Legislature's changes to Texas education go far beyond zapping of 10 STAAR tests
First in a series
Anyone who cares about Texas schools probably knows the state just whacked a bunch of STAAR tests. But that was only the simplest part of an 83-section new law that demands myriad changes, from TEA headquarters in Austin to the smallest school district’s classrooms.
Graduation requirements? Transformed. STAAR tests for cognitively disabled students? Revamped. Accountability ratings for schools and districts? Changed. Responsibilities for school counselors? Multiplied. New academic decisions for every ninth-grader? Unprecedented.
A few of the provisions will affect the school year that starts this month. Most don’t take effect until 2014.
Last month, state Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, chairman of the House Education Committee, explained the broad themes of the education bill, known as HB 5, to the State Board of Education: greater flexibility for districts and students, more local control, fewer state-mandated tests. And with a much greater emphasis on career preparation for students whose futures do not necessarily include college.
“There are about 40 percent of our students who we are not adequately meeting their needs,” said Aycock, R-Killeen.
Many of the new elements are barely outlined in the law, the most sweeping of the past session’s education bills signed by Gov. Rick Perry. For any detail the legislators couldn’t agree on, the state boar