This Month's Focus: Strong Public Schools
By Ashley Bean Thornton
The main reason I am running for the Texas State House is to support and strengthen our Public Schools.
My philosophy on public education is straightforward:
Public School is how we accomplish these fundamental goals.
I am proud of the Public Schools in House District 56. There are around 20 school districts in House District 56, and I can say confidently that ALL of them are doing some fantastic things for kids!
The plain fact, though, is that schools that serve mostly kids from financially stable homes are doing better at scoring well in the state accountability system, while schools that mainly serve kids from economically at-risk households are having a much tougher time. The great hope and promise of Public Education is that we are ALL better off if EVERYBODY has a good education.
To that end, the two most important goals should be:
Our legislature should be focused on those two things. Everything else – funding private schools, 10 Commandments in the classroom, fussing over what afterschool clubs, weeding out the books in every teacher’s classroom – to me is a distraction from those goals.
I am particularly focused on this question: What can we be doing to help close the achievement gap for the roughly 60% of Texas public school children who are economically at risk?
I believe there are productive answers to that question, answers that would benefit, not just our economically at-risk kids, but all our kids, and all of us.
The main reason I am running for the Texas State House is to support and strengthen our Public Schools.
My philosophy on public education is straightforward:
- If we want democracy, then ALL people need to be educated so that they can vote wisely.
- If we want prosperity, then ALL people need an education that prepares them for a good job now and prepares them to keep learning so that they can adapt to job opportunities of the future.
- If we want to be able to live together freely and peaceably, then ALL people need to learn from an early age to get along with all different kinds of people, including those who don’t see things the same way they do.
Public School is how we accomplish these fundamental goals.
I am proud of the Public Schools in House District 56. There are around 20 school districts in House District 56, and I can say confidently that ALL of them are doing some fantastic things for kids!
The plain fact, though, is that schools that serve mostly kids from financially stable homes are doing better at scoring well in the state accountability system, while schools that mainly serve kids from economically at-risk households are having a much tougher time. The great hope and promise of Public Education is that we are ALL better off if EVERYBODY has a good education.
To that end, the two most important goals should be:
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- Making sure our already successful schools get the support they need to continue to succeed and to build on that success.
- Closing the gaps between our schools that are serving financially stable families and schools that are mainly serving financially stressed families.
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Our legislature should be focused on those two things. Everything else – funding private schools, 10 Commandments in the classroom, fussing over what afterschool clubs, weeding out the books in every teacher’s classroom – to me is a distraction from those goals.
I am particularly focused on this question: What can we be doing to help close the achievement gap for the roughly 60% of Texas public school children who are economically at risk?
I believe there are productive answers to that question, answers that would benefit, not just our economically at-risk kids, but all our kids, and all of us.
I’m Ashley Bean Thornton, and I am running for the Texas House of Representatives, House District 56. If you like what I have to say, and you live in HD 56, I hope you will vote for me in November 2026. Meanwhile, I hope you will subscribe to my newsletter: https://ashleybeanthornton.com/stay-in-the-loop/. Thank you! Let’s build the Texas we want to live in!
After getting a Vote for me Card fro you, and the comments above:
– – I would like to know where you stand on Vouchers for Private Schools using Public Funds. This is NOT A DISTRACTION it takes funding away from your first two main goals,
– – 10 Commandments or Bibles in every classroom and every class, ever class period permitting a time of silence, or for prayer in each, and book bans with no state criteria.