Thank you for subscribing to Texas Education News

This page references
link(s), website(s)
and or document(s)
from articles in the
July 13, 2020, issue.
(Vol. 37 / Issue 25)


Note:
Older links may have expired
and/or may,
no longer be available
due to circumstances
beyond our control.

Texas Education News
is not responsible
for the content of documents and other information
that may be obtained from outside sources and websites.

• Allow state-required independent audits of ISDs and charters to be conducted by auditors employed by CPA firms that are licensed in other states. (adopted with no changes from agenda)

• agenda/webcast-click Item 2. Approved a new grade K-12 positive character traits TEKS to be implemented in the 2021-22 school year, as required by 2019’s HB1026. The gist of the board’s discussion on this item was that the requirement for the new TEKS is being crafted to match what is already being taught in social studies and other curriculum areas so that teachers won’t have to teach it as an additional course or lesson.

• agenda/webcast-click Item 1. Made changes to the required curriculum as a consequence of the board’s completion of a legislative task to fold technology applications courses into career and technical education (CTE) courses.

  After computer science course advocates pointed out, in testimony to a board committee, that the changes (as posted in the agenda) would no longer require high schools to offer computer science courses, the rule was modified on first reading to add the requirement that high schools offer at least one introductory computer science course from these three options: 1) Fundamentals of Computer Science, 2) Computer Science I and 3) AP Computer Science Principles.

• agenda/webcast-click Item 5. Approved rules that would apply to the correspondence schools operated by UT Austin and Texas Tech University if they elect, under provisions of 2019’s HB3, to receive state funding in lieu of charging tuition to in-state students.

• agenda Gave final clearance to SBEC rules to implement recent legislation that added topics to be included in continuing professional education (CPE) and to remove student loan default as the grounds to deny the granting or renewal of an educator’s certificate.

• agenda Modified various deadlines for publishers, due to the pandemic, for PK materials reaching classrooms in School Year 2021-22. The TEA posts updated Proclamation 2021 info here.

• agenda/webcast-click Item 4. Learned from TEA staff that publisher Origo Education made timely payment of the $113,494 fine assessed by the board for not receiving permission before distributing updated versions of textbooks to schools. The money was put into the Instructional Materials Fund for distribution to schools.

  The board, in September, will begin the process of adopting rules to impose sanctions on publishers who engage in similar conduct.

• agenda/webcast-click Item 1. Set the final school-finance related per capita (per student) apportionment rate for School Year 2019-20 at $319.713, up from the preliminary rate of $259.207. Except for the state’s wealthiest districts, the per capita rate does not affect the amount of state funding districts and charters receive.

• agenda/webcast-click Item 3. Approved (or re-approved) several innovative courses. The board did not approve a proposal for an innovative course submitted by the Rock and Roll Academy after TEA staff expressed concerns over the costs of the course.