 |

Why I Give to TSTA-PAC
Watch video clips of four members telling why they contribute to
TSTA’s political action committee.
more
November 20, 2009
Texas House Interim Charges Impact Education
House Speaker Joe Straus has issued the
interim
committee charges for the state House of Representatives, 81st
Legislature.
There are numerous charges that could have an impact on education in
the State of Texas. TSTA will be closely monitoring these charges
and, when necessary, actively intervene to affect the outcome of the
charges. Listed below are the specific charges TSTA will be
monitoring.
House
Committee on Appropriations
2. Monitor the use
of funds, adherence to state and federal reporting requirements, and
ongoing development of federal rules and regulations provided under
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Evaluate the
impact of those funds on the state's economy. Joint Interim
Charge with House Select Committee on Federal Economic
Stabilization Funding
7. Examine the
Texas Education Agency's programs and services, including the
Student Success Initiative, and evaluate their impact on achieving
the stated agency and statewide goals.
House
Committee on Higher Education
4. Study and
recommend strategies for improving community college participation
and success. Examine the role of community colleges within the state
higher education system. Include a review of programs, practices,
and incentives to improve efficiency and productivity, such as
expanding dual credit options, encouraging credit by examination,
and improving student preparation in high school.
House Committee on Pensions,
Investments, and Financial Services
2. Examine Texas
school districts' administration of their employees' optional
retirement investments.
4. Examine the
performance and accountability of the Texas public pension funds and
make recommendations as needed.
5. Monitor the
agencies and programs under the committee's jurisdiction.
House Committee on Public
Education
1. Monitor the
implementation of the public school accountability, college
readiness, and other reforms enacted by HB 3 (81R) and recommend
adjustments as needed.
2. Study the role
of public schools in promoting student health, providing health
related information, and responding to infectious diseases,
including the H1N1 virus.
3. Study the best
leadership and management practices of campus administrators for
improving student achievement, with particular focus on effective
leadership models for improving low-performing campuses. Make
recommendations on how to implement successful strategies at scale.
Review the current administrator certification process and make
suggestions for improvements.
4. Review policies
to ensure the availability of quality science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum to all students in
primary and secondary education. Examine strategies to increase the
supply and improve retention rates of teachers in STEM fields.
5. Monitor the
agencies and programs under the committee's jurisdiction.
House Committee on
Redistricting
1. Conduct public
hearings in appropriate locations to obtain public input on all
issues relating to the redistricting of legislative, congressional,
and State Board of Education districts following the release of the
federal census in 2011.
2. Gather
information regarding the existence and location of communities of
interest to be considered in the creation of legislative,
congressional, and State Board of Education districts.
House Select Committee on
Federal Economic Stabilization Funding
1. Monitor the use
of funds, adherence to state and federal reporting requirements, and
ongoing development of federal rules and regulations provided under
the
American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Evaluate the impact of those funds on
the state's economy. Joint Interim Charge with House Committee on
Appropriations
House Committee on State
Affairs
1. Review state
compliance with federal law regarding undocumented immigrants.
Evaluate the costs of services and benefits provided to undocumented
immigrants by state agencies and local governments.
June 1, 2009
The Road Not Taken
Two major bills highlighted the education agenda this session; the
school finance bill (House Bill 3646) and the school accountability
bill (House Bill 3). This major legislation presented an opportunity
to address the two key issues currently faced by the public schools.
In both cases, policymakers faced clear alternatives in how to
approach important issues that affect educators, students and their
families alike.
In the area of school finance, almost everyone agrees the current
system is severely broken. Schools don’t have the resources they
need, and under the current school finance plan, they no longer have
the capacity to generate additional resources at the local level.
The franchise tax created in 2006 isn’t generating enough state
revenue to offset local school property tax cuts the state mandated
then. That funding imbalance drains an ever-increasing amount of
state money to sustain the poorly funded system in place today, and
that doesn’t begin to account for what is needed to provide
excellence in public education.
Faced with making the difficult decisions about how to fix the
problem, the legislative leadership used federal stimulus funds from
President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to provide
some modest improvements but elected to punt the larger funding
problem to the 2011 session. By then, a more urgent school funding
crisis is likely. More districts will be at the maximum tax rate,
will have spent their reserve funds and will be looking at major
cuts in programs and staff to balance their budgets. The 2 percent
increase in the budget for the next biennium that is paid for with
stimulus money will have to be replaced with state dollars just to
keep up with current funding levels.
Instead of providing the necessary funding to provide a
comprehensive fix for the school finance problem this year,
legislative leaders decided to change the failed 2006 funding
system. Unfortunately, they weren’t willing to pay for it, opting to
put $9.5 billion in the state rainy day fund, meandering toward 2011
and very likely another lawsuit over school finance. In that
context, we had to fight hard to overcome those who tried to deny a
minimum $800 pass-through, across-the-board pay raise for each
classroom teacher, full-time speech pathologist, full-time
librarian, full-time counselor and full-time school nurse.
Fortunately, we succeeded.
Given the wide range of problems associated with the current school
accountability system, everyone in the education community hoped
that when a task force was formed to suggest changes in the system,
we would finally begin to turn away from a high-stakes “test and
punish” system. Many stakeholders, including TSTA, urged legislators
to adopt accountability system reforms that would use multiple
measures to assess students, focus on the diverse needs of our 4.7
million students and provide assistance for schools that had high
concentrations of at-risk kids.
Instead, the leadership largely elected for more of the same – a lot
more of the same. When it was all said and done, the Legislature
passed an incredibly complex 187-page bill that almost no one
completely understands. After months of changes that alternated
between better and worse, the final accountability bill includes a
few good elements, but for the most part it offers more – not less –
testing, and punishment is still very much the focus of the bill.
The final version of HB 3 eliminates one third-grade test in the
elementary grades and replaces the high school TAKS exams with 12
standardized end-of-course exams. Students will be required to pass
the English III and algebra II exams to graduate. Given the
opportunity to forge a new path in student accountability, the
leadership, at the urging of Gov. Rick Perry, decided to stay the
course. The only good news is the bill is so complicated that it
will probably take several years to implement it, and the
Legislature will be back in session in 2011.
Looking ahead to the 2010 March primary and November general
elections, we must work to elect candidates who will support the
kind of change that swept through the rest of the country in
November of 2008. Obviously, we have many friends in the
Legislature, but we won’t break new ground on public education
policy in Texas unless we elect more people who share our vision and
our dedication to creating a first-rate public education system.
This is particularly true at the highest levels of leadership in
state government. We must make a difference in 2010 get state
government out of a rut that has us stuck with leaders who continue
to spend as little as they can get away with and put the squeeze on
public schools and public school employees.
|
 |