Senate Education Committee hears teacher preparation bills; TCTA testifies

The Senate K-16 Education Committee met April 1 to hear testimony on bills related to school safety, teacher preparation and the A-F accountability system, among other things.

The day began with Sen. Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville) laying out SB 1262, which would continue the school safety work in HB 3 from last session. In implementing a bill as expansive as HB 3, school districts have faced a number of issues, especially when it comes to funding. The bill seeks to shore up these issues and make the intended school safety measures from last session a reality for more campuses across the state. 

The committee heard invited testimony from a school superintendent and a company that produces combat drones that use non-lethal weaponry to deter and disorient campus intruders. TCTA registered in support because the author accepted TCTA language that will allow the school safety allotment to be used for behavior intervention specialists and other discipline management practices.

Math academies

Next, Committee Chairman Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) laid out SB 2252, which is related to early childhood literacy and numeracy. The bill would require screeners for young students in reading in math, not only for learning disabilities, but also for progress to better target early interventions. SB 2252 would also require that all K-8 teachers have participated in a mathematics academy by the 2030-31 school year, with a stipend for participation in reading or math academies. 

Invited witnesses touted the effectiveness of early intervention in reading and math, and said that bolstering early math educators with math academies would pay dividends. TCTA testified neutrally on the bill, thanking the author for including stipends for participation and accepting the importance of early interventions for students, but strongly cautioning the author to take the lessons learned from the reading academies rollout into account in implementing any requirement for content academies going forward. 

Teacher certification 

Creighton then laid out SB 2253, which is related to revamping teacher certification pathways and providing incentives for uncertified teachers to become certified. The bill would streamline educator preparation and create "new" types of certificates. 

To implement these new certificates in a timely fashion, the bill grants the commissioner of education temporary authority to make rules to that effect. The commissioner would also be required to create new curriculum for educator preparation programs. 

To incentivize uncertified teachers to become certified, the bill would pay school districts $1,000 per teacher who becomes certified if they were hired as a new teacher in the past few years. It would also require new teachers who are certified to be paid more than those who are not for the first few years of their career. TCTA testified neutrally on the bill, thanking the author for some new restrictions on Districts of Innovation and offering incentives for teachers to become certified. TCTA expressed concerns with some technical points in the bill's language and the broad authority issued to the commissioner to adopt rules related to the new certificates and mandating curriculum for educator preparation programs.

STAAR, A-F changes

The last major bill of the evening was SB 1962 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston). It would make significant changes to state standardized testing as well as the A-F accountability system and the ways in which entities may sue TEA. 

The bill was filed in response to widespread dissatisfaction with the STAAR exams and to ongoing lawsuits preventing the release of A-F ratings during the past few years. 

Specifically, the bill would "repeal and replace" STAAR with a more compact set of summative exams and would also significantly limit the avenues available to sue TEA. Bettencourt painted a picture of school districts doing anything possible to avoid being rated and excoriated districts who sued TEA for denying their constituents an accurate picture of the performance of their schools. 

Among those invited to testify on the bill was Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles, a controversial figure in the district due to his implementation of his New Education System. He testified in support of the bill, using his own (heavily debated) results in Houston as evidence that a laser focus on accountability is key to increasing student performance and retaining quality staff. He said, "tough evaluations lead to a high performance culture." 

Much of the conversation around the bill centered around the importance of accountability in improving schools, and committee members heaped praise on Miles' efforts in Houston.