The future prosperity of our state – our economy, communities, and citizenry – hinges on the success of every public school, school leader, educator, and child.
Raise Your Hand Texas supports public policy solutions that invest in Texas’ 5.4 million public school students. We work in communities throughout the state to educate, engage and activate advocates who care about public education – all while keeping five values in mind: integrity, democracy, courage, equity, and pragmatism.
We are reinventing public education for the future – because the future of Texas is in our public schools.
You wouldn’t know it by some narratives, but public schools are performing better than they have since student performance first started being tracked. Students are achieving higher results in reading and math than they have in decades.
More students are graduating from high school. Parent satisfaction with their local schools remains high, despite low perceptions of public education across the country. School districts across Texas are expanding choice and innovation in campuses and courses to ensure students leave high school college- and career-ready.
Texas educators are making admirable strides in the face of lackluster school funding, increased expectations and classroom mandates, a constantly shifting accountability landscape, and student population growth – especially those living in poverty or still learning English.
The Texas identity has always been defined by lofty ideals and a never-ending pursuit of greater opportunity and prosperity for our citizens. While American schools have made incremental improvements in student achievement over the last few decades, other countries have experienced exponential gains.
For too long, Texas and the United States have languished in the middle of the rankings. This has very real implications for our students’ individual and collective potential, our state’s business economy, and our global competitiveness.
Texas’ economic future will be determined by the success of our public schools. For this reason, Texas citizens and the officials they elect should support the public school system and its capacity for progress and reinvention.
We have established seven core policy priorities — our true north — that guide our long-term work strengthening and supporting public schools in Texas.
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