Last month, the Texas State Board Of Education Subcommittee on School Initiatives unanimously rejected a rule approved by the State Board for Educator Certification that would have significantly reduced the number of pre-service training hours from 180 to 110 for those seeking to teach Career and Technical Education in the areas of Trade and Industrial Workforce, Marketing, or Health Sciences....
House Public Education Committee hearing confirmed for October 12 in Austin: The Public Education Committee of the Texas House has confirmed it will meet in the state Capitol on October 12 to begin weighing the educational impacts of Hurricane Harvey. The hearing notice describes the topic as follows: Determine, to the extent possible, the scope of financial losses, including facilities,...
On a busy day in state House and Senate education committees, we want to highlight one issue in particular raised by companion bills in both chambers. SB 1278 by Sen. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) and HB 2924 by Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston) reflect the agenda of private, for-profit educator-preparation programs calling for lower standards of entry into the teaching profession. Texas...
Texas AFT legislative counsel Patty Quinzi and other teacher advocates joined forces with sensible members of the State Board for Educator Certification last week to squelch a bad legislative proposal relating to teacher evaluation last week. A committee of SBEC members came up with the notion that SBEC ought to get hold of individual teacher evaluations as a gauge of...
On August 5 the State Board for Educator Certification took notable action to raise standards for educator preparation. SBEC members approved a rule proposal to create a new, tiered licensure model for teacher candidates employed as a paid teacher of record while completing their educator preparation program’s requirements. The proposal also calls for more support for would-be teachers in the...
Notable legislative hearings and agency board meetings for the summer include: June 21: One clear theme of today’s House Higher Education Committee was the legislature’s continuing quest for cost-conscious ways to increase college attendance and completion, especially in educational settings such as community colleges and programs leading to technical certification. One variation on that theme concerned the notion of competency-based...
The elected State Board of Education on Friday vetoed a proposal from the appointed State Board for Educator Certification that would have eliminated educator experience as a prerequisite for fully portable standard certification as a school district superintendent. The veto was approved by a two-thirds majority of the 15-member SBOE. Texas AFT and allied educator groups had called for the veto...
A bipartisan two-thirds majority of the State Board of Education voted Wednesday to reject a proposed administrative rule that would water down certification standards for superintendents. The proposal from the separate State Board for Educator Certification would let non-educators receive a standard superintendent certificate, valid statewide, without ever having any classroom experience. The vote was preliminary; a final veto of...
By a narrow margin of six to four, the State Board for Educator Certification voted on October 16 to make it easier for someone with no teaching experience to become a superintendent in Texas. Texas AFT and other teacher and administrator groups all opposed the change as the dilution of an important professional prerequisite for effectiveness in leading a school...
Texas Education Agency: Commissioner of Education Michael Williams announced today a move toward partial compliance with HB 743 by Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Humble), a key bill passed last session by the legislature to curb state testing excesses and demand proof that state tests are valid and reliable before they are administered. The commissioner told school districts that the length of...
Members of the State Board for Educator Certification, the governing body for the Texas teaching profession, stepped back at their August 7 meeting from the brink of some ill-conceived decisions about the handling of disciplinary proceedings against educators. Texas AFT welcomed the board’s action referring the matter to a committee that will hear more from stakeholders and then recommend needed...
