BY Rep. Diane Patrick
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas After hearing from Arlington parents teachers and school leaders State Representative Diane Patrick (Arlington) worked to improve Senate Bill 1718 that would have established an additional layer of bureaucracy at the Texas Education Agency to assume control of local school campuses that have received an Academically Unacceptable rating for two or more years.
Recognizing the uncertainty and anxiety students parents educators and school leaders have with the states recent transition from Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams and a newly restructured accountability system for which all districts and campuses are rated it was imperative to ensure that a state takeover of a failing community school was prudent and accountable to local communities.
As a lifetime educator and supporter of local control to ensure strong successful public schools Representative Patrick offered several amendments that would have ensured local tax money and funding for students remained at the failing campus as opposed to funneling monies to a Texas Education Agency appointed superintendent or staff administrators; an amendment that would allow a majority of parents at a low-performing campus who signed a petition to deter a state takeover of their community school; and an amendment to guarantee high-quality criteria for a private entity applying to takeover operations of a local campus. Although these efforts to protect taxpayer money from being siphoned from local communities to a state agency to empower parental choice and to ensure high-quality and accountable takeover did not garner enough support the bill ultimately died on a procedural motion.
Senate Bill 1718 has admirable goals and Senator West and Representative Dutton should be commended for their efforts but current law already provides the Texas Commissioner of Education with bold tools to assign alternative management and even shutdown persistently low-performing schools" Representative Patrick noted. In fact today Commissioner Williams announced the unprecedented collaboration between Premont Independent School District and Texas A&M University-Kingsville to turnaround failing schools in their respective area. These are the types of community grown and supported options necessary to change the trajectory of low-performing schools not bigger government intervention."
Representative Patrick who has consecutively authored legislation that would make bold strides to turnaround failing schools looks forward to her continued work on policy that utilizes local leadership community commitment and viable vision not state government takeover to improve struggling schools so that Texas children are not trapped but have the greatest chance of success.
