Preparing for Success

What to Know: A new editorial in the Victoria Advocate says that career and technical education (CTE) prepares Texas students for success.

The TPPF Take: We can do even more for Texas students, such as encouraging them to learn about and prepare for careers in the oil and gas industry.

“The average oil and gas job pays more than double the private-sector average, according to the U.S. Department of Energy,” says TPPF’s Erin Davis Valdez. “The oil and gas industry might not sound glamorous, but it’s a lucrative career path. Energy education is critical not just because of the noteworthy role of oil and gas in our economy — employing nearly 200,000 Texans in direct jobs alone — but because energy makes every part of our lives possible.”

For more on oil and gas CTE, click here.

Human Trafficking

What to Know: North Texas is now one of the country’s busiest hubs for human trafficking.

The TPPF Take: A new bill in the Texas Legislature would help end human trafficking in Texas.

“It is critical that we begin implementing policies that take a sustained approach in addressing the issue of exploited workers, and Chairman James White’s House Bill 820 is a great start,” says TPPF’s Nikki Pressley. “By conducting annual audits of supply chains, we can ensure Texas businesses are not financially benefitting from the illegal mistreatment of others.”

For more on human trafficking, click here.

Seat Time

What to Know: What’s the best way to determine if a student has learned what’s being taught? This debate is heating up between measuring seat time and measuring competency.

The TPPF Take: Measuring how long a student has been in a class—known as seat time—isn’t an effective way of gauging what has been learned.

“The fact is, student outcomes are more important than how long students have sat in a classroom,” says TPPF’s Emily Sass. “Despite varying individual needs, our education funding system uses seat time as a key metric and expects all students to reach basic competency using a one-size-fits-all approach to education. Texas has the potential to lead the nation in developing better measures of education progress and quality.”

For more on competency-based learning versus seat time, click here.