State Agencies Undergo Sunset Review Process – Texas Education Agency
Over the past month or so, I have been outlining Texas’ sunset review process. The agencies I have covered so far include the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, the Texas Lottery Commission and the Railroad Commission and several others. As a reminder, in order to identify and eliminate government waste, duplication and general inefficiencies in state agencies, the Texas Legislature established the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission (Commission) in 1977. The sunset review process is designed to review each of these agencies every twelve years. This review is done by taking up a certain number of the state agencies each session when the Texas Legislature convenes.
In last week’s article I took the opportunity to cover one of our state’s smaller agencies, the State Preservation Board. In this week’s article I want to cover and outline for you another of our state’s largest agencies, the Texas Education Agency. In 1840 the first public school law was enacted in the newly formed Republic of Texas. The first public school law was important because it provided for the surveying and allocation of 17,712 acres of land in each county to provide for and support public education. This step to support public education was expanded upon five years later when the state constitution of 1845 established that one-tenth of the state’s annual tax revenue be set aside as a perpetual fund to support public schools. Over the next 150 plus years a number of reforms and laws were passed in order to try and improve public education in the State of Texas.
One such reform occurred in 1949 with the passage of Gilmer-Aikin laws which established the Foundation School Program in order to apportion state funds to local school districts. The new set of laws also restructured how public education was administrated; as well as created an elected State Board of Education which was responsible for appointing a commissioner of education, the new laws also restructured the administration of state public education policy through the Texas Education Agency.
Today the Texas Education Agency outlines their mission as follows, “to provide leadership, guidance, and resources to help schools meet the educational needs of all students.” The Texas Education Agency is composed of the commissioner of education and agency staff. Today, in conjunction with the State Board of Education (15 elected member board comprised of individuals representing different regions of the state), the Texas Education Agency works to guide and monitor activities and programs that are related to public education in the state.
Some of the Texas Education Agency responsibilities include:
- The administering the distribution of state and federal funding to public schools;
- Provide support to the State Education Board in developing statewide curriculum;
- Administer data collection on public schools.
If you are interested in learning more about the Texas Education Agency, you can go to their website at https://www.tea.state.tx.us . On the Texas Education Agency site you can find information on funding, testing/accountability, curriculum and reports, along with a number of other information related to public education in Texas. Some of the other agencies we will review in the upcoming weeks include The Board of Pardons and Paroles, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and a number of other agencies currently going through the sunset process.
