Home
Texas Business & Education Coalition
Business and Education: An Ongoing Partnership

In 1989, Glenn Biggs, Chairman of the Texas Chamber of Commerce and a visionary, stated, “A Texas student who cannot compete with a foreign student when he or she is 10 years old could not be expected to compete with that student when they are 40 years old.” Mr. Biggs, along with a number of the state’s leading business executives were looking to the future and were becoming fearful that our public schools were falling short in supplying the necessary qualified graduates to keep Texas competitive both nationally and internationally.

TBEC was ahead of its time with its mission statement in 1989, “The mission of the Texas Business and Education Coalition is to dramatically increase learning in the Texas public education system in order for students to acquire the fundamental skills necessary to compete in a global economy.” Twenty years later, with some revisions, the “global economy” continues to be imbedded in our mission to “Convene business and education leaders to confront Texas with the realities of the global economy, to impact public policy, and to change public education.”

 
A calculated approach: Mining the market for math and science teachers

There might be an upside to this down economy: Texas schools are in need of highly qualified math and science teachers and the market is flush with out-of-work, technically skilled professionals seeking job security, health insurance, and retirement plans.

With access to economic stimulus funds for workforce training, now could be the best time in recent history for school districts to recruit these industry-savvy professionals to the classroom. Yet, simply attracting talent isn’t enough. Districts need to back their hiring efforts with comprehensive induction and mentoring programs to ensure the talent stays in the classroom, no matter the state of the economy.

 
TBEC Coordinating Committee Meets

The TBEC Coordinating Committee met on October 3rd at the TBEC offices in Austin. The meeting opened at 10:00 am with introductions followed by four very informative presentations.

Dr. Karen Jenlink, Professor of Doctoral Studies, Department of Secondary Educational Leadership at Stephen F. Austin University discussed linking teacher quality to workforce development. “The teacher is the link between academic achievement and a strong workforce. If the supply of teachers is underprepared or if there are not enough teachers in a particular academic discipline, this link becomes the weakest one in a chain of interdependent processes necessary to yield a strong workforce that is both competitive and attractive globally.” You can review Dr. Jenlink’s presentation here.
 
TBEC’s 12TH Annual Honor Roll Celebration - Another Huge Success
State Board of Education members Mavis Knight and George Clayton welcome guests.
View the 2011 Honor Roll by region or by district (PDFs).
Use our Honor Roll calculator to tabulate and explain your school's score.
The Texas Business and Education Coalition (TBEC) hosted its 12th and last TAKS era Honor Roll recognition event on December 2nd. Nearly one thousand teachers, principals, superintendents, and trustees representing 253 Texas public schools were treated to a cocktail reception followed by dinner at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel in Dallas.

In addition to the reception and banquet several hundred guests attended learning sessions that focused on physical fitness and academic performance [pdf] [pdf], project based learning [pdf], and community involvement in successful schools [pdf].

Riney Jordan delivers keynote address.

Being recognized as a TBEC Honor Roll school [pdf] is the most prestigious academic award a Texas public school can receive. The award was established in 2000 to draw attention to our public schools that perform at the highest academic levels.

Based exclusively on Commended Performance, the state’s most demanding academic standard, TBEC Honor Roll schools have performed at this level of achievement for at least three consecutive years on all subjects tested.

The 253 schools that made the 2011 Honor Roll, which included 181 elementary schools, 38 middle schools and 34 high schools, represent less than 4% of all the public schools in Texas.

TBEC is most appreciative for the generous support from our major event sponsor H-E-B and CenterPoint Energy for providing the funding for all printed materials. A special thanks also to our corporate sponsors ExxonMobil, IBM, the Robert & Janice McNair Foundation and State Farm Insurance.