Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HCR27 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R692 CBE-D
2	2	By: Dutton H.C.R. No. 27
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5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, The citizens of Texas understand the importance of a
7	7	quality education system to the future well-being of our state;
8	8	even so, a number of fundamental performance measures indicate
9	9	troubling and persistent deficiencies within the state's public
10	10	education system; and
11	11	WHEREAS, The number of low-performing students and students
12	12	who drop out, for example, is alarmingly high in Texas and has been
13	13	for some time; moreover, the connection between low-performing
14	14	students and students who drop out is such that many low-performing
15	15	students find themselves so far behind, with an almost impossible
16	16	academic gap to overcome, that they simply give up and leave school
17	17	completely; and
18	18	WHEREAS, As an obvious consequence, low-performing students
19	19	and dropouts are generally not prepared for college or advanced
20	20	careers, resulting in lowered income potential, higher
21	21	incarceration rates, and more likely dependence on public health
22	22	care and social services; and
23	23	WHEREAS, To solve these issues, some experts suggest that
24	24	improvements are needed to the state's accountability system with
25	25	regard to closing and measuring student achievement gaps, advising
26	26	that without higher minimum performance standards the current
27	27	system creates a disservice to the education of many students; and
28	28	WHEREAS, There is also cause for concern that the state's
29	29	responsibility to monitor and promote student performance in
30	30	Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs has been rendered
31	31	inconsequential by schools that take exception to reporting data or
32	32	compliance violations; and
33	33	WHEREAS, Current research indicates that these problems are
34	34	also present among the state's charter schools, some of which were
35	35	specifically designed to serve at-risk students; regrettably,
36	36	state policy permits variances in the mission, operation, and
37	37	performance of charter schools in Texas due to their freedom from
38	38	the normal restrictions placed on traditional public schools,
39	39	resulting in the uneven education of charter school students; and
40	40	WHEREAS, In fact, it has been suggested that there is a lack
41	41	of uniformity with regard to student discipline and the code of
42	42	student behavior, and that drastic improvements are needed in
43	43	parental involvement in the disciplinary appeals process and the
44	44	timeliness of parental notification of student discipline; and
45	45	WHEREAS, The future welfare and economic competitiveness of
46	46	Texas and its graduates depend on providing the best educational
47	47	opportunities to its students; with every measurable indicator
48	48	signaling a need for systemic change, the state should carefully
49	49	examine the current organization of the public education system;
50	50	and
51	51	WHEREAS, The University of Texas at Austin is ideally
52	52	qualified to lead such a study on the role of the state with regard
53	53	to low-performing students, student dropouts, the state's
54	54	accountability system, charter school students, and student
55	55	behavior and discipline; now, therefore, be it
56	56	RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas
57	57	hereby request The University of Texas at Austin to perform a study
58	58	on the effectiveness of the Texas Education Agency's role in
59	59	establishing a public education system that fully captures and
60	60	promotes an acceptable level of student achievement, prevents
61	61	student dropouts, improves the state accountability system for
62	62	school districts and charter schools, and contributes to a fair,
63	63	balanced, and uniform approach to student discipline.