Texas Education Policy

Texas Public Schools are Losing 1 out of 4 Students

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The Intercultural Development Research Association released detailed findings today from its latest study - which examines time series data. Key findings show: 

  • Texas is failing to graduate one out of every four students - which translates to losing 11 students per hour. The statewide attrition rate is 24 percent (down from 25 percent last year).

  • Texas high schools lost 99,960 students in 2016-17.

  • At this rate, Texas will not reach universal high school education for another two decades in 2037.
  • Black students and Hispanic students are about two times more likely to leaveschool without graduating with a diploma than White students.
  • In the last 32 years, Texas schools have lost a cumulative total of more than 3.7 million students from public high school enrollment prior to graduation.
Read More 
All of the Education Legislation passed
​in the 85th Regular & Special Session

​​Education Bill Tracker


​As of 24 July, over 100 Education Bills have been filed during Special Session:


​We tracked 1,091 Education Bills during the 85th Legislative Session:

​Track Bills and Receive Alerts here:
​​​Texas Legislature Online (TLO) and TASA Bill Tracker

​2017 Texas State Board of Education Legislative Recommendations:
The Texas State Board of Education on Nov, 18, 2016 approved the following recommendations to the 85th Texas Legislature. 
Who represents me? 
The Equity Center's Legislative Update: School Finance Bills
​(HB 21 and others)
What else does HB 21 (School Funding) do?
House Bill 21 adjusts the funding formula by allotting an additional $1.65 billion to public education over the next two years, per the bill’s fiscal note. Here are some of the other major changes the bill makes:
  • An additional weight for dyslexic students that Huberty says will affect 154,000 students
  • An increased weight for career technical education and technology
  • An increased bilingual adjustment to factor in for the diverse student population
  • A professional development grant for nonprofessional staff
  • Adjustments made to the hardship grant in light of the end of Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction funding
​Read the article
Follow House Bill 21 
​
Compare the House & Senate Budgets, side by side, online
by the Center for Public Policy Priorities
HB 22 Public School Accountability (A-F Rankings) 
Texas House Public Education Committee Chair Dan Huberty filed HB 22 relating to the public school accountability system. TASA Governmental Relations staff are reviewing the specifics of the bill, but noteworthy changes include:
  • moving from five domains of achievement indicators to three
  • assigning A-F grades to each of the three domains but not assigning an overall A-F grade to schools/districts
  • reducing the weight of standardized tests from 55 to 50 percent
  • changing the performance rating of “D” to reflect performance “in need of improvement”
  • requiring “what if” performance ratings to be issued in 2017 and 2018
  • delaying implementation of the A-F system to 2019
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TXSBOE 1 Recommended Revisions to A-F:
  • Any school/district receiving state funding should be subject to EXACTLY the same criteria and requirements.
  • There should only be ONE method of evaluation, to include the same data and calculations, and not several (i.e. PBM, TAPR, and A-F).
  • Only statistically valid and uncompromised data should be used; corrupt data must be thrown out.
  • There should be NO overall rating, AND the ratings should include only those domains/areas that a district has control of (i.e. ISDs accept all students regardless of Spec Ed, LEP, 504, migrant, or otherwise).
  • Score reports should include ALL schools/districts for comparison purposes, listed/shown on a normal curve distribution.  The current method of determining Campus Groups is completely inaccurate and invalid.
  • ALL decision making which uses the data and report should be left to the LEA.  The state is NOT the primary source of funding, and, therefore, should not be the primary source of decision making for the LEA.
  • Reports should include the use of long term trends and averages (to compensate for small test group sizes at small rural schools).
  • Tests, criteria, and students performance goals should NOT change.  No valid statistical analysis can be made from continually changing tests and performance goals.​
Follow House Bill 22 

ARTICLES
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Kids no longer get arrested for truancy and guess what?
​They still go to class
90% decrease in the # of court filings and a .13% increase in attendance. 

Critics of the law feared decriminalizing truancy would lead to a dramatic drop in school attendance across the state. They argued a lack of criminal punishment for excessive and unauthorized absences would serve as a disincentive for school participation.

​Empirical evidence, however, has shown otherwise.  Read More
Rural "school choice" letter campaign sparks confusion, accusations inside Texas Capitol
An advocacy group says thousands of letters sent to rural lawmakers suggests widespread support for legislation that would create education savings accounts. But lawmakers — and some constituents — say the letters are dubious.  ​Read More          Read more about SB3 - Voucher Bill 
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TEXAS RANKS 3RD IN NATION FOR HOMELESSNESS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
 
The report says homeless high school students have worse health outcomes than others, they disproportionately face the most extreme health risks, and are also more likely to take advantage of school-based clinics. The study also suggests more homeless students are depressed and arrive to school hungry than those who aren’t.”    Read More
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THE OBSCURE LAW THAT’S MEANT TO GET HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS VOTING
​Secondary school principals are required to pass out registration forms twice a year – but that doesn’t always get done. Read More
It’s a very important law on the books ~ The Texas Association of Secondary School Principals writes letters to all Texas HS principals (2x/year) to remind them of their obligation. Principals may delegate this responsibility to another educator, however, the law is clear.

​TEXAS ELECTION CODE 
​Distributing Voter Registration Applications and Materials to Eligible Students and Employees.  A high school deputy registrar SHALL distribute voter registration applications during the final month of each semester to high school students who are or will be 18 years of age or older during that semester. Applications may also be distributed at any time during the school year to students and employees of the high school who request them.   Read More
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It's a small step, in the right direction
"AUSTIN – As a result of ongoing reporting issues with the state’s testing vendor, Commissioner of Education Mike Morath announced today that the state will be removing student consequences attached to State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) for fifth and eighth-grade students for the 2015-2016 school year. He also cancelled the June 21-22 fifth and eighth-grade retest administration.”   Read the Commissioner’s Release
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Struggling Schools Craft Plans To Improve Their Campuses

IR = Improvement Required, based on STAAR/EOC scores (despite evidence demonstrating that 1/3 of Texas students are college ready)
"If campuses on the list don’t turn around after five years, the commissioner will have to make some tough choices. He can choose to install new leaders at the schools, or shut them down.”  Read More
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Eanes District, Vendor at Odds Over Supposed Loss of State Exams 

"The state’s testing vendor has informed an Austin-area school district that it has lost tests taken by 3rd through 8th graders. The number of misplaced exams could be in the thousands, according to an Eanes school district spokesman."  Read More
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Do up to 80 percent of Texas high school graduates (still) flail afterward?
Which leads us to the next logical questions: 
  1. Evidence has proven that our STAAR/EOC does NOT prepare our students for college/university, why do we continue to hurt our students, educators, schools with these metrics?
  2. How is the exorbitant cost justified?  Read More

‪#‎PolicyMatters‬ ‪#‎EquityMatters‬ ‪#‎KidsCount‬ ‪#‎YouthFirst‬

  • 25% of El Paso children live in Poverty ($24K, family of 4 - established in the 1960s) ~Center for Public Policy Priorities
  • 66% of Texas students are Economically Disadvantaged ~TEA
  • Food Insecurity affects Black & Brown children in Texas at rates 2X as high as White children ~CPPP
  • School Finance is a Racial Inequity issue ~CPPP
  • Property Wealth - the poorest 20% of TX school districts are funded at $167,020 while the wealthiest of TX school districts are funded at $2,014,811 ~CPPP
  • Teacher instability affects black & brown students at much higher rates ~CPPP
More info: cppp.org/kidscount
Potty Policing is the distraction.
​Privatization is the goal.
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Texas Lt. Gov. asks schools to risk funding while laying groundwork to redirect their funds to vouchers


​"Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday announced he is asking Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in with an official opinion on whether the Fort Worth ISD’s policy on protections for transgender students is legal under Texas law.
My fellow former radio talk show host acknowledged that he is “not a lawyer,” so he’s asking an indicted lawyer’s office whether Superintendent Kent Scribner has violated the Texas Education Code with a restroom policy to accommodate transgender students.”  Read More
“Good Enough” is nether good, nor enough.

The state continues to focus on standardized testing as a measure of the students’ achievement and teachers’ performance. The state rightfully demands high performance from teachers and students but the Texas legislature has continuously given students, teachers, and Texas families the bare minimum.
Texas families deserve and expect more from our legislature. The Texas legislature needs to make education a priority and fully funding education is just the beginning.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that our funding system meets “minimum constitutional requirements”. It’s time we expect the same high standards from our legislature that we expect from our students and teachers. Can you imagine what this state would be if our teachers allowed our students to do just the bare minimum instead of pushing them to meet their potential?
Texas has continued to short-change students and families. This unproductive cycle needs to stop. Our legislature has an obligation to step up and make education a priority in this state. It’s an economic imperative and Texas families deserve better.”
~ Georgina Cecilia Pérez
Texas State Board of Education, Dist 1 Representative
https://www.tribtalk.org/2016/05/27/school-finance-ruling-is-a-call-to-action-for-the-legislature/