School reform in state's hands

School reform in state's hands
Education chief setting rules for local districts on spending, test scores
Monday, July 10, 2006


By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News


AUSTIN – Control over public schools is swinging back toward the state as Texas' education chief and her staff write a series of new rules regulating everything from how districts spend their tax dollars to how much student test scores must improve each year.

The rules are part of the massive school finance and education reform legislation passed by state lawmakers in last spring's special session. And while most of the attention was on the effort to cut local property taxes, the Legislature also ordered a long list of education changes that will affect every school campus and district in the state.

The job of putting those in place will fall primarily to state Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley, who is working on nearly two dozen rules governing student achievement, merit pay for teachers and school district spending.

The rules would even empower Dr. Neeley to sweep teachers and administrators out of low-performing schools with limited input from local officials.

Legislative leaders say the changes are needed to get schools on the right track, while school officials worry about erosion of local control – a contrast to the state's landmark 1995 education reform law that emphasized less state regulation.

"There has to be a final word from someone, so we chose the commissioner of education" to implement the reforms, said Sen. Florence Shapiro, author of the new education law and chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee.

While school districts will come under a battery of new state regulations, Ms. Shapiro rejected the idea that local control of schools is being undermined.

"For the most part, they can still do whatever they want," the Plano Republican said. "They got more money and more flexibility in spending their money."

The new requirements, she added, are intended to "keep Texas on the forefront of the national education reform movement."

Dr. Neeley said she will seek input from school superintendents and major education groups, as well as the public, before she puts the new rules in place.

"It will be a very collaborative process," she said.

But many local school officials see a striking movement toward more state regulation of schools. As primary evidence, they cited the establishment of a new uniform start date for all public schools beginning in 2007. School superintendents have had wide discretion in setting their school calendars in the past.


'Too much power'

"There is a feeling among superintendents that the commissioner is getting too much power," said Clayton Downing, director of the Texas School Coalition and former superintendent of the Lewisville school district. "It's not that we don't trust Dr. Neeley, but we don't know who will be commissioner down the road."

Dr. Downing said that while the education and tax measures passed in May produced benefits for school districts, they also prompted superintendents to fear that local control of schools is gradually being usurped.

David Anderson, a consultant with Austin-based HillCo Partners and former curriculum director for the Texas Education Agency, said there is no doubt that state's top education official will become more powerful under the new law.

"It is perhaps the most significant shift of authority to the commissioner's office in the past 15 years," Mr. Anderson said. "Whenever more authority is placed with the commissioner and Texas Education Agency, there is some erosion of discretion and decision for school superintendents and local school boards."

Dr. Neeley, who did not request the new authority from the Legislature, said school districts will have ample time to prepare for the requirements.

"Most superintendents are ready for a more rigorous instructional program and want to work to make this a win-win situation for our schoolchildren," she said.


Possible rules

Some of the rules being drafted by Dr. Neeley and the education agency would:

•Set state benchmarks for annual improvement in student achievement, based on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. The agency will then report whether each student met, fell below or exceeded the expected level of improvement, with results provided to teachers and parents.

•Establish spending targets for each school district based on data from campuses and districts found to be most efficient and effective. Spending targets would be set for instruction, central administration, district operations and any other category decided by the commissioner. School boards that exceed the targets must publicly defend their actions.

•Authorize the commissioner to set the requirements for paying out $260 million in incentive pay for teachers and other school employees. The program is touted as the largest incentive pay program for educators in the nation.

But the power to quickly intervene at school campuses or districts that have low ratings could be the most significant change in store.



Campus intervention

Under the new law, the commissioner can replace the entire staff at any campus that is rated academically unacceptable for two years in a row. A campus intervention team appointed by the commissioner would determine which employees would be removed, with the principal automatically removed. The team would run the campus until it was rated acceptable.

The change begins with the recently completed 2005-06 school year. Although this year's ratings won't be out until next month, a total of 364 campuses – including 51 charter schools – were graded academically unacceptable a year ago. If similar numbers are poorly rated this year, thousands of teachers and principals could be replaced in summer 2007.

And if a campus continues to receive poor ratings for two years after state intervention, the commissioner must turn over management of the school to a nonprofit education entity or order closure of the school. The commissioner can take similar actions against a school district for multiple years of poor academic or financial ratings under the state's accountability system.

The changes signal a shift in power not only to the education commissioner, but also to the governor, who appoints the commissioner, said Richard Kouri of the Texas State Teachers Association. Dr. Neeley was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry.


Local control shrinks

"Things that were previously decided locally no longer will be," he said, citing another rule that empowers the commissioner to order a school district or campus to hire an outside professional to examine problems in finances, student testing, data quality, governance or learning programs.

"The pendulum has swung pretty far in the direction of more state control over public education," he added.

E-mail tstutz@dallasnews.com


STATE'S SCHOOL CHIEF AND DUTIES
Under new measures approved in the spring, the state education commissioner will acquire significant new powers. Here's a look at the position and the commissioner:

THE POSITION

Appointed: by the governor and confirmed by the Senate

Term of office: four years

Annual salary: $164,748

Requirement to hold office: must be a U.S. citizen

Duties: head of the Texas Education Agency and responsible for overseeing the state's 1,037 school districts and nearly 200 independent charter schools


DR. SHIRLEY J. NEELEY

Dr. Neeley, the current commissioner, was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry in January 2004. Prior to that, she was superintendent of the Galena Park school district near Houston for 10 years. During her tenure, Galena Park was the largest "exemplary" school district in the state based on student test scores and other factors. She also has been an elementary school teacher, assistant principal and principal. She is an avid Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider.


PREVIOUS COMMISSIONERS

They include two appointees of Gov. George W. Bush – Jim Nelson and Mike Moses – who later served as school superintendents in Richardson and Dallas. The first commissioner of education was J.W. Edgar, who held office from 1950 to 1974. Before that, Texas had a state superintendent of public instruction.

Terrence Stutz

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/071006dntexedcommish.1afe972.html