Useful Resources

Commission on School Finance Report

House Bill 21, 85th Texas Legislature, 1st Called Special Session (2017), established the Texas Commission on Public School Finance to develop and make recommendations for improvements to the current public school finance system or for new methods of financing public schools.

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The commission shall develop recommendations to address issues related to the public school finance system, including:

The purpose of the public school finance system and the relationship between state and local funding in that system;
The appropriate levels of local maintenance and operations and interest and sinking fund tax effort necessary to implement a public school finance system that complies with the requirements under the Texas Constitution; and
Policy changes to the public school finance system necessary to adjust for student demographics and the geographic diversity in the state.

The 13-member Commission was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, House of Representatives Speaker Joe Straus, and chair of the State Board of Education Donna Bahorich. It was chaired by former Texas Supreme Court Justice Scott Brister. Six Commission members were appointed from the Texas Legislature, all of whom serve on the education committees in their respective chambers (including both committee chairs) and include both Republican and Democratic members. The Commission also included an elected representative from the State Board of Education, a current district superintendent, a school district chief financial officer, a classroom teacher, and community leaders.

Click here to review Resources and Presentations made throughout the duration of the Commission.

Texas Association of School Administrators' (TASA) Summary of the Final Commission Meeting
On December 19, the Texas Commission on Public School Finance met to discuss draft recommendations to be included in its final report to the 86th Texas Legislature. Two goals emerged as priorities for the commission in finalizing its recommendations:

Increased funding for public education
- Emphasis on extra funding for schools with the most challenging students
- Focus funding on outcomes, especially those schools with the lowest outcomes
Property tax relief

Texas Students in Foster Care

TEA resources supporting educational needs of students in foster care

Texas Education Agency, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and Supreme Court of Texas Children’s Commission have collaborated to develop a new guide entitled: Information Sharing Between Child Welfare and Schools: Maintaining Privacy and Promoting Educational Success. Read more

Education

DFPS is committed to meeting the educational needs and goals for children in substitute care. Education contributes to the overall well-being of a child academically, emotionally, and socially. Positive school experiences can help a child overcome some effects of abuse and neglect and in successfully transitioning to adulthood. Read more

Resources for Parents

There is no master playbook for foster parenting, but the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Child Welfare Strategy Group has identified 10 online resources aimed at helping caregivers succeed in this critical role.
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Foster Care & Education

Using The Texas Blueprint as a roadmap, the Foster Care & Education Committee focuses on strategies to improve educational experiences and outcomes for children and youth in Texas foster care. Read more

English Learners

2018 List of Approved Tests
for English Learners

Local Education Agencies are required to use a list of approved assessments for the identification and reclassification of English learners.

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Dual Language

TEA Spanish Resources

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TEA Spanish Resources

Suggested Revisions from my office to the
"State Plan for Educating
English Learners"

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Drop Out Data & How Texas Must Recover

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Pocket Edition

Published annually since 1991(by the Texas Education Agency, the Pocket Edition reports a variety of state-level statistics. The topics include information on students, test performance and participation, graduation and college admission, attendance, graduation completion and dropout rates, accountability ratings, personnel, and finances. Click here for additional Pocket Edition publications.

DROP OUT DATA

Under the TAKS administration (2003-2016)
there were 489,353 high school drop outs.
1/2M Texans who did not receive a high school diploma.
In 2017, my office worked with Senator Jose Rodriguez to write an amendment to SB 463 (IGC) which now provides a Path2Diploma for these individuals.

Why is this important?
Individuals who do not have high school diplomas are more likely to hold low-skill, low-wage occupations throughout their lifetimes.

Individuals who graduate from high school have the opportunity to attain post-seconday certificates or diplomas, providing a path to middle-skills, middle-wage (ie Middle Class) professions. Read More

Individual Graduation Committee

TEA releases 2015-2016 Individual Graduation Committee data
The 84th Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 149 in 2015, which revised the state's assessment graduation requirements for students enrolled in Grades 11 or 12 during the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, and 2016-2017 school years. Under the new requirements, a student who failed an end-of-course assessment for no more than two courses could still receive a Texas high school diploma if the student was determined to be qualified to graduate by an IGC.Read More

Why Educator Diversity is a Must

Educator Diversity

Over half of Hispanics receive their education degrees from Minority Serving Institutes. Notably, Hispanic Serving Institutes alone account for 44% of all education degrees conferred to Hispanics.

Data illustrates that education graduates of MSIs have 3X the average teacher retention rate. Read more

Military Families

On behalf of the public schools of Texas, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Texas.
The men and women who serve in the armed forces are among our most valued assets as a nation.
Your children deserve the very best our public schools have to offer.

Click here for
Military Family Resources

Texas Education Agency

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Title I

Federal Title I, Part A Sec. 1112(b)(2) under ESSA requires all local educational agencies that receive Title I funds to develop a plan for “how the local educational agency will identify and address, as required under State plans as described in section 1111(g)(1)(B), any disparities that result in low-income students and minority students being taught at higher rates than other students by ineffective, inexperienced, or out-of-field teachers.” https://texasequitytoolkit.org/.

TEA Time Podcasts

A Conversation with the 2018-2019 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year, Rhonda Peña, a fifth grade math and science teacher at Bryan Elementary School in the Mission Consolidated Independent School District.

YouTube:https://youtu.be/iyJ-SqwZNzU

A Conversation with the 2018-2019 Texas Teacher of the Year, Jeff Wheatcraft, STEM teacher at Alamo Heights Junior High School in the Alamo Heights Independent School District.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/kKhDwFjerAI

TEA on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/TxEdAgency/videos

TEA en Español

Grabado en la preparatoria de San Elizario (en El Paso), con la Directora Maribel Guillen y sus Embajadores Aguilas.

Answers in About a Minute

Click on the image above to view a variety of informational videos which are "about a minute" long.

Texas Assessments

Testing

Click here to learn more about Testing in Texas, from TEA.

Historical Overview of Assessment in Texas

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State Assessments: Past, Present, and Future (TEA)

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