LISD superintendent discusses college for all and school choice

From Enterprise Staff

In a district convocation to welcome back teachers and staff last week, Dr. Brent Hawkins said when he took over as superintendent of Livingston ISD, he was asked how many students at the high school he thought would be involved in college. His estimate those 10 years ago was 100%. The 2023-2024 school year ended with 583 LHS students earning college credit while attending high school.
   “College does not mean that we have someone that is getting a liberal arts degree,” Hawkins said. “That’s not what college for all means. College at LHS includes Career and Technical Education (CTE) students. We have students who earned their license in cosmetology from the state of Texas. The LHS cosmetology students earn college credit as they go through Mrs. (Cynthia) Holloman’s program, so it does not just mean liberal arts, but rather a tool of higher education for greater job earnings in the future. These students will have the opportunity to run their own operations. They may also continue to earn an associate’s degree, where the business aspect of running their own beauty shop or barbershop becomes their future, and some may use the skill to pay for their bachelor’s degree.
     “Because of our relationship with the Lamar University system and the vision of Dr. Tom Johnson, the students are able to stairstep their education. After they receive their license to be a cosmetologist, they can continue to a four-year university to expand their knowledge and career. Another option is to use their certification and work to pay for their living expenses or part of their college to move their careers even further. When I say, ‘college for all,’ that means we have to think differently about what college is.”

Hawkins has also served on the Polk County Commerce Center Higher Education board for 10 years. He said there has been frustration with the progress toward a more robust vision for the community and school.

“I see a vision for Livingston High School as an opportunity center for our kids,” he said. “The Commerce Center has to be an opportunity center for our kids and our community, and when we frame it that way, we look at it differently. It has to be different, because the demands to educate our community’s next workforce are different. We have taught a lot of classes at the Commerce Center, but most of the folks in our community don’t want to learn about Homer, the Greek poet. Folks in our community are looking for a job or higher pay, and so that is why the Commerce Center needs to move toward more of an opportunity center. I am very passionate about the team we are working with, and the educational future offered to our community for possibilities of skills, crafts, and trades. The Lamar schools align with the vision in totality.”

Last year’s Texas legislative session included the advocacy of school vouchers by a segment of statewide officials. The superintendent said that all Texas public schools will eventually need to consider the possibility of school choice.

“It’s coming and is only a matter of time before it gets here. My job is to be sure that we are in a good situation and not be fearful of this. A recap of the special sessions that ensued last year in the legislature included the school choice folks being denied all four times, but a lot of out-of-state billionaire’s funds were pumped into the primary elections. There were some good people in the state of Texas who were friends of public schools that were defeated because of millions of dollars of out-of-state donations. Some of it was from TikTok folks in Pennsylvania that were pumped into the coffers to make vouchers the No. 1 all-time fundraiser for Texas politics. They proved school choice to be the greatest political fundraiser in the state’s history, and then that money was turned around and used against sitting representatives in the state of Texas who were targeted by pro-voucher groups. You had folks that had voted 99% with their party that were defeated in the primary. They weren’t defeated because of vouchers or school choice. The campaign pamphlets indicated that they were defeated because they were weak on the border on border security. So conversely, right now, it appears that Nov. 5 will be an expected win for the voucher group because of the political dynamics in the state. I’m not advocating who to vote for; I’m simply laying out the narrative of the state of public education.

“The Texas Legislature has failed to fund public schools, even though they claim that all-time high funding was allocated to schools. It is an illusion they use because the funding was in the area of student enrollment growth and one-time security measures. This is not for operational costs like increases in inflationary costs and salaries for staff. We have no new funds, and we’ve run up against folks with a lot of money, but I think in fairness to the big bad wolf, we also have to understand that everybody is not like us. There are school districts across the nation that aren’t like us. They don’t believe the way we believe, and they don’t operate the way we do. They don’t have the staff that we have at Livingston ISD with our faculty and staff, that day-to-day transform lives the way that we do.

“We are painted with a really broad brush in public education. When you look at the past years and what we’ve done to offer more choices for our kids, we have more choices than anyone in a 45-mile radius. Until we realize that we are not all alike, we are limiting solutions as a profession. Some districts do not offer fine arts credits, and not every district offers Spanish as a foreign language credit. They have minimal choices for students. If my child is living in one of those districts and doesn’t have the ability to partake in better options, I would be fighting, too. That’s where I agree with the big bad wolf and where we have to do better as a profession by re-creating our systems. The part that I disagree with the wolf is that we already have choices in the state of Texas. You can go to a private school, you can go to a charter school, you can go to an online school, or you can go to another public school. Parents have all kinds of choices, but it just depends on whether I should have to pay for somebody to go to a private school. The solution is to rethink school funding and governance mechanisms with all options on the table. I’m not saying that pro-school choice shouldn’t be on the table, but I’m saying that it is not a simple solution, and the greater system should be addressed. We need to create more folks like us.”

Hawkins said he has been against the pro-voucher movement because he does not believe taxpayers should have to fund students who choose to attend private school. He feels the legislature is using simple solutions for complex problems, while not listening to input from educators when decisions are made.

“Politicians are not scared of anyone in education. We have to do a better job of advocating and voting. I’m not saying we should advocate to keep things the way they are, but we have to make great strides to keep our district protected from what’s coming. 

“There is an illusion of choice for kids today as they grow up — work hard, do the right things, have a goal, and move toward their goal. There’s not a choice when you’re striving for excellence. There are things that you have to do in order to achieve your goal. Our school district has no choice. We have to do the things that we have to do in order to position ourselves down the line to be successful. Three years ago, a charter school came into Livingston. Their plan was to take care of students who did not want to attend Livingston High School. After one semester, they returned up north, where they’re operating today, and they continue to be very successful in that community. Our parents made the choice to send their kids to Livingston High School. They didn’t make their choice to send their kids to a charter school. We will continue to ensure that we are more robust in the vision of school safety and accelerated learning via choices that meet the needs of our kids. We will expand our opportunities by ensuring that there’s not just a choice in our secondary school, but also a choice in our elementary schools and junior high for programs as well. This again places us on a very different path of structure within our schools, but it is innovative and what our kids deserve.”