Facts and insights about Texas public schools

The Houston Chronicle ran a guest column today that calls for public schools to be run more efficiently.  That’s a topic that Texas school districts have been actively working on for some time.

If you’ve been wondering about “efficiency” and how it relates to public education, the Texas Association of School Boards just printed this article in its Texas Lone Star magazine that touches on issues ranging from efficiency in school finance to best practices within school districts.

Back to the guest column in the Houston newspaper, it claims that only 65 percent of ninth graders graduate in four years to make the case that districts are not efficiently using taxpayer dollars.  However, Grade 9 longitudinal data from the Texas Education Agency show that:

• 84.3 percent of the class of 2010 graduated;
• 7.2 percent continued in school the following year;
• 1.3 percent received a GED; and
• 7.3 percent dropped out.

This video from the Be Proud Texas campaign notes that Texas graduation rates, when broken down by ethnicity of students, rank highly when compared to similar student populations across the country.

 How does student performance at open-enrollment charger schools compare with traditional school districts?

Based on TEA data:

Attendance/Dropout Rates:  Charter schools have lower attendance rates and higher dropout rates than traditional public schools.  The difference in the longitudinal dropout rates (the percentage of ninth graders who graduate with their class) is especially significant.

TAKS Passing Rates:  Over the four school years analyzed, fewer charter school students passed each of the TAKS tests, especially the math and science TAKS, than students in traditional public schools.  Not a single subgroup of students in charter schools performed better than their public school peers on the TAKS tests.

College Readiness:  Charter schools prepared fewer students to meet the state’s standards for college readiness, as measured by the percentage of students who took the SAT and ACT exams and the average scores on each of those exams.

Read more.

In this guest column for The San Antonio Express-News, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs writes:

In Texas over the past decade, spending on public education has risen more than three times as fast as enrollment.

 How does staffing in open-enrollment charter schools compare to traditional school districts?

Based on TEA data,

Administrators:  Charter schools employ more central office and campus administrators and spend a greater percentage of their operating budgets on district and campus administration than traditional school districts.

Teacher Salaries:  Charter schools pay teachers less, have almost twice the percentage of less experienced (0-5 years) teachers, and have fewer teachers with advanced degrees than school districts.

Teacher Turnover:  Charter schools have a significantly higher teacher turnover rate, almost triple the turnover rate of traditional public schools.

Read more.

Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott announced this week that he will step down in July. 

 Read the news here and here.

 If you have been trying to sort out how the State Board of Education (SBOE) fits into the overall picture of Texas public schools, you are not alone.  Here are some resources to help:

A short overview of the SBOE, titled “Understanding the State Board of Education and its Role in Public Education,” published by the Texas Association of School Boards can be found here.

Because all 15 seats on the SBOE are up for election this year, Texas Parent Teacher Association is providing information about candiates and hosting candidate forums.  You can find that information  here.

Still more information is posted by the Texas Education Agency, including minutes and webcasts of  SBOE  meetings.  This site also includes summaries of actions taken by the State Board.

In reply to a question, yes, many school districts are hosting elections for school board members this spring — but not all districts.

According to data from the Texas Association of School Boards, 736 school districts hold elections in May, while 291 go to the polls in November.  Also, the length of school board terms varies:  754 districts have three-year terms, 267 districts have four-year terms, eight districts have two-year terms, and five districts have six-year terms.

Despite the fact that school board members receive no pay and despite the fact that Texas schools are facing very challenging times, the average tenure for a school board member has been increasing in recent years and is up to 6.9 years.

There are 7,190 school board members, and they are the largest group of publicly elected officials in Texas.

Standardized testing was the subject of another article in the New York Times this week, but this time the story was stranger than usual.  See the article here.

Many students will soon be paying a little more for their school meals due to a federal law that requires school districts to charge students the same price that the U.S. government reimburses districts for meals served to students who qualify for free meals.

This story highlights the local impact this federal mandate will have on the students of Victoria ISD.

What do you have planned for the fall?  If the school finance lawsuit is on your radar, mark your calendar for October 22.

See news story here.