Texas Commissioner of Education
From Sunshine Review
Contents |
The Texas Commissioner of Education is an appointed position under the constitution. Currently, Robert Scott is the state commissioner of education after his appointment by Gov. Rick Perry on Oct. 16, 2007.
[edit] Roles and duty
Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board hold records relating to student performance and the commissioner of education and the commissioner of higher education ensure that they are coordinated and maintained in standardized, compatible formats that allow:
- The exchange of information between the agencies; and
- The matching of individual student records so that a student's academic performance may be assessed throughout the student's educational career.[1]
The commissioner appoints an advisory panel to assist the commissioner in developing requirements for a system that is easily accessible by the general public and contains information of primary relevance to the public. The advisory panel shall consist of:
- Educators
- Interested stakeholders
- Business leaders
- Other interested members of the public.
The commissioner and this advisory panel go through the necessary steps to commission a third-party contractor to set up an information portal on the agency website with all financial and academic performance data submitted through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) for school districts and campuses. This will include:
- A summarized format easily understood by the public for reporting financial and academic performance information on the agency Internet website
- The ability for those who access the Internet website to view and download state, district, and campus level information.
This will not disclose student information that would not be disclosed under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. The commissioner adopts rules to protect the confidentiality of student information.
These procedures of all financial and academic performance information for school districts and campuses had a deadline of August 1, 2007 and this part of the commissioner's duties expired August 1, 2009.
The commissioner may purchase from available funds curriculum and other instructional tools identified under this section to provide for use by school districts.
[edit] Relation to independent school districts
The commissioner evaluates the feasibility of including a uniform way to measures effective administrative management through the use of cooperative shared services arrangements. If this is possible and feasible, the commissioner includes the indicator in the financial accountability rating system, for school districts beginning with the 2007-2008 school year. This provision expires September 1, 2009.
[edit] Transparency
[edit] Taxpayer-funded lobbying
[edit] External links
[edit] References
| |||||
