October 12, 2015      5:44 PM
Patrick puts school choice at the top of his priority list for education
Some red meat, some more nuanced issues in Lite Guv's education interim charges
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has
returned to his agenda of school choice in his interim charges but added a
twist with the addition of an efficiency review, a study of the two remaining
county-based school systems and a nod to the impact of tuition regulation on
debt in higher education.
None of the charges are necessarily new, nor a surprise to
those who have followed the last handful of sessions. Missing from the charges
is school finance – and possibly a study of weights and allotments – which may
be more or less necessary after the Texas Supreme Court takes action on
the current school finance case."The Education
Committee will continue our work to make Texas' schools the best in the nation.
I have asked the committee to study the implementation of school choice options
in other states including the impact on student performance and local district
budgets in order to determine the best school choice plan to serve Texas students," Patrick said in
a statement when he released his third batch of interim charges. "The
committee will also study the continued implementation of Senate Bill 2 (83R)
including the expansion, revocation and approval of public school charters. I
also am asking the committee to determine if current teacher preparation
programs are adequate for the modern classroom.”
The full list of charges can be found here.
By Kimberly Reeves
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