Miracle Revisited: Gains in Houston Schools: How Real...?

NYT frontpage:

A MIRACLE REVISITED
Gains in Houston Schools: How Real Are They?

In recent years, Texas has trumpeted the academic gains of... millions (of) students largely on the basis of a state test, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills, or TAAS. As a presidential candidate, Texas's former governor, George W. Bush, contended that Texas's methods of holding schools responsible for student performance had brought huge improvements in passing rates and remarkable strides in eliminating the gap between white and minority children....

But an examination of the performance of students in Houston by The New York Times raises serious doubts about the magnitude of those gains. Scores on a national exam that Houston students took alongside the Texas exam from 1999 to 2002 showed much smaller gains and falling scores in high school reading....

With its own exam to measure pupil achievement, Texas managed to show educational progress over the last decade on a scale rarely, if ever, achieved before. But as the state's paradigm for school accountability became law for the rest of the nation, the authenticity of Texas's accomplishments has become a major question in education policy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/03/national/03HOUS.html?pagewanted=all&position=

didn't see that coming?

Back in high school when Bush was first running for office, I knew his "Texas Miracle" was bogus when I saw the requirements for the TAAS, especially the juvenile and cookie-cutter way you had to write the essays.

I was in debate back then, and the topic was "Bush or Gore". It'd be so easy to beat those who were supporting Bush if it weren't for the appeal of tax cuts.

I wanted to check on the "jobforjohn" website, but the domain seems to have been discontinued. Do you know if he was ever able to get a job?