Photos by George Gongora/Caller-Times
Garcia Elementary fifth-graders Taylor Jones-William (from left), Samantha Flores and Mariah Mirabal participate Thursday in the kick-off of Raise Your Hand, an effort to promote public schools.
Former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff says Garcia exemplifies what is right with public education.
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Campaign will work to improve education
Former state official praises local school
By adriana garza Caller-Times
February 16, 2007
Leaders with the bipartisan Raise Your Hand organization visited Garcia Elementary on Thursday to open their campaign to improve public schools.
A group of business and community leaders are asking Texans to raise their hands in support of education reform.
The group advocates for public schools by providing more resources and training for teachers, and funding more dropout prevention programs. 
Former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, who serves on the organization's advisory board, told district leaders and Garcia fifth-graders that it is time to reverse the negative misconceptions about public education.
Ratliff said Garcia exemplifies what is right with public education. The school is one of two campuses in the Corpus Christi Independent School District to earn an exemplary rating in the state's accountability rankings.
Ratliff said the state education system provides students with a good education but there is room improvement.
"We do have some things we need to do better," Ratliff said.
Raise Your Hand supports smaller class sizes. Ratliff said that by lowering the student-to-teacher ratio, students will have more individual time and instruction from teachers.
The organization also advocates for all-day pre-kindergarten and kindergarten for all 4- and 5-year-olds in the state and for college-focused programs in high schools.
Currently some pre-kindergarten programs are three hours long and students must meet eligibility standards, which include being from a limited income household or having limited English comprehension.
Ratliff said the initiatives Raise Your Hand supports will require an increase in funding from the state and may take years to come to fruition.
"We are in this for a marathon; it's not a sprint," Ratliff said.
Garcia Principal Patricia Castillo said the changes Raise Your Hand supports would benefit everyone involved in education.
"Their initiatives are right on target," she said.
Contact Adriana Garza at 886-3618
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