The State Board of Education (SBOE) gave initial approval this week to rubrics and frameworks for implementation of a new Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) process required under House Bill (HB) 1605 as passed by the 88th Legislature in 2023.

The bill provides an additional $40 per student for districts that use instructional materials approved by the SBOE under the new IMRA regime. Another $20 per student is granted to districts that adopt open educational resources (OER) approved by the SBOE.

Currently, the only OER slated for approval is curriculum the Texas Education Agency (TEA) purchased from Amplify, a national vendor of prepackaged curriculum, and modified by agency staff. Commissioner Mike Morath hopes to encourage districts to require the Amplify curriculum, particularly among newer teachers, as a way to save instructional planning time.

The board gave initial approval to rubrics and frameworks for the new IMRA process at Tuesday’s meeting and is scheduled to vote on final approval at Friday’s meeting.

TEA Annual Report

On Wednesday, Morath presented the agency’s annual report to the board. Texas currently serves approximately 5.5 million students and employs 371,778 teachers. More than 1,200 school systems operate 9,054 campuses across the state.

The agency reported that third and eighth grade reading STAAR scores have improved since the COVID-19 pandemic, with roughly half of students achieving “meets grade level” under the STAAR scoring system. Math scores in third and eighth grade remain lower but are gradually increasing.

Per-student state funding has decreased slightly since the 2020-21 school year. Total per-student funding in Texas is $14,928, and education spending as a whole totals roughly $80 billion.

The commissioner noted that Texas has allocated $261 million in annual funding for school safety and mental health, along with $1.5 billion in one-time school safety facilities funding. This includes $17 million for a Silent Panic Alert Technology (SPAT) grant and a $400 million School Safety Standards Formula Grant. For context, it would require districts statewide to spend roughly $550 million annually just to comply with just the legislative mandate to employ a police office or security resource officer (SRO) at every campus (assuming a cost of $60,000 per year per officer).

The state is identifying and serving more students in special education following federal intervention over the state’s failure to do so in the past. Students receiving special education services currently comprise 12.7% of all Texas students.

The Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) has grown from an initial budget of $40 million in the 2019-20 school year to $260 million per year, or about $700 per educator, as more districts implement local merit pay programs. Despite the Legislature’s preoccupation with TIA as a means of increasing teacher pay and the increase in the TIA budget, the program still impacts only a very small percentage of Texas teachers.

Finally, the commissioner addressed the recent STAAR redesign and noted the new test is currently in the field. The redesign includes a number of components, such as open response questions and the inclusion of writing in all reading tests.

Commissioner Q&A

In response to a question from SBOE Member Will Hickman (R–Houston), Morath acknowledged that federal funds are anticipated to return to normal levels in the 2024-25 school year as ESSER funds expire. Hickman represents Houston ISD, which serves 194,000 students. In June 2023, Morath dismissed the locally elected school board and appointed substitute leadership to run the district because of the poor performance of one of the district’s 276 schools.

Hickman noted that the agency’s leaders in Houston ISD added New Education System (NES) campuses based on accountability ratings despite TEA not releasing those ratings publicly. Morath replied that the state is currently enjoined from formally assigning A-F accountability ratings because of ongoing litigation, but the agency’s appointed leadership in HISD was able to use raw data to tabulate its own scale scores.

Member Julie Pickren (R–Pearland) asked how parents can access the underlying accountability data. The commissioner responded that raw scores are available on the TEA website and that it is possible to use math to convert those raw scores to scale scores based on the TEA rubric. Pickren separately requested that the commissioner consider incorporating chaplains in Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) and other mental health resources.

Member Audrey Young (R–Apple Springs) highlighted metrics that showed TEA awarded $1.6 million in allotments for 503 teachers to become National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) in 2023. The agency reimburses districts up to $1,900 for initial board certification and up to $495 for Maintenance of Certification (MOC) fees. Earning a NBCT distinction enables a teacher to generate up to $9,000 for the district through TIA, some of which is expected to be passed onto the teacher.

Member Tom Maynard (R–Florence) asked the commissioner about enforcement of HB 900, which requires school libraries to follow development and acquisition standards approved by the SBOE. Morath referred to ongoing litigation that is preventing TEA from enforcing statutory requirements and said the situation would ultimately have to be handled by the Legislature or the courts. He also said that if people are concerned about districts violating the education code, they should attempt to resolve it at the local school board. In some circumstances, complaints can be appealed to the commissioner.

Member Aicha Davis (D–DeSoto) asked the commissioner whether the agency is doing anything to avoid disciplinary policies that disproportionately target students of color. Morath answered that special education has some specific reporting requirements that allow the agency to monitor such discrimination and that the agency is able to receive complaints from the larger student population.

Davis said that students are still being disciplined for wearing their natural hair even after the passage of the CROWN Act, which prohibits discrimination against people for wearing their natural hair. Morath responded that individuals can bring those issues to the attention of their local school board.

Davis separately asked about BASIS Charter Schools, which seeks to expand in Richardson and Plano. Davis noted that the charter school has graduated 319 students over the past four years, none of whom had special needs and only three of whom were African American. Davis asked why such a school would be allowed to expand. Morath replied that if the school is graduating the students whom they enroll, then there wouldn’t appear to be a problem.

Member Melissa Ortega (D–El Paso) asked the commissioner about the STAAR redesign and whether any thought has been given to a STAAR alternative. Morath replied that the agency has been piloting a through-year assessment for the past two years that could eventually become a statewide option.

Member LJ Francis (R–Corpus Christi) asked whether schools could obtain a STAAR testing practice environment for educators and students. The commissioner responded that there is a full reproduction of the STAAR testing environment available for free to districts, including STAAR practice tests.

Member Staci Childs (D–Houston) asked whether the agency has any plans to expand mental health supports for teachers. Childs said that upwards of 600 teachers have left Houston ISD since the beginning of the current school year and asked what the agency is doing to address the attrition.  Morath replied that he would need to verify the numbers before drawing any conclusions.