Kel Seliger,one of West Texas' reps in the state legislature, has told the Senate Education Committee that the state's education board has become too politicized and is not always focused on what is best for schoolchildren.
According to this report from Terrence Stutz of the Dallas Morning News, "four state senators, fed up with curriculum and textbook battles at the State Board of Education, pitched legislation Tuesday that would strip the board of its authority over curriculum and textbooks and transfer it to the commissioner of education."
Really, I'm not surprised to find Seliger involved in a debate over the best interest of our kids. I first met him a few years back, in Austin ... he was a freshman senator, and I was one of the parents of a group of Midland schoolchildren who were in town that week to receive a statewide award for achievement in environmental quality. He greeted the kids that day in the capitol building - something our House rep didn't have time for. Seliger joined them again that night, sitting at their table - rather than the one reserved for officials - during the awards banquet.
I met him again in Odessa, while I was attending a fundraiser for Austin Seminary. Our talk quickly came around to the kids ... how they were doing, and what paths in education, sports and hobbies they were now taking.
I would meet him again, still later, when the TYC scandal was breaking open ... starting in Pyote, and later reverberating across the state. He was an ouspoken critic of the state agency that was supposed to taking care of Texas youngsters, helping them to turn their lives around and set them on a new, more productive path. To say that he was angry with those who had abused their position, would be an understatement.
IMHO, Kel Seliger is a good man ... and a good advocate for Texas youngsters.
According to this report from Terrence Stutz of the Dallas Morning News, "four state senators, fed up with curriculum and textbook battles at the State Board of Education, pitched legislation Tuesday that would strip the board of its authority over curriculum and textbooks and transfer it to the commissioner of education."
Really, I'm not surprised to find Seliger involved in a debate over the best interest of our kids. I first met him a few years back, in Austin ... he was a freshman senator, and I was one of the parents of a group of Midland schoolchildren who were in town that week to receive a statewide award for achievement in environmental quality. He greeted the kids that day in the capitol building - something our House rep didn't have time for. Seliger joined them again that night, sitting at their table - rather than the one reserved for officials - during the awards banquet.
I met him again in Odessa, while I was attending a fundraiser for Austin Seminary. Our talk quickly came around to the kids ... how they were doing, and what paths in education, sports and hobbies they were now taking.
I would meet him again, still later, when the TYC scandal was breaking open ... starting in Pyote, and later reverberating across the state. He was an ouspoken critic of the state agency that was supposed to taking care of Texas youngsters, helping them to turn their lives around and set them on a new, more productive path. To say that he was angry with those who had abused their position, would be an understatement.
IMHO, Kel Seliger is a good man ... and a good advocate for Texas youngsters.
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