For the past three years, I have been teaching college access lessons at local high schools through my nonprofit, College Scholarship Leadership Access Program (CSLAP). Beyond teaching writing and completing applications, I prepare high school students to graduate with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in college and beyond.
I have seen first-hand the gaps in our K-12 education system across multiple schools in Hidalgo County, and I have a few ideas for where we can close the gaps in our statewide curriculum standards. It’s not enough to say we must move away from the STAAR test. We must also move toward something greater for our students.
While teaching the fundamentals of financial aid, I am often struck by students’ lack of financial literacy. Texas needs to do better than offer "Personal Financial Literacy" as an elective course. The curriculum for PFL should be integrated into high school math courses so all students can be prepared to enter society knowing how to budget and how to compare loans with interest rates.
To truly prepare our students for the 21st century, we must also teach them how to discern facts from fake information on the internet. This is a crucial skill that should be taught in all core courses, not simply as a unit in English. From statistics on websites to misleading news articles, the digital age requires students to understand objectivity and truth. In addition, teaching our students to identify bias in practical scenarios, such as while scrolling through social media or comparing editorial blogs, is necessary to navigate online spaces productively.
Moreover, programming languages like JavaScript and Python are becoming increasingly necessary to learn. As our society becomes more reliant on the internet, our students must get ahead in computer science so they can fully participate in the 21st century and achieve high-paying jobs. Computer science must be integrated more into our core curriculum so more students can enroll and learn the languages of the future.
When students enter our global society, they must also be culturally aware and educated. We must expand Mexican-American Studies and African American Studies to more schools so our students can gain access to comprehensive histories. We should also encourage the study of more minorities and women in our social studies curriculum, including key figures in South Texas history like J.T. Canales and Alicia Dickerson Montemayor.
We should attach our learning standards not merely to scores on a test, but to projects that actually make a difference in the world. That's why I advocate for service-learning curriculum development at any grade level and in any subject.
As a high school teacher at PSJA ISD, I assigned my students a "Change Agent" project that involved researching an issue in the community, gathering the data and means to address it, measuring the impact, reflecting on the impact in writing, and then advertising the impact to the community. From environmental sustainability to civic engagement, my students engaged with real-world projects in an educational environment.
I am running for the State Board of Education to develop high-quality curriculum standards so our students can thrive in the 21st century.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Thomas R. Garcia, a candidate for the Texas State Board of Education. The column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the permission of the author. Garcia can be reached by email via: thomas.garcia09@gmail.com.
Editor's Note: The Rio Grande Guardian accepts guest columns from candidates running in the March 2022 primaries. Send columns and a photo to: staylor@riograndeguardian.com.
Producing quality journalism is not cheap. The coronavirus has resulted in falling revenues across the newsrooms of the United States. However, The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service is committed to producing quality news reporting on the issues that matter to border residents. The support of our members is vital in ensuring our mission gets fulfilled.
Can we count on your support? If so, click HERE. Thank you!
