Marc, Teachers are not tested the same in all states. Nor is any other profession. I've got to tell you, I have noticed a huge difference between Texas teachers and California teachers, though my observations are far from scientific. At the college level, it's pretty striking. California has 6 colleges in the Top 15 public schools on the U.S. News and World Report (including #1 and #2). Texas has none. For some states, MA, for example, this would not be so bad because you have Harvard, MIT and Amherst on the private side. Texas, a much larger state than MA, has Rice. Which is treated as a pariah because it doesn't have a good football team. <ng> All in all, standards are simply higher for California teachers than they are in Texas.
Which does not mean Texas does not have some great teachers and professors. It just doesn't have many relative to its population and its wealth. |
