The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Task Force on Math/Science publicly supports a proposal before the Texas State Board of Education this week that ensures the vast majority of our Texas high school graduates will be academically prepared for higher education and the high-performance workplace.

“Austin, Texas is the Human Capital,” said Tim Crowley, President of Community Banking for Frost Bank and 2006 Chair of the Greater Austin Chamber. “We are a city of ideas and talent and energy, but we must continue to cultivate and grow that talent if we are going to stay globally competitive. One crucial ingredient to doing so is growing a sufficient pool of workers with a well-rounded education.”

On Thursday, September 14, the Texas State Board of Education will vote on first reading on a plan to upgrade the non-required Recommended High School Program and the Distinguished Achievement Plan (Item #7, Committee of the Whole). At its July 6 meeting, a bipartisan majority of the SBOE adopted by 12-3 vote the proposal that, beginning with the Class of 2011, students in the Recommended High School Program complete the three foundation lab sciences of biology, chemistry and physics first, then a fourth science credit. In math, students would be required to complete four math credits, to include algebra I, geometry, algebra II and a course that has algebra II as a prerequisite.

The current recommended program currently requires four years of English/Language Arts, four years of social studies and two years of foreign language. This proposal would not change those course requirements in the Recommended and Distinguished Programs.

Completion of the Recommended High School Program is not a requirement for graduation. Instead, students are placed on this course of study as they enter high school, but can petition to be moved to the lower course of study with approval of a parent or guardian. According to the Texas Education Agency, more than 70% percent of the Texas Class of 2005 completed the Recommended or Distinguished Achievement Program.

In the last special legislative session in May 2006, Senator Florence Shapiro authored a provision to increase the math and science expectations in the Recommended and Distinguished Achievement Programs to four credits but left implementation to the State Board of Education.

"In the healthcare industry, we face long term challenges in recruiting enough medical technicians, administrators and particularly nurses,” said Dr. Norman Chenven, CEO and Founder of Austin Regional Clinic and Chair of the Chamber's Math/Science Task Force. “Our future workforce must be ready, and it needs to start tomorrow with the State Board of Education."

Through Opportunity Austin, a five year economic development initiative, the Chamber plans to attract, retain and expand the number of jobs in Metro Austin by 72,000 by 2008, increase net payroll by $2.9 billion and create $12 billion in total economic impact.

Businesses and organizations joining the Greater Austin Chamber to support this position include: American Electronics Association, Texas Association of Business, Center for Public Policy Priorities, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texas Industrial Vocational Association, Austin Regional Clinic, SETON, Tuanis Technology, Texas Instruments, Occidental Chemical, IBM, Fas-Tools, Inc., National Instruments, Austin Technology Council, Hewlett-Packard, Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, Applied Materials, and Texas Institute for Education Reform.

Individuals joining the Greater Austin Chamber to support this position include:Dr. Steve Kinslow, President, Austin Community College; Dr. Pat Forgione, Superintendent, Austin ISD; Chris Patterson, education consultant; Marc Miller, Global Basis Consulting; Sue Thornton, Asset Strategies Group; Didey Muniz, Program Coordinator, Women in Engineering Program, UT-Austin; Jessica D’Arcy, Executive Director, BreakThrough Austin; Dr. Sheldon Landsberger, Director, Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab, UT-Austin; Dr. Ronald Barr, President, American Society of Engineering Education; Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UT-Austin; Alice Pendleton, Ph.D. graduate student, Material Science & Engineering, Texas A&M; Dr. Juergen Hahn, Professor, Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M; Dr. Linda Zientek, Past President, Texmatics; Professor, Blinn College; Dr. Mel Griffin, Professor in Mathematics, Texas A&M; Alice Sessions, Chair, Biology Department, Austin Community College; H. R. Myler, Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering Lamar University Beaumont; Walter W. Buchanan, Ph.D., J.D., P.E., J. R., Dept. Head Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, College of Engineering, Texas A&M; John Evers, D. Engr., Raytheon Corporate Process Program Manager CDR, USN (Reserves); and Pamela Denkins, Ph.D.