Texas school system

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The Texas school system (prekindergarten-grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards members and superintendents. Texas has 840 school districts.

The Texas state constitution requires that the state offer not only a free public school system but also to provide a "general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people."[1] Essentially, state public education should provide the resources to prepare children to participate in the "social, economic, and educational opportunities of (the) state and nation."[2]

[edit] School revenues, expenditures and budget

See also: Texas state budget
Texas' education costs are about 44.4% of the state budget

The state of Texas has a $167.8 billion budget for the 2008-2009 biennium. Education accounted for approximately $75 billion or 44.4% of the total budget. State funding for the 2008-09 biennium increased by approximately $13 billion. In recent years, the Texas school system saw the largest monetary increase between the 2006-07 and 2008-09 bienniums, approximately $15.3 billion.[3]

On July 1, 2009, Gov. Rick Perry formally applied for $4 billion federal education stimulus funds. Currently the state of Texas is expected to receive a total of $16 billion in federal stimulus dollars, of which education is set to receive $3.25 billion. This, said officials, will give school districts about a 2 percent increase in funding. Included in the governor's request is $338 million for higher education and about $400 million for education services.[4]

[edit] Personnel salaries

Below is a chart comparison for the years 2000 to 2009 of the minimum salary for Texas's classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time counselors, and full-time school nurses. Specifically the chart addresses salaries for personnel with 0, 5 and 10 years experience. Annual salaries are based on a 10 month contract (2 months ommitted for summer break).[5]

School Year Annual Salary (0 yrs) Annual Salary (5 yrs) Annual Salary (10 yrs)
2008-09 $27,320[6] $31,560[6] $37,040[6]
2007-08 $27,320[7] $31,560[7] $37,040[7]
2006-07 $27,320[8] $31,560[8] $37,040[8]
2005-06 $24,820[9] $29,060[9] $34,540[9]
2004-05 $24,240[10] $28,380[10] $33,730[10]
2003-04 $24,240[11] $28,380[11] $33,730[11]
2002-03 $24,240[12] $28,380[12] $33,730[12]
2001-02 $24,240[13] $28,380[13] $33,730[13]
2000-01 $24,240[14] $28,380[14] $33,730[14]

[edit] Textbook costs

In late June 2009 Gov. Perry signed House Bill 4294 into law; a bill that gives state public schools more freedom regarding textbook funds.

The bill was authored by Rep. Dan Branch and strongly supported by education organizations, such as the Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Association of School Boards, Texas Business & Education Coalition and the Texas Computer Education Association. H.B. 4294 essentially gives school districts the ability to choose to continue to rely solely on printed textbooks or split the money between textbooks and electronic complements.[15]

[edit] Role of unions

  • In June 2009, the Houston Federation of Teachers argued that teacher pay raises for the 2009-2010 school year were too low. According to the Houston union, teachers should have received a 7.2 percent increase but the approved $1.6 billion spending budget provides a range of 1.6 percent to 4.8 percent increase. Despite the poor economic stance of the state, all teachers will receive pay raises due to a state mandate that requires at least an $800 increase. Union President Gayle Fallon said, "We are more than prepared to take legal action to keep (Houston Independent School District) from circumventing the intent of the Legislature on the teacher pay raise. It is unconscionable to cheat the people who have been loyal to this district for almost 30 years out of thousands of dollars that the Legislature intended for them to receive.”[16]
  • In 2009, legislation sponsored by Sen. Dan Patrick to loosen the cap on charter schools and increase the state's right to close struggling charter schools failed to pass. The Texas State Teachers Association chose not to support the legislation because of the lack of higher achievement levels in Texas charters. "The standards appear to be fairly low for accountability," said Joe Bean, spokesperson for the association.[17]

[edit] Role of school boards

State Board of Education members can be appointed or elected but cannot serve more than 6 years in office. It is comprised of 14 elected positions and 1 governor-appointed position.[18] The state board governs the state's education system as a whole, but each district has its own school board or board of trustees.

In independent school districts the board of trustees has the power to govern and oversee the management of public schools in their district. Additionally, the trustees control school property, establish school performance goals, adopt the annual budget, issue bonds and levy taxes accordingly, and enter into contracts. Other more specific duties as outlined in the Texas Education Code.[19]

[edit] Taxpayer-funded lobbying

See also: Texas taxpayer-funded lobbying

Taxpayer-funded lobbyists for the state public schools include:

School official lobbyists include the Texas Association of School Business Officials and Texas Association of Secondary School Principals.

Lobbies concerned with school administrators and school boards include the Texas Association of School Boards and Texas Association of School Administrators.

[edit] Transparency

See also: Evaluation of Texas school district websites and Texas transparency news

The state comptroller's office currently hosts Texas Transparency Check-Up which analyzes the transparency of Texas' school districts. The site currently includes budget data for some of the school districts but not all. In 2009, it is reported that the site will include a "transparency report card" in which school distritcs will be given a grade on transparency. Comptroller Susan Combs said that she recommends that all public agencies adopt “best practices” in financial transparency. "Best practices" include posting online information including: financial documents, budgets, financial reports and check registers.[20]

  • In late June 2009, the Austin school district filed a suit against the Texas Attorney General after the state's law agency ordered the release of certain records to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. Requests were made in regards to the district's hiring practices.[21]
  • In April 2009, local citizens said that public records requests at the Nederland school district was met with resistance: an approximately $400 fee and a 17 day waiting period. However, school officials argued that the documents requested, for use in battling a Nederland ISD bond issue proposal on the May 9 ballot, were take several hours to gather the requested documents.[22]

[edit] Academic performance

Every year schools are given an "accountability rating." Ratings range from a high mark of "exemplary" to a low of "academically unacceptable." Comparing the 2008 and 2007 reports by the Texas Education Agency, state public schools saw a 2% (22 schools) drop in the number of academically unacceptable schools and an increase of 1.3% (16 schools) in exemplary schools.[23] [24] Totals include public and charter schools.

School Year Exemplary Recognized Academically Acceptable Academically Unacceptable Not rated Total # of schools
2009 9.5% 37.2% 45.4% 7% 0.9% 1,235
2008 3.5% 26.8% 66.6% 2.6% 0.5% 1,229
2007 2.2% 17.8% 75.3% 4.6% 0.2% 1,222
  • A report by the Stanford University Center for Research on Education Outcomes revealed in June 2009 that students attending state charter schools may be falling behind students attending traditional public school. Specifically the study showed that charter schools in Texas produced slower learning gains.[25] "It’s not terribly surprising that during that first year, you see performance drop off," said David Dunn of the Texas Charter Schools Association. "But by the third and fourth year, charter students exceed in both reading and math."[17]

[edit] School choice

Charter schools in Texas were established after a 1995 revision of the Texas Education Code. Like public schools, charter schools are monitored and accredited through the statewide accountability system.[26] Texas has a total of 460 open-enrollment charters serving more than 90,000 students. As of June 2009, there is a waiting list of 17,000 students for charter openings.[17]

According to state officials, charter schools were created to:[26]

  • improve student learning
  • provide a variety of learning opportunities
  • provide a variety of opportunities to attract new teachers to the public school system
  • encourage different and innovative learning methods


In 2009, legislation sponsored by Sen. Dan Patrick would have loosened the cap on the number of charter schools allowed and strengthened the state's right to shut down struggling charters. However, the bill failed to pass.[17]

[edit] External links

[edit] Additional reading

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Texas Constitution,"Article 7, Section 1," retrieved July 2, 2009
  2. ↑ Texas Education Code,"Sec.4.001," retrieved July 2, 2009
  3. ↑ Texas Public Policy Foundation: Texas Budget Source,"Education," retrieved July 1, 2009
  4. ↑ The Dallas Morning News,"Perry formally applies for $4B in stimulus money for education," July 2, 2009
  5. ↑ Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules," retrieved July 1, 2009
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2008-09," retrieved July 1, 2009
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2007-08," retrieved July 1, 2009
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2006-07," retrieved July 1, 2009
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2005-06," retrieved July 1, 2009
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2004-05," retrieved July 1, 2009
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2003-04," retrieved July 1, 2009
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2002-03," retrieved July 1, 2009
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2001-02," retrieved July 1, 2009
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Texas Education Agency,"Minimum Salary Schedules 2000-01," retrieved July 1, 2009
  15. ↑ The Courier-Gazette,"Landmark education bill signed into law," June 26, 2009
  16. ↑ Houston Chronicle,"Union says teachers’ raises are too low," June 25, 2009
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 The Star-Telegram,"Texas charter school students lag behind study says," June 15, 2009
  18. ↑ Texas Constitution,"Article 7, Section 8," retrieved July 2, 2009
  19. ↑ Texas Education Code,"Sec. 11.151," retrieved July 2, 2009
  20. ↑ State of Texas,"Transparency by Texas School Districts," June 25, 2009
  21. ↑ The Austin American-Statesman,"Austin school district sues to keep search documents secret," June 30, 2009
  22. ↑ Beaumont Enterprise,"Nederland ISD, bond opponents already at odds over getting information," April 16, 2009
  23. ↑ Texas Education Agency,"2008 Accountability System State Summary," October 2008
  24. ↑ Texas Education Agency,"2007 Accountability System State Summary," October 2007
  25. ↑ Education Week,"Study Casts Doubt on Charter School Results," June 15, 2009
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 TEA,"Charter schools," retrieved July 1, 2009
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Texas school system
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