Make a Difference

Annise Parker’s Education Plan

Download a copy of this policy briefing here.

Strong cities cannot exist without strong schools. As a parent with school-age kids, a leader focused on our economy and a homeowner invested in my neighborhood, I know we all have a stake in the health of our education system.

City government is not a school district and should not be in the business of running our schools. But the city does have a role – indeed, a responsibility – to collaborate and assist in after-school programs, internships, and apprenticeship programs for kids coming out of these schools. We must also do everything we can to keep schools safe, boost the school districts and help them meet their accountability goals.

Click here to sign the Strong Schools Initiative Petition.

It’s About Economic Development

I am running for mayor not only to deal with the serious economic problem in front of us, but also to build a strong economy for the future. If our children don’t get the education they need to compete for tomorrow’s jobs, we risk a generation of chronic under-employment and a slower economy with increased strain on limited social services and decreasing revenues to pay for them.

The truth is that it’s far cheaper to create a workforce for the economy than to create an economy for the workforce. Increasing student success in school and reducing the unacceptable dropout rates are critical components of economic development. Creating pathways for students to become graduates and either go into higher education or the trades are key ingredients for their successful future.

It’s About Our Neighborhoods

Schools are the anchors of neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with strong schools enjoy increased property values, open-space and recreation benefits and reduced juvenile crime. Stronger schools lead to stronger communities as parents are more engaged in their kids’ education and kids have more opportunities in the neighborhood for constructive activities.

It’s About Working Together to Help Our Kids

There are 17 school districts within the borders of the City of Houston. Let’s stop the bickering about taking over these schools and start working together to support them.

My Stronger Schools Initiative includes:

Strong Schools Partnership. As Mayor, I will reach out to school districts and create a partnership for strong schools that will be a vehicle for communication, coordination and cooperation between the city and school districts.
I will lead regular partnership meetings to make sure our city initiatives make sense for the districts and our neighborhoods and to make sure there is a strong voice to hold our school districts and the city accountable.
Working as partners, we can leverage and focus existing city resources to strengthen our schools. For example:

• Public Works. Identify and expedite infrastructure projects such as streetlights and sidewalks around schools and make the pathways safe that students use to walk to school.

• Public Safety. Target anti-gang and other public safety resources on problem schools. Establish direct coordination between HPD and HISD police to work together on safety in and around schools. Gangs don’t stop at the schoolyard gate, yet our police departments too often see that as a boundary. My proposals (below) to expand after-school programs, work/study programs and apprenticeship programs will also provide productive alternatives to gangs and drugs.

• Resource Sharing. Work together to share facilities – from multi-service centers to athletic facilities to idle school buildings that can be used for Express Libraries or after-school programs. Spark Parks – founded by the late Councilmember Eleanor Tinsley to develop public school grounds into neighborhood parks – is the model. The city is already building and remodeling our libraries – why not use them as community centers in areas that aren’t served by a multi-service center?

• Joint Purchasing. Negotiate interlocal agreements between the city and school districts to jointly purchase fuel and energy – such as wind power currently used by the city – as well as supplies. Purchasing in higher quantities will reduce costs for both the city and our school districts.

• Student Health. Coordinate school clinics and the health department mobile clinics to boost immunizations. Houston has one of the worst rates in the country.

• School modernization and neighborhood renewal. Coordinate school reconstruction and improvement projects with city parks and infrastructure improvement projects and public safety initiatives to develop a coordinated neighborhood renewal program.

Chief Education Officer. I will appoint a Chief Education Officer – essentially a cabinet-level position in the mayor’s office – as my point person in this effort.

After-School Summit. I have school age kids and I am very concerned not only about what happens to kids in the classroom, but also between the hours of 3:30 when they get out of school and 5:00 or 5:30 when their parents get home. We have to have effective after-school programs in every elementary and middle school in the City of Houston. But it will take the city, the county, our school districts and many of our non-profit organizations to make it happen. As Mayor, I will convene an After-School Summit to bring these institutions together with community stakeholders to work out a roadmap to achieve this goal.

Lower dropout rates by giving kids the practical skills they need to get good jobs. Our institutions need to acknowledge that not everyone wants to go to college. The city can work to promote active engagement (1) between schools and unions to create apprenticeship programs for youth and (2) between schools and the business community to create meaningful work-study programs. We should also look at successful programs in other cities that provide incentives to businesses to provide summer jobs and internships for students. I will strongly urge our school districts to use firms with certified apprenticeship programs on all construction projects.

School Closures. The city needs to take a more aggressive role in helping to prevent school closures. While ultimately a decision of the school districts, the city can help keep schools open by facilitating public education using the tools above and helping neighborhoods organize to protect schools.

I stand ready to work with our school districts to help in any way the city can, but they must commit to preserving our neighborhood schools and focusing their resources to make all schools successful.

Teacher incentives. The city’s Good Neighbor Next Door Program is designed to provide incentives for 100 teachers, police officers and emergency medical service personnel to live inside the city in neighborhoods designated for affordable housing development. We should take a look at expanding this program to recruit qualified teachers willing to work in our highest need schools.

The good news is that much of this important work is already happening and by focusing our efforts on a clearly articulated set of goals, we can strengthen our schools, strengthen our city and provide a brighter future for our children.

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