Landmark education bill signed into law

Friday, June 26, 2009

Heather M. Smith

Recently, Gov. Rick Perry signed into law House Bill 4294. The landmark bill gives all Texas public schools more liberty in its decisions regarding money spent on textbooks.

“House Bill 4294 is landmark legislation that will place Texas at the forefront of education reform nationally, dramatically enhancing and enriching the learning environment for our public school students,” said Johnny Veselka, executive director of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA).

The bill was authored by Rep. Dan Branch and received bi-partisan and broad-based support from various organizations. Among the organizations were the Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Association of School Boards, Texas Business & Education Coalition, Texas Computer Education Association, Texas Association of Business and the Texas Association of Manufacturers. The Texas Conservative Coalition, former House Speaker Tom Craddick, state Sen. Dan Patrick, also supported the bill.

“We were very supportive of Rep. Branch,” said Dr. Doug Otto, superintendent of Plano Independent School District. “We definitely think it’s a very positive move for the state.”

HB 4294 allows school districts to use their own judgment when spending its state textbook funds. Now districts can spend the money toward state-approved instructional materials that districts feel meet the needs of its students. The bill also allows all school districts - no matter their tax base - to buy state-approved digital instructional materials with state funds.

“This bill gives us the opportunity to use the money for textbooks and by electronic material and software. Our entire curriculum is digitized already,” Otto said. “This bill is important to move schools to where kids are already familiar, which is online. We want to put more kinds of materials in the hands of kids. This will also help with our e-school curriculum.”

Districts may choose to continue to rely solely on printed textbooks or split the money between textbooks and electronic complements. Otto said when districts buy textbooks they have to keep them for 10 years, leaving most of the books outdated. However, electronic resources can be updated quickly, he said.

“At its core, this bill is about embracing the future of education,” said John Colyandro, executive director of the Texas Conservative Coalition. “Texas must be on the forefront of the full integration of technology in teaching and learning at all levels of education. While remaining committed to ensuring that content remains rigorous and factual, the boundaries of education should be pushed in exciting new directions that allow students to maximize their proficiency and comfort with electronic devices in the pursuit of knowledge.”

Bill Hammond president of the Texas Association of Business & Chambers of Commerce (TAB) added that the bill will give districts the ability to inspire and keep kids interested.

“By supporting this visionary measure, Governor Perry underscores his position as a transformational leader who is setting the standard in public education,” Hammond said. “This first-of-its-kind measure will give our schools access to the tools and technologies they need not only to teach but to inspire Texas students. That is paramount as we prepare kids for the challenges ahead. But keeping kids interested and inspired is also a critical part of addressing the drop-out problem. This bill will help with both.”

The bill also makes the following changes to education in Texas:

*HB 4294 expands the State Board of Education's (SBOE) oversight of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Districts will now be required to certify to not only the commissioner of education but also the SBOE that the textbooks, electronic textbooks or instructional materials provided to each student, for foundation subjects at each grade level, cover all elements of the essential knowledge and skills adopted by the SBOE. This requirement does not exist today. What is more, no such certification process exists today. HB 4294 expands the SBOE's role to ensure that TEKS compliance exists in each of these subjects.

*HB 4294 provides direct linkage between the SBOE and the Texas Education Agency (TEA), providing the opportunity for the SBOE to comment on all digital learning materials before they are placed on the list of materials approved by the commissioner of education for use by districts.

*SBOE textbooks today are being paid for with taxpayer money and then “warehoused” while local tax dollars are being used to buy the digital learning materials schools and teachers want in order to meet accountability standards. Under HB 4294, this “other” content will, for the first time, be reviewed by TEA to ensure it meets the SBOE-established TEKS.

“HB 4294 delivers greater equity and quality to Texas public schools. The fact is many school districts are already spending additional local dollars to purchase other non-textbook educational resources in order to best prepare their students for the future while meeting today's state accountability standards,” said Lori Gracey, executive director of the Texas Computer Education Association. “Not every school district can provide its schools and students with this additional financial support for the purchase of educational materials other than textbooks. That's leaving far too many Texas kids as wholly reliant on only printed textbooks-most of which are outdated by the time they reach our Texas school kids.”

Contact Heather Smith at HSmith@acnpapers.com.