- PTA T-Shirt Design Contest
- Summer Camps
- Graduation Information
- Summer Info
- Fall School Start Times
- and more…
TEXAS PTA’S STATEMENT ON PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE RULING
“We concur with Justice Willett and Justice Guzman that there is much work to be done,” stated Lisa Holbrook, President of Texas PTA. “In the words of Justice Guzman, ‘While the constitution requires the system be merely good enough, that does not mean that our system is good, or that it will continue to be enough.’ We must continue to improve our system of education. We cannot do less,” she added.
Last week, the Texas Supreme Court issued its ruling on the constitutionality of Texas’ system of funding public schools, determining that while, “undeniably imperfect, with immense room for improvement,” it is constitutional.
While the ruling means that the Texas Legislature will have no mandate to make any changes to the state’s funding system, it is clear from Justice Willett’s opinion that, “Texas’ 5 million students deserve transformational, top-to-bottom reforms that amount to more than a Band-Aid on top of Band-Aid,” and from Justice Guzman’s concurring opinion that, “There is much work to be done to improve our public school system, particularly for the population that represents the majority of the student base — economically disadvantaged students,” that the Texas Supreme Court in no way endorsed our current system as the best it can be.
“Texas PTA vows to continue to work with legislators and other advocates to create a system that is fair and that gives all students the education they deserve. We must come together — parents, school leaders, policy-makers — to craft a solution that affords every student the opportunity to achieve his/her dreams through education,” stated Holbrook. “We must not take this ruling as permission to ignore the problems we know exist in our public school system.”
Here are a few of the things you’ll learn about this month:
- Programs: Digital Citizenship – this Wednesday!
- PTSA Membership Meeting (Elections & Budget)
[wc_button type=”primary” url=”https://marcusptsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Marcus-PTSA-Newsletter-2016-04-11.pdf” title=”Read It!” target=”self” position=”float”]Newsletter[/wc_button]
Reminder
PTSA Senior Scholarship Applications are due on Wednesday, April 20, 2016!
Reminder for Parents from the Marcus Nurse:
This is a gentle reminder that if your student is sick, please keep them at home. School policy states that students with a fever of 100 degrees or more should be at home until they are fever free for 24 hours, without the aid of fever reducing medications. For other diagnosed infectious conditions, such as strep throat, please follow the guidelines and medications recommended by your doctor. This may include staying at home until antibiotics are on board for 24-48 hours.
It is wonderful that students want to be at school! It is not wonderful to have a sick student spreading illness to other students. Please be considerate to others, if your son or daughter is ill, keep them at home. We will welcome them back with open arms, when they are better! And if you have any questions, feel free to contact Nurse Boyd.
PTA Advocates,
Today is momentous for our nation’s students, families, educators, PTAs and schools as President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law. This landmark legislation reauthorizes the long overdue Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB).
This new law brings much needed improvements to K-12 education, provides greater flexibility to states to meet the needs of all students and acknowledges the essential role of family engagement in student achievement.
We would like to take this time to thank National PTA’s officers, board of directors, past national presidents, state presidents, legislation committee members and federal legislative chairs for their tremendous leadership and advocacy efforts to get us to this historic day.
We also applaud the National PTA Government Affairs staff—Elizabeth Rorick, Jacki Ball, Joshua Westfall and Lindsay Kubatzky—for keeping our membership informed and engaged so we could advocate at critical points throughout this process.
The bipartisan, bicameral passage of this bill and its enactment into law was a long-time coming—and it was essential that PTA get it right. And we have, thanks to all of you.
None of this would have been possible without our past governance and every single member who sent emails, made phone calls, posted on social media and conducted in-person meetings over the last eight years urging a comprehensive, bipartisan reauthorization of ESEA/NCLB with robust family engagement provisions.
We have demonstrated our influence together and the power of our collective voice. This is a success for students, families and PTA. You should be proud of the contributions you made to get this bill signed into law. This is a recognition of our value as stakeholders and key advocates.
The responsibility for implementation and accountability now lies with state and local education authorities. We will continue to call on you to make sure implementation is successful at the state and local levels for our nation’s children. During this next phase, we will be even more reliant on the clear, collective, and most importantly, unique parent voice.
As consumers of our public education system we cannot afford to be complacent in this next step of educational advancement and innovation. We must keep in sharp focus that our primary motivation is to make a difference and speak with a unified voice for every child. Every Child. One Voice.
There are moments when we need to stop and celebrate and this is one of them. Congratulations and thank you for all your advocacy efforts!
We look forward to working with all of you as we continue to use our collective voice and maximize our impact in service to our nation’s students and families.
Sincerely,
| Laura Bay President National PTA |
Nathan R. Monell, CAE Executive Director National PTA |
What: Teens Talk about Social Media
When: December 2 @ 6:00p
Where: MHS Library
December’s PEP session will feature Marcus students sharing first-hand accounts on the in’s and out’s of social media. Gain insight into what they are actually doing vs. what parents believe they are doing. Learn the inside features only they know about. This one is powerful!
