Other TEA News
Houston ISD Takeover Update
Federal District Judge Lee Yeakel issued a final judgment (Dec. 16) dismissing Houston ISD’s lawsuit to try to stop the state from replacing the district’s elected board with an appointed board of managers.
The judge denied the district’s request for a preliminary injunction and instead remanded to state court the district’s claims that Education Commissioner Mike Morath exceeded his authority in moving forward with the school board takeover. Update: A state judge in Austin issued an order (Jan. 8) temporarily blocking the Houston ISD board takeover by the TEA until she issues a final ruling on the case.
The judge also denied the motion by the Houston Federation of Teachers to join HISD’s lawsuit to block the appointment of a board of managers, but said the union could pursue its legal claims of violating the Voting Rights Act in a separate federal lawsuit.
Morath has said he will make a decision on whom to appoint as the board of managers this spring, and said during an interview with the Houston Chronicle (Dec. 22) the district’s four newly elected board members (resulting from November and December elections) cannot be appointed.
Accountability Investigations
TEA officials are reportedly investigating 12 school districts and charters that reported far-above-average rates of graduates enlisting or planning to enlist in the military in 2018, a data point that dramatically boosted some of their academic accountability ratings and prompted criticism of the rating system earlier this year.
The Houston Chronicle (Dec. 19) reported that TEA investigators have opened special accreditation investigations in a dozen districts that claimed 30 percent or more of their Class of 2018 graduates were expected to join the military after high school, a figure significantly larger than the state average of about 4 percent.
Without the high enlistment rates, four districts that received B grades under the state’s academic accountability system this year likely would have received D or F grades. The high enlistment rates led to complaints that some districts may have bent accountability rules to boost their ratings, giving them an unfair advantage under the high-stakes system, the publication reported.
Proposed “Partnership” Rules
The TEA is proposing revisions to two rules governing ISD partnerships with open enrollment charter schools or other approved entities to operate campuses for ISDs. One of the rule revisions would, among other things, specify that the contracted partner would have the sole authority over staffing of the campus and would clarify the academic expectations to be included in the partnership contract.
The second rule revision would require that eligible entities wishing to partner with ISDs to manage a campus must first complete an application process with the TEA and be preapproved by the education commissioner to engage in such partnerships.
The public comment period for both proposed rule revisions is Jan. 27.
ESSA News
The TEA is preparing to ask the U.S. Department of Education to approve amendments to the state’s plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act in areas related to the accountability system and support for Title 1 campuses.
Public comments on the TEA’s draft plan will be accepted through Jan. 18.
more info
Science TEKS
In gearing up for the revision of the Science TEKS, the TEA is asking educators to: 1) complete an online survey and 2) apply to be appointed to one of the numerous Science TEKS workgroups.
The State Board of Education is scheduled to start the process to review and revise the Science TEKS at this month’s board meeting, with an eye toward having the final revisions in place for School Year 2023-24. more info