Spring Branch ISD to Implement 5-Year Education Plan

A five-year education plan is set to be put in place in the Spring Branch school district following board approval Monday. Under the plan, the district has laid out a comprehensive set of objectives and strategies for achieving them over the next five years in a bid to be an exemplary rated and top college focused school district. A year in the making with input from parents, teachers, administrators and community members, the plan covers everything from narrowing the achievement gap between student groups in standardized tests and beefing up writing programs to increasing student use of technology and decreasing the dropout rate among middle school pupils.


CIS has programs in 12 schools in the Spring Branch School District, and enjoys the support of Superintendent Duncan Klussman and school district personnel. CIS Houston applauds Spring Branch ISD for its efforts to decrease the dropout rate among its middle school students!

Politics Not Just for Politicians

Some of you may have heard about Senate Bill 127. The bill proposes to increase CIS statewide funding by more than 30%. Needless to say, this is an important issue to those of us involved with CIS, and we hope it will become an important issue to the rest of you as well. So far, we have successfully gained a fair amount of bi-partisan support for the bill thanks to Senators Fraser (R-District 24), Van de Putte (D-District 26), Janek (R-District 17-Houston), Wentworth (R-District 25), and Zaffirini (D-District 21), all of whom have signed on to the bill. Once the bill moves out of the Senate, Representative Myra Crownover (R-District 64) has agreed to carry the bill in the House.

We at CIS want to emphasize the fact that rallying support for this bill has been and will continue to be an interactive process between CIS staff, students, and other supporters and our Texas Representatives. Three CIS Houston staff members have already been to Austin to meet with Representatives, educate them about the important mission of CIS, and encourage them to support Bill 127. On March 8th, CIS staff, students, parents, and other volunteers from around the state will convene in Austin for a full day of meetings aimed at gaining further support for the bill and for the CIS cause in general.

If you would like to support this or any other issue that's important to you and your community, we urge you to get involved with the political process! You can access complete information about your district, your representatives, and your local political issues by visiting the Texas Legislature Online.