The State Board of Education is developing a new Long-Range Plan for Public Education through an 18-member steering committee made up of board members, stakeholder group representatives, and individuals from three state agencies. (This is not to be confused with the 13-member commission on school finance created by the Legislature in the special session last summer—concerning which we’ll have a report for you soon.)
To determine what the specific goals of the long-range plan should be, the board currently is collecting comments via community meetings around four broad topics:
–equity and access to funding, technology, and advanced courses;
–student engagement and empowerment to provide effective support systems for students and prepare them for life after high school;
–family engagement and empowerment to help parents become strong advocates for their children in the education system.
The board also will soon release an online survey. We’ll give you a heads-up when it comes out. Meanwhile, the following regional meetings are planned over the next two months:
- Jan. 9 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Region 20 Education Service Center located at 1314 Hines Ave. in San Antonio. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-san-antonio-january-9th-tickets-39529430591 .
- Jan. 18 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Salado Civic Center located at 601 N. Main St. in Salado. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-central-texas-january-18th-tickets-41108520692 .
- Feb. 8 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Region 4 Education Service Center’s McKinney Conference Center located at 7200 Northwest 100 Dr. in Houston. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-houston-february-8th-tickets-39226591792.
- Feb. 16 – 9-11 a.m., Rio Grande Valley, location to be determined. Registration not yet opened.
- Feb. 28 – 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Region 16 Education Service Center’s Panhandle Conference Center located at 5800 Bell St. in Amarillo. To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-amarillo-february-28th-tickets-41257559471.
Advance registration for the community meetings is encouraged but not required.
A summary of comments received at each community meeting is being prepared. The first document, a summary of comments received at the Nov. 2 El Paso meeting, is available online here.