What will your School District Lobbyist do in Austin this year?
In preparation for the biennial Texas legislative session opening this week, school districts and other local government entities have created “legislative priority” lists for their respective lobbyists to take to the state capitol. While legislative wish lists may not carry the entertainment value of say, analyzing various political Twitter accounts, citizens would do well to scrutinize the stated priorities of our local, but less visible politicians.
Unfortunately, these published priority lists can be misleading. For example, Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District’s recently published list, (which like most districts largely mirrors that of the Texas Association of School Boards), includes a call for the state to “restore” its “share” of formula funding to at least 50%. This wording gives many readers the impression that the state has cut education funding, when in fact education spending in Texas has increased by an inflation-adjusted 29.7%. Under the current “Robin Hood” system, when local revenue goes up, the state’s proportion goes down for some districts, (even though Texas increased education spending by $5.2 billion last session). As it stands, the funding structure is contributing to an increasing property tax burden for Texas families, and has not effectively incentivized either efficiency or improvements in student achievement. While there is little doubt that the legislature will increase education spending in 2019, there is an urgent need to accompany increases with meaningful reforms.
While calling for more funding on one hand, several priority lists include an apparent demand to diminish accountability standards for public schools. Although the new, more understandable A-F grading system has not yet been fully implemented, these districts are demanding a return to the previous vague and opaque ratings in which schools are rated as either having “Met Standard” or “Improvement Required.” The new A-F system takes into account not only standardized test scores, but also yearly student growth and the progress of racial/ethnic and economically disadvantaged groups. Unfortunately, some administrators do not want this more fine-tuned scrutiny, and in addition to opposing the A-F system, are also lobbying for a curtailing of the state’s standardized testing program known as STAAR.
The STAAR tests, created in collaboration with Texas teachers, have both ardent supporters and passionate opponents. Some opponents claim the STAAR itself is problematic and should be replaced, but national measures (NAEP) reflect the same student achievement trends, and only about 16% of Texas students are earning college-ready scores on the ACT and SAT. A small, but surprisingly vocal minority of Texans seem to believe we should stop testing altogether and “just trust teachers.” In that public education in Texas constitutes a $60 billion program and is responsible for more than 5 million students, or “souls,” that solution is both unpalatable and highly unlikely. And while a significant number of people do not actually enjoy taking tests, tests of many kinds are an ever-present factor of the adult life for which schools are purportedly preparing students.
As for the Texas STAAR, despite the horror stories about overly demanding and stressful tests, it turns out that students earn a passing score even if they are performing below grade level. Which explains why a “highly rated” district like Cy-Fair ISD might be asking the State to throw out the new grading system and reduce student exposure to the STAAR tests. Although CFISD boasts an 83% pass rate, of the 189,364 CFISD students tested in 2018, only 57% actually met or mastered grade level. Therefore, approximately 43% of CFISD students are testing below grade level. Broken down by demographics, 56% of African-American, 51% of Hispanic, and 55% of economically disadvantaged students in CFISD are actually testing below expected grade-levels.
And perhaps these sobering numbers also explain Cy-Fair ISD’s antipathy towards public charter schools. Among the various successful charter operators in Texas, are models that have proven successful with minorities and economically disadvantaged students, as well as models that offer a more rigorous curriculum that brings “at grade level” students to mastery and beyond.
If the goal is to increase student achievement for every demographic, why would we not welcome charter models that seem to better serve some segments of the population? Sadly, CFISD and other districts plan to lobby against the expansion of charter schools in “high performing” districts; a moniker they may not enjoy under the closer scrutiny provided by the new A-F school rating system.
There are no simple, easy solutions when it comes to education policy. State lawmakers in Texas will have a limited window of opportunity in 2019 to craft remedies for Texas children and families. But in light of the challenges of lagging student achievement, funding difficulties, and increasingly burdensome property taxes, the status quo is unacceptable, (as is merely increasing funding without reform). Hopefully, our representatives will endeavor to represent not districts, but students, and create opportunities for greater student success at every level.
Holly, well written and very informative. That is too bad to hear that so many are below grade level in CFISD, but I am not surprised. I hope lawmakers can come up with some good remedies.
Holly:
Thanks for your inciteful appraisal of the Texas secondary public education and your update on the school district’s legislative agenda. Nicely said, the educators to whom we entrust the education of our children definitely have an aversion to accountability. I am not so naïve as to not recognize there are more societal problems in educating today’s youth than in the past. But, to put it not so nicely, these educators have the arrogance to believe the taxpayers who pay them are not entitled to monitor or question their performance. I can personally attest to such behavior.
Educators just want taxpayers to give them more money and go away. And, to rub our noses in it they are allowed to “bite the hand of the taxpayers feeding them” by hiring lobbyist to fight us in the Legislature. All the while society suffers from the lack of educated citizens.
In this legislative session our lawmakers need to dig in their heals and refute the educators agenda to weaken accountability to the taxpayers. And, ending the ISD’s ability to hire lobbyist would be a good start.
Many of our high school graduates can barely read, write and do simple math. Colleges have been forced to offer and require remedial English and math courses for incoming freshmen. And even with those remedial courses, colleges have been forced to dumb-down some of their courses.
It’s the same through much of the country, with California probably the worst of all. And in Los Angeles the teachers are set to go on strike for more pay and smaller classes.
I doubt there is anything the Texas legislature can do to graduate high school students that can enter colleges without having to take remedial courses..
Well written article, excellent points!
I have nothing but respect and admiration for Mr. Sumners and his life time of advocacy for hard-working tax-payers, but (here comes the caveat) I have to disagree with him on his assessment of “Educators.”
As a former public school teacher in Harris County my experience is that the Bureaucratic-Administrative Class crushes the accountability, flexibility and creativity that is needed in Education.
For example, under the Grier Administration in H.I.S.D., a lot of teachers were fired. The Bureaucracy grew and H.I.S.D. got worse.
I do not believe that there are any top-down solutions to the problems of public education. Large segments of the public are comfortable with public education being no more than free babysitting.
Charter schools and vouchers are part of the solution. One has to ask why, with the Republicans controlling everything in Austin for over a decade, nothing significant has happened on this front?
Some say it is the power of the dreaded “Teachers Unions (in Right-To-Work Texas).”
I think it’s because there really isn’t that much difference between the elected officials of either major Party.
It does seem odd that school districts like Cypress Fairbanks would have such an aversion to charter schools in light of their successes within HISD. However, nothing is harder to overcome than inertia.
Thank you for your article and the research that supports it.
Similar situation in Round Rock ISD including very highly paid administrators and lobbyists while ignoring the fact that the most successful school is the charter school according to the parents of the children attending it. The emotional grappling hook is forever applied to the parents, tax payers, voters….”It’s for the children.” Thanks all.
Lets digest the reasons why we lost the 2018 elections and it was tied to two strong areas where Republicans are at their weakest and always has been.
EDUCATION – PROPERTY TAXES – COMMUNICATION.
HERE is the dosie: who were the ones and what Party were they who headed the Education Committy for in Texas?? And I will help you out, one was Mr. Issler, the after him was ??.
How many from what Party sits on the Texas Education Board?
Think about these things that I brought to your attention.
All successful business man must master COMMUNICATION skills, right? Why are you still repeating yourselfs.