Michael Barba is the Policy Director of K-12 Education at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. His work is focused upon education because it provides our children with economic, civic, and moral benefits: a good education offers students a path to prosperous work, teaches students why and how they must care for their neighbor, and gives students practice in the virtues that allow them to attain lifelong freedom and happiness.
Previously, Michael served as a specialist on the System of Great Schools (SGS) team at the Texas Education Agency where he helped visionary school district leaders understand and deliver the schools that their families want, need, and deserve.
Public school officials in Texas won’t take “yes” for an answer. No matter how much money the state spends on education, districts everywhere are pleading poverty and falsely claiming that schools are “underfunded.” It’s a persistent myth routinely voiced in the media. But how does it square with reality? It would help if we all...
Introduction: STAAR performance labels offer helpful information to parents and policymakers because they indicate students’ success and are also an early-warning sign that students need more support. The STAAR performance labels are: Masters, Meets, Approaches, Does Not Meet. Each label offers an indication of how a child is performing in three categories: a child’s likelihood...
Every parent deserves transparency, quality, respect, and choice in their child’s education. That’s our mission at TPPF’s Next Generation Campaign and we’re excited to report big wins this week! Transparency & Quality: As national scores continue to show us, there is a huge gap between the TEKS (what we expect Texas children to learn) and...
In its second meeting of the year, the State Board of Education (SBOE) took three critical votes which will: improve the TEKS drafting work groups, allow better communication during the charter school application process, and protect children from obscene library materials. Improving TEKS Drafting: The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are the state standards...
Outgoing members of the Texas State Board of Education met this week with the full board, and took a parting shot at parents—just weeks before a new, more conservative SBOE is sworn in. Rejecting the voters’ clear wishes on expanding parent empowerment and ensuring that families can make the educational decisions that work best for...
Over the last two years, U.S. education was rocked by school closures and interrupted learning. As of spring 2022, 60% of our kids were not doing math on grade level and 50% are below grade level in reading. Parents are frustrated by their lack of ability to control what’s happening to their children. To listen...
A recent Houston Chronicle editorial claims that empowering parents to choose their own children’s education (yes, including low-income parents) would upset the First Amendment’s Establishment clause. Sure, some schools with a religious focus can provide kids with a solid education, the editorial board admits. “But when it comes to the constitutional separation of church and...
There’s something conspicuously absent from State Board of Education member Aicha Davis’s warmed-over critique of charter schools—the voices of the thousands of Texas families who are on waiting lists to get into them. Throughout this summer, families throughout the state will desperately await phone calls and emails informing them that a seat has opened up,...
What is school choice? School choice is about a fundamental right for parents to have access to the educational environment that serves their children best. Families should have a wide range of high-quality schools or educational options to choose from – be it traditional public schools, public charter schools, private schools, homeschool, or virtual learning....
When a Utah teachers’ union stared down parents who simply wanted to know what their kids were being taught, it was a state lawmaker who blinked. Recently, Utah Rep. Jordan Teuscher introduced a house bill to require curriculum transparency in public schools. The Utah Education Association responded with an online petition, and even the ACLU...