Strategic Snapshot Filter

In 1995, Tom Luce, a founding partner of Hughes & Luce, LLP, founded Just for the Kids (JFTK), a nonprofit group focused on broadening support for public education in Texas. After working to improve schools in several Texas districts, JFTK concluded that student achievement data needed to drive reform. The organization felt that, without a clear picture of each school's academic performance, it was impossible to measure the results of any changes or particular practices. And there was no basis on which to prioritize what needed to be done to improve.

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a national partnership program that brings together local schools, higher education institutions and the private sector to promote pre-engineering education in middle and high school. PLTW provides pre-engineering courses for students in participating schools in hopes of yielding a bigger, better-trained and technology-savvy employee pipeline.

Texas Instruments (TI), a global semiconductor company and designer and supplier of digital signal processing and analog technologies, has a long and successful track record of strategic corporate philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy in the area of public education. TI recognizes the need to prepare students for careers that require proficiency and competency in math and science skills to ensure a workforce that can continue to move technological research and development forward in the U.S.