Larry Taylor, chair of the Senate Education Committee,
right, administered the oath of office to eight board members during their first
meeting of the year. Elected to four-year terms of office in November are, left
to right, Marty Rowley of Amarillo, Donna Bahorich of Houston, Sue
Melton-Malone of Robinson, Georgina C. Pérez of El Paso, Barbara Cargill of The
Woodlands, Tom Maynard of Florence, Ken Mercer of San Antonio, and Keven Ellis
of Lufkin.
During its first
meeting of 2017, State Board of Education members elected Marty Rowley of
Amarillo as the board’s vice chair and re-elected Ruben Cortez Jr. of
Brownsville as secretary.
Those two officers, along with Chair Donna Bahorich,
then appointed members to the three standing committees.
After lengthy discussion and review, the State Board of Education on Feb. 3 gave preliminary approval to revised curriculum standards for English and Spanish language arts and reading for kindergarten through eighth grade.
If given final approval at the board’s April 18-21 meeting, the new language arts curriculum standards would become effective with school year 2019-2020. They will replace standards approved in 2008. The board postponed the initial vote on language arts standards for high school courses until the April meeting.
Efforts to update the language arts Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) began in 2015 and has literally involved thousands of public and higher education educators.
The
board also approved for first reading and filing authorization streamlined
science standards. Responding to frequent comments that Texas standards are too
voluminous, the board began a concerted effort to reduce scope of the
standards. Science is the first subject area to undergo the streamlining
process.
The Permanent School Fund’s Bond Guarantee Program will now be
able to back about $550 million in additional charter school bonds thanks to
action taken by the State Board of Education in February.
Board members agreed to increase the multiplier used in
calculating the capacity of the Permanent School Fund. This action provides an
estimated $249 million more in bonding capacity for charter schools as of March
2017 and a projected $317 million in additional capacity as of Sept. 1, 2017.
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Gov.
Greg Abbott on Jan. 24 reappointed Donna Bahorich as chair of the State Board
of Education for a second two-year term of office, effective Feb. 1, 2017 to
Feb. 1, 2019.
The
appointment is subject to Senate confirmation. The Senate Nominations Committee
will take up Bahorich's appointment, as well as the appointment of Commissioner of
Education Mike Morath, on Feb. 16.
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 2016 PAEMST finalists and TEA program coordinators
The SBOE passed a resolution honoring the 2016 finalists for
the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching
(PAEMST). Pictured, from left to right, are the finalists and TEA program
coordinators. Irene Pickhardt, statewide science coordinator, TEA; James
Slack, statewide mathematics coordinator, TEA; Ashley Dodson, elementary mathematics
finalist from Allen ISD; Andrea Miller, elementary science finalist from
Mesquite ISD; Robert Rivera, elementary mathematics finalist from Brownsville
ISD; Deborah Cunningham, elementary mathematics finalist from Garland ISD;
Deborah Swyers, elementary mathematics finalist from Round Rock ISD; Misty
Ruth, elementary mathematics finalist from Pasadena ISD; Rubi deHoyos, elementary
science finalist from Northside ISD; Jo Ann Bilderback, math/science manager,
TEA; Denise Koontz, elementary science finalist from Keller ISD; and Kirk Evans, elementary
science finalist from Allen ISD. Not present: Kelly Spradley, elementary science
finalist from Little Elm ISD.
Twenty-six 2016 national Blue Ribbon Schools were
celebrated with a luncheon and State Board of Education recognition recently.
A Jan. 23 luncheon hosted by the Texas Education
Agency, the state board, the Texas Association of School Administrators, Edgenuity,
Itslearning, FreshGrade and Scholastic honored these high-performing schools.
The State Board of Education also passed a resolution
in their honor and presented school representatives with a certificate on Feb.
3. The schools were honored at a national ceremony in Washington, D.C. in
November.
Texas schools have been named Blue Ribbon award
recipients 658 times since this program began in 1982. The 2016 honorees are
exemplary high performing schools as measured by state assessments. Each school
has an economically disadvantaged population of 22 percent or greater.
Learn more about the 2016 award-winning schools.
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Miguel Padilla is in a class by himself. The student
from Harmony School of Innovation in Fort Worth is the only Texan and one of
only 10 students in the country who earned a perfect score on his Advanced
Placement Computer Science A exam during the last testing cycle.
About 58,100 students took this AP test. The State
Board of Education honored Padilla during its Feb. 3 meeting. Padilla is pictured here with his state board member Pat Hardy of Fort Worth.
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 Leaders from nine state CTE organizations attend the February board meeting
The State Board of Education approved a resolution
proclaiming February as Career and Technical Education Month. The board also
noted that Feb. 23 marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the
Smith-Hughes Act, a federal law that launched national support for vocational
education.
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Board Secretary Ruben Cortez Jr. of Brownsville on Feb. 24 will receive an exemplary recognition award
from the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies – Tejas Foco for
his contributions to education. Cortez
has served on the state board since 2013 and is a former member of the
Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees.
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Board member Marisa Perez of San Antonio earned her Master’s
degree in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of
Texas at San Antonio in December 2016.
Perez has served on the state board
since 2013.
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Board member Barbara Cargill of The Woodlands will receive
the Friend of Education Award from the Sam Houston State University College
of Education on March 14. This award recognizes and honors individuals or
businesses that have made a significant contribution to the field of education.
Cargill has served on the state board since 2005, including four years as chair
of the board. Past award recipients include H-E-B grocery store and Pam Wells,
executive director of Education Service Center IV.
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A summary of actions taken by the State Board of Education at its Jan. 31 and Feb. 3 meetings will be posted here early next week at http://tea.texas.gov/sboe/actions/
Each spring the State Board of Education recognizes public school students who voluntarily provide assistance that benefits other Texas children. Be on the look out for application details coming soon.
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