Topic: Texas Education Agency

House Public Education Committee Hears Interim Charges 

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

Legislative “Interim Charges”: What Are They and Why Do They Matter? The Texas Legislature meets once every two years for 140 days for its regular legislative session, during which the only bill it is required to pass and send to the governor’s desk to be signed into law is the budget for the next biennium.   We became all too familiar...

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TEA Rolls Out New School Safety System: Sentinel 

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

On July 25, Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of a new school safety system called Sentinel. This new platform-- designed to collect, process, store, and distribute school safety and security information-- is housed within the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and is a part of ongoing school safety and security improvement measures.   We have written extensively about House Bill 3...

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The Flaws in Texas’ English Proficiency Testing Hurt Our Students 

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

English-learning students across Texas have faced an uphill battle with the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). In 2018, the test was redesigned, and the shift to automated computer scoring has led to a troubling trend — drastically lower scores that don’t seem to reflect students' true abilities, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.   For years, TELPAS was a...

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AFT Convention 2024: Progress Is Possible, Not Guaranteed  

Publish Date: August 2, 2024

Top: AFT convention delegates and guests listen to Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, July 25. Photo by Marco Guajardo, Texas AFT. Bottom: Scenes from the four days of convention programming at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Photos by Mariana Krueger, CCR Studios.   This past week, Texas AFT welcomed the 88th biennial national AFT Convention to Houston....

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