I look forward to working hard for the school children of Harris County. My focus will be to expand the Head Start program and eliminate the waiting lists that now deprive children of their possibility of success.
President-Elect Obama has a dynamic plan to improve public education and we will continue to use this web site to keep you informed of these new initiatives as they begin in Harris County. Please invite those interested in public education to join our e-mail list.
Stan Stanart
Partisan politics, religious and cultural agendas have no place in public education. So why would candidates opposed to public education seek to control local and state school boards of education? For the past several years, religious conservatives have been running for and have been elected to school boards in Texas and across the United States. Recruited by a coalition of conservative groups such as The Christian Coalition and Focus On the Family, candidates are trained to downplay their agenda while seeking office. Please read the reasons Mr. Stanart gives for his candidacy to a select radio audience of listeners in January of this year. (Stanart in His Own Words)
Stan Stanart tells why he seeks to serve on the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Board of Trustees. (www.thewhatsupradioprogram.com - January 29, 2008. See Archives: guest, Stan Stanart for recorded interview).
Terry Lowery, Radio Host: As a citizen, why seek a position that doesn't pay anything...no one knows what you are doing, why seek it?
Stan Stanart: For a number of years, I have been chairman of the Northwest Harris County Christian Coalition...I served three terms as President of the Cherry Hill Republicans...I am the Executive Director of CLOUT (Citizens for Lowering our Unfair Taxes). I have political connections that can put visibility to the Board. You know, do we even need to do away with the whole thing? Something I am highly entertaining at this time. I will use this position to bring conservative voices to every ISD school board in the county. I will help the conservative voice be loud and strong, we can have our conservative values pushed into these positions of leadership.
What was not mentioned among Stanart's reasons for running for HCDE Board of Trustees:
What are these "conservative values” that Stanart plans to push into these positions of leadership?
I would love to debate these issues with Mr. Stanart, but he is unwilling to share his agenda with the voters of Harris County. My opening line in a debate would be “My Christian faith teaches me that we must ensure that every child have the educational opportunity to reach his/her God given potential."
The Houston Chronicle recently reported that the high school drop out rate in Houston and other major cities in Texas is between 40-50%!
This is not a time for cute slogans. It is past time for change in Public Education!
We must:
Every child in Harris County ( and America) has a right to attend an excellent public school!
If you are a supporter of excellence in public education, join our campaign!
Our campaign will be directed and staffed by students 21 years old and under! Your contributions will help us provide a summer stipend for those students working fulltime.
Please visit the Harris County Department of Education website to learn more about the programs that serve our children.
I just attended the regular monthly board meeting of the HCDE. There are two items of interest. First was the discussion of the Head Start Program which is operated by HCDE and is funded by the federal government. The program serves about 1,180 children in a part of the county that includes portions of the congressional districts of Ted Poe, Gene Green, & Al Green. It seems that the federal requirement for head start teachers has been raised from an associate degree ( 2 yrs of college) to a bachelor degree. Great idea, of course, unless you realize that the current pay for Head Start teachers is around $26,000 a year. The new requirement of 4 years of college rather than 2 is not accompanied by an increase in salary. School districts in Harris County are scrambling for teachers and are paying a starting salary of $46,000-50,000. Unable to compete for teachers, HCDE is faced with eliminating Head Start or continuing a program that will fail to meet mimimum standards. Remember that success in early childhood education is the leading indicator of whether a student completes high school. No wonder we are facing 40 - 50% drop out rates in Texas's major cities. Solution? Raise qualifications AND salaries of Head Start teachers. Investing in early childhood education is just common sense. It is an investment that will produce contributing citizens and taxpayers and eliminate the shame and cost of being ranked #1 in the world in the incarceration of our citizens. The second item of interest was the hiring of an attorney to remove trustee Michael Wolfe from the board. We will discuss this item soon! I would like to hear your thoughts!
The Houston Chronicle recently reported that the high school drop out rate in Houston and other major cities in Texas is between 40-50%!
This is not a time for cute slogans and status quo! It is past time for change in Public Education!
We must:
If you are a supporter of excellence in public education, join our campaign!
Our campaign will be directed and staffed by students 21 years old and under! Your contributions will help us provide a summer stipend for those students working fulltime.
