Parent speaks truth to Texas legislature
by pureparents
TX Senate Education Committee Hearing
Public Testimony of Lorie Barzano, March 26, 2013
Good afternoon, Committee members, guests. My name is Lorie Barzano, a public school parent, taxpayer and Chair of the Coalition to Strengthen Austin Urban Schools, a local affiliate of Parents Across America. We are a parent led group committed to quality, accessible Public Education for all children.
I come here today as a parent to speak on behalf of countless parents who cannot miss work, find childcare or afford to travel to be here today. I come as a parent to speak truth to power.
With only a few minutes, rather than debate points of individual bills under consideration, I will proactively state, documented by countless research studies and surveys, what parents really want.
Parents want elected officials and school district administrators to put the kind of time, energy and effort they put into promoting the expansion of charter schools and the increase of high stakes corporate testing into supporting and improving our public schools. We know the programs and policies that work and they do not necessitate outside business interests, charter schools, vouchers, trigger laws or special taxes. They involve practices easily implemented right on our public school campuses such as small class size, highly trained and certified teachers, adequate funding, a safe environment and wrap-around services that address the
