Abbott Urges Emphasis On ‘Digital Learning’
By John Gonzalez
San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO — GOP gubernatorial nominee Greg Abbott on Monday continued the gradual rollout of his education policies with a call for more “digital learning” to prepare students for technical and highly skilled jobs.
After touring the Toyota truck plant in south Bexar County, Abbott outlined a $164 million proposal to widen student access to online learning and tutoring, enhance teacher training and increase grants for innovative and individualized instruction.
The initiative is the third offered by Abbott. The state’s attorney general previously unveiled plans aimed at improving pre-K through third-grade education and to increase local control of school policies.
The campaign of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis, who faces Abbott in November, has assailed Abbott’s education policies, offering harsh criticism of proposals, including Abbott’s call for standardized tests to assess pre-K students. But a Toyota official welcomed Abbott’s proposals.
“This plan will bring Texas into the Digital Age and get our students ready for cutting-edge jobs — jobs like the ones Toyota is bringing to Texas,” said Toyota plant President Joe Da Rosa.
Abbott praised Toyota’s success while cautioning that it needs a skilled workforce to be competitive.
“We must prepare our children and our students for the jobs of tomorrow. To do that we must do more to get children to plug into technology and online learning,” Abbott said.
Jobs await them not only at tech businesses like Apple, Dell and Google, Abbott said.
“We also need to ensure that we’re preparing our students for the high paying, skilled, technical jobs — jobs like at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, jobs that are in great abundance to the south of here in the Eagle Ford Shale, to the west of here in the Permian Basin and across the entire state,” Abbott said.
The key, he said, is expanding technology in the classroom, which “helps our teachers build a pipeline of graduates who are going to be equipped to fill those jobs.”
Abbott is convinced that widening access to online courses would be greatly beneficial. Under current policy, “districts can deny a student enrollment in online classes if a similar course is offered in a classroom, and students are limited in their choices,” Abbott said
Abbott said the $164 million price tag of his initiative “could easily be absorbed by the state budget as it exists now.”
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