standardized test scores, how else shall we measure whether HISD kids are improving or not?
Trump wants to make American Great again. Want!
How many are getting employed or going to higher education? Education is more than reading, _riting, and _rithmatic.
Ask the Armed Services to see how the test takers are doing.
That’s true. Unfortunately, a large number of potential military recruits fail the Armed Services entrance exam (ASVAB). That standardized test assesses each recruit’s basic competency in math, verbal, science & technical, and spatial. When many of our high school graduates can’t even pass a basic entrance exam, it reflects poorly on our school districts.
Whether it be STAAR, ASVAB, SAT, ACT, etc., when those standardized test scores come in, they can be very revealing. In fact, I’m reminded of the old Warren Buffett saying, “When the tide goes out, you see who’s been swimming naked.” Sometimes, those high school diplomas aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.
That’s why it’s important to make sure students aren’t just being promoted up through the grade levels without first learning the material.
So, again, if we don’t use STAAR or some other standardized tests to measure student and/or HISD performance, what should we use?
Took the ASVAB in high school, late 70s. Said the thing I’d be least inclined to be successful at was paper-pushing at a desk, something my paper-receiving employer of the last 35 yrs would prob find amusing, and the thing I’d be most successful at would be as a tradesman or artist…which I now do in my free time time to satisfy my need to be creative.
Until TEA comes up with something other than STAAR, STAAR it is.
He he, Kubosh busted with his hand in the cookie jar by KHOU. Finally, we are to be rid of this creep.
I dunno, J. $7,800 in food over six years ain’t really enough to cause anyone consternation. $78,000 maybe, $7,800… meh.
Not too long ago, it was not uncommon to have 18 years old in 9th grade. They could not pass the test or get the credits to go to high school. The solution was to move 9th grade to high school.
Not everyone wants to go to school, but we force them. Courts require juveniles on probation to attend school; many don’t want to be there.
Let us test everyone. If they don’t pass that particular test, eliminate them. I think Hitler had something like that.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21843187/
Passing a test only proves that you can pass a test.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/medicine/divisions-diagnostics-and-procedures/medicine/culture-fair-test
Shoplifting under $1,000 a year is permissible by Republican standards, the party of corruption and crooks.
C.L., that is in response to your comment, in case you didn’t realize that.