Is Texas High School Education One-Size-Fits-All? Should It Be? Dallas ISD Seems in Favor

There’s a bill, House Bill 5, approved by the Texas House of Representatives and under consideration by the Senate, that would significantly reduce the number of exams a student must pass in order to graduate from a public high school. It would also lessen strict course requirements in English, math, and science that were designed to get students prepared for college enrollment. Instead, they’d have the option of taking more technical or business courses, if that’s where their interests lie.

Last night, Dallas ISD trustees voted, in a 5-4 split, to urge the Texas Legislature to amend the bill to “ensure all students are enrolled by default in rigorous, college-ready graduation pathways.” The board further said it would adopt local policies along these lines if the state does not.

House Bill 5 was sponsored by House Public Education Committee chairman Jimmie Don Aycock, of Killeen. His purpose behind the measure, he told the Texas Tribune last month, was to allow for better preparation for students who plan to go straight into the workforce, rather than into college after graduation:

Debate over the proposal, he said, centered on two questions.

“One, does everyone need to [earn] a four-year degree?” he said. “And two, does every kid need to take algebra II?”

His bill embraced the response of “not everyone, but a lot of them,” he said, adding that he was not convinced that algebra II was as strong predictor of college success as the legislation’s opponents suggested.

The rigidity of the current system forces a “one-size-fits-all” approach that can prevent students from exploring their interests, leaving them less engaged in school, Aycock said. And a lack of options for career training, he said, leaves a gap in the state’s workforce.

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Texas House Passes $193.8 Billion State Budget

By all accounts, the Texas House last night approved a state budget relatively easily, on a vote of 135 to 12. The $193.8 billion measure now goes to a conference committee to fix the differences between it and the Senate’s version.

Highlights of the bill, according to the Texas Tribune account:

• A broad, bipartisan rejection of school vouchers. An amendment prohibiting public funds from going to private institutions passed easily, 103 to 43.  Carrollton’s Rep. Ron Simmons  and Dallas/Park Cities’ Dan Branch (both Republicans) were in the minority who voted against it. “It sounds to me like you are trying to shut down basically all discussion or funding or any way to get any funding for any type of school choice,” Simmons said during the debate.
• The House was for the possibility of Medicaid expansion before it was against it. The amendment as proposed by Fort Worth’s Lon Burnam (a Democrat) would have required the state health commission to develop a plan for health care options if the state accepts federal financing of expanding the Medicaid program (part of the contentious federal health care reform package). It was initially approved yesterday as part of the bill. But then a conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, sent an email to Republican lawmakers pointing out what they had voted for and warning that it opens the door to Medicaid expansion by creating a veneer of conservative policy.” So GOP members asked for the amendment to be reconsidered. Burnam withdrew it instead, hoping that the conference committee will get the measure back in, since the Senate version of the budget contains a similar measure. “It’ll go to conference and people will talk about whether we remain open-minded and try and figure out a way to work with the national government that’s throwing out some of this money or do we just kiss it off?,” Burnam said.
• Freshmen GOP representatives take a beatdown. There was a small group of them who were trying to defund their least favorite state programs under the guise of putting money into a health insurance fund for retired teachers. None of these amendments were approved after the Texas Retired Teachers Association announced that it didn’t endorse any of them. One of the proposals, which would have moved money from a women’s program to the teacher fund, came from Fort Worth’s Stephanie Klick. Another GOP lawmaker, Bennett Ratliff, asked Klick, ““Is this about helping retired teachers or cutting the women’s fund?” “The women’s program is less essential,” she said. That amendment was defeated 110-32.