{"id":3661,"date":"2026-08-23T11:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T16:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/?p=3661"},"modified":"2026-08-23T12:00:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T17:00:48","slug":"we-know-what-it-takes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/we-know-what-it-takes\/","title":{"rendered":"We know what it takes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We know what it takes for public schools to succeed. Let's invest in that. <\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\u00a0Soy Ashley Bean Thornton, y me postulo para la C\u00e1mara de Representantes de Texas, Distrito 56. Si les gusta lo que digo, y viven en el HD 56, espero que voten por m\u00ed en noviembre de 2026. Mientras tanto, espero que se suscriban a mi bolet\u00edn informativo: https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/stay-in-the-loop\/.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a1Gracias! \u00a1Construyamos el Texas en el que queremos vivir!\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Por Ashley Bean Thornton<\/p>

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I hear a lot of general chatter out and about and on social media about how \u201cPublic Schools are Failing.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Public Schools are not failing.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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There are 14 school districts that are all or for the largest part contained within McLennan County:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  • 8 are ranked either an A or B<\/p><\/li>

  • 4 are ranked B or C<\/p><\/li>

  • 2 are ranked D<\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Now consider this additional information:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    • The 8 that are ranked an A or B have 50% or fewer students who are economically at risk.<\/p><\/li>

    • The 4 that are ranked B or C have between 50 & 75% students who are economically at risk.<\/p><\/li>

    • The 2 that are ranked a D have over 80% students who are economically at risk.<\/p><\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      Our public schools are doing a great job serving kids from economically stable homes.\u00a0 In fact, they are doing a great job of serving a whole lot of students who are coming from really hard and destabilizing financial situations.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      But as the concentration of kids from low-income families increases \u2013 the public schools serving them have a tougher and tougher time helping their students meet the standards we have set.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      This is not a pattern limited to McLennan County \u2013 it is the clear pattern all across the state.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      This should not be surprising to anybody.\u00a0 Constant pressure about money is \u2013 at the very least \u2013 stressful and distracting for the whole family including the kids. It\u2019s harder to learn when you are stressed and distracted.\u00a0 The more stressed and distracted kids in your school district, the harder it is to get a high percentage of them pass the STAAR test.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      This all leads me to think we have two big goals when it comes to public education in Texas:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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      1. Keep our strong schools strong.<\/li>

      2. Support our schools that are working hard to serve our most at risk kids so that they can be strong too. \u00a0<\/p><\/li><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        I do not believe our current Republican leadership is on track for either of these goals.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        Goal 1: Keep our strong schools strong<\/strong><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        As far as keeping our strong schools strong – the two main challenges are (1) funding is not keeping up with inflation, (2) The funding available is being so micromanaged by the state that local leadership can not spend it in the ways they know would best benefit their schools.

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        We are already asking our strong schools to do more with less.\u00a0 It won\u2019t be long before that starts to show and our strong schools start slipping.\u00a0 It\u2019s just common sense that funding for schools has to keep up with inflation at least.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        Goal 2: Support our schools that are working hard to support our most vulnerable kids.<\/strong><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        As far as the second goal \u2013 Schools that are serving a high concentration of kids who are economically at risk require more resources to help those kids succeed at the same level as more economically stable kids.\u00a0 That is just the plain truth.\u00a0 If it is important to us that public education be an equalizer \u2013 and I certainly think it should be \u2013 then we need to invest accordingly.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        We know some of the things that help: Full day pre-school, extra reading support especially leading up the 3rd<\/sup>\/4th<\/sup> grade, early \u00a0math intervention, early identification of special needs and on-going support for the kids who have those needs, additional support for behavior management and counseling that helps kids manage their stress and behavior, teachers who are specifically prepared to work with kids from challenging situations, afterschool programs to make sure kids have a safe place to be while parents are working, wrap around services to help families find the support available to them in the communities. \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        We have experimented haphazardly with all these approaches from time to time and have seen glimmers of promise \u2013 glimmers that are quickly snuffed out when temporary grant funding dries up and support positions are eliminated.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0We need a solid commitment to provide these supports consistently and permanently to the schools that need them most \u2013 the schools that are serving a high concentration of kids from economically unstable situations. \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        If we have billions to invest in trying something new to improve education in Texas, to me it makes much more sense to invest in these kinds of proven programs for public schools than to invest in private school vouchers that have not been shown to improve outcomes at all. \u00a0If our goal is to \u201chelp kids escape from failing schools\u201d \u2013 as we are hearing from our current comptroller \u2013 then we need to invest in the support we know is needed for the schools they are already attending. \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        Both Goals: Teachers \u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        The underlying foundation for success for both goals is better support for our whole teacher life-cycle: Better preparation for new teachers, better support during early years of teaching, better support for behavior issues and working with special needs students, more time for planning\/less unproductive paperwork, better pay for all teachers \u2013 not just a handful, secure retirement.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        In conclusion\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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        Strong public schools are the essential ingredient for the American Dream.\u00a0 Strong public schools build a resilient society of wise voters, productive workers, and good neighbors.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        Nothing gets better if we allow our public schools to deteriorate.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        Strong public schools make us all stronger.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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        We know what it takes for public schools to succeed. Let’s invest in that. \u00a0I’m Ashley Bean Thornton, and I am running for the Texas House of Representatives, House District 56.\u00a0 If you like what I have to say, and you live in HD 56, I hope you will vote for me in November 2026.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":3667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-schools","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3661"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3674,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3661\/revisions\/3674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ashleybeanthornton.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}