Pete Sessions: “I have been in schools in Alabama. I have talked to teachers. I have been in 18 schools in Alabama since January 1 of…”

“I have been in schools in Alabama. I have talked to teachers. I have been in 18 schools in Alabama since January 1 of this year. I was in Selma, AL, just Friday afternoon and spent some time with the new and innovative school they have created. All of the sixth grade is in one building. They call it a ``discovery school.'' They emphasize art, music, and special programs that give the kids electives. But the faculty has gotten together and created a system in which those electives are very substantive. One of the classes was sports math for kids who like sports. There is a lot of useful mathematics in sports. They are teaching them batting averages and how to calculate all sorts of factors relating to sports programs. That was their idea. The faculty of that school got together with the principal in the town of Selma to create a better way to educate sixth graders in that community. We are not capable of doing that here.”