Education Issues in Texas - Essay Example

? Education in Texas Introduction: The paper discusses the various public reforms that helped the Government in Texas to improve the quality ofeducation in public schools. Like many other States, Texas is one of the states that are faced by poor improvement in public school education. Despite the establishment of various educational reforms, the state is still faced with high dropout rates and poor educational policy. The state has undergone a number of educational reforms like many other states to achieve educational excellence and to provide better quality education to poverty-stricken districts. However, due to the enforcement of accountability system has successfully created various educational changes in the state. As a result, a clear improvement has been observed in high-poverty schools with a gradual increase in students’ academic achievements. The paper critically analyzes different reforms and evolution of public education in Texas over the years in a detailed manner, which was implemented to meet the needs of state’s diverse population. These educational reforms revolve around the improvement of the State’s educational goals, to promote accountability in order to attain achievements by the students and to improve the efficiency of public schools. Background of Public School Education in Texas: Education in Texas holds an eminent position. People in Texas are highly concerned about the education of their children. The Texas Declaration of Independence (1836) has pointed out the many errors committed by the Mexican government in establishing a uniform educational policy within the state. For the first time in 1840, the very first Anglo-American public school law was enforced in Texas which was aimed to support public school in each county. Soon after the law was passed, another step was taken by the state government in 1845. In the state constitution of 1845, it has been mentioned that the state government would give away one-tenth of the annual state tax revenue in the support and development of the public schools. During the same year, another school law was enforced by the state government. According to this law, $2 million of the funds would be put aside as a permanent school fund out of the $10 million in 5 percent acknowledged in the resolution of Texas boundary claims against the United States (Source: TEA). Public education in Texas has remained in continuous evolution. It faced another change after the Civil war and Reconstruction, when the new constitution of the new state in 1876, granted 45 million acres of public land in the support of public schools and passed the instructions that the revenue generated from the new Permanent School Fund would be put in bonds. However, again in 1884, the law for public school was rewritten. Many amendments were made in the Permanent School Funds Program (Source: TEA). The Current Situation of Public School Education in Texas: Recently, different laws have been introduced in the state which gave liberty to all and every city and town to develop and administer their own schools. As a result, different independent schools in various districts have been established. During 1900, there were 526 districts in which the high schools were given the primary status in public school education. But recently, it has been estimated that there are around 1039 independent schools in Texas State. In 1911, another law was passed for the betterment and development of the rural high school education. This law revolved around giving support to the teachers by the state in their salaries and expansion of rural schools in the districts (Gene Preuss). With the passage of time, a remarkable improvement in the education was observed. However in late 1939, the first-term Texan Governor W. Lee O’ Daniel highlighted many problems that were faced by the public schools especially in rural areas. He termed those problems as, “inequalities of opportunities in public school system (Gene Preuss).” According to his studies and research, rural schools were faced with many problems despite many problems being addressed by the State government; they had insufficient funds, understaffed and lack the basic equipments. But his efforts to change school reforms failed in the year 1940. In this regard, one cannot ignore the efforts made by M. Aikin, who is known as the “Father of Modern Texas Education” (Gene Preuss). He holds a prominent position in school reforms through the famous Gilmer-Aikin Laws that were aimed to provide quality education throughout Texas. This legislation also helped the State to develop better educational strategies for the rural education (Gregg Vanourek, et al). The public school reforms have undergone different changes. In 1984, Texas legislature faced another biggest change in its educational sphere. It passed the most commonly known reform known as House Bill 72. This was aimed to restore the rights of the teachers; it gave pay rise to them, to overcome the financial difficulties of the public schools and to improve the academic accomplishments of Texan students (John Janssen). In 1995, another major reform was introduced to the Texas Education System which completely improved the Texas Education Code. It was approved according to 74th legislature. It granted more authority and control to the local school districts, empowered the governor to assign the commissioner. It also granted the authority to State Board of Education to allow open-enrollment charter schools and to create a separate State Board for Education Certification (John Janssen). It is important to mention that open enrollment charter schools are being instituted as a substitute to traditional public schools. Currently, it has been estimated that there are 185 charter schools in Texas State that are under operations by the State supported funds. School financing has remained as a bone of contention and a subject of matter to both legislative bodies and on-going court conflicts. The battle revolves around the school districts that are either termed as poor or wealthy in finance assistance by the State (Source: TEA). Conclusion: Apart from establishing financial equity for school districts, different reforms have been introduced to provide and improve the education. Hence, education accountability system has also been introduced. Texas is considered as the first state to implement accountability system in its public school education system. No child Left Behind and the current model for Texas accountability system ensures that schools and districts are providing quality education to the children. They can be held responsible for student performances in different assessment tests and, high dropout rates (Gregg Vanourek, et al). Every school and district are given an accountability rating that is based on the academic performance of the students divided into four groups (African American, Hispanic, White and financially challenged students). Academic rating is calculated on the basis of their academic performance in assessment tests, dropout rates and performance of each individual student group (Gregg Vanourek, et al). It is important for the Texan State to provide quality education which would benefit the individuals and the communities. Further, improvement in education would eventually result in better occupational opportunities and socioeconomic status. It has been estimated that in Texas almost one-quarter of the population near 25 years of age have been unable to complete their education (Source: Texas Education Agency). For the State, it is highly important to introduce more quality based educational reform in the education sector. It is equally important for the state to learn the lessons from the past that revolves around educational changes; this step would help the authorities to establish sustainable changes that could enhance the future of the public school system in the State. Works Cited: Preuss, Gene. "The "Father" Of Texas Education: A.M. Aikin And The Modernization Of Texas Public Schools." East Texas Historical Journal 48.2 (2009): 17-25. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 May 2012 Gregg Vanourek, et al. "The New School." National Review 49.17 (1997): 48-52. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost, Web. 30 May 2012. Janssen, John J. "Public School Finance, School Choice, And Equal Educational Opportunity In Texas: The Enduring Importance Of Background Conditions." Review Of Litigation 19.1 (2000): 1. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Web. 30 May 2012. Texas Education Agency (TEA). “The History of Public Education in Texas.” (2004). [Available Online] retrieved from < http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/tea/historyoverview.html> 30 May 2012 Read More