April 2015 Ad Hoc Committee on Long-Range for Public Education Item 1

Process for Developing a Long-Range Plan for Public Education and
Authorization to Issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for an Outside Facilitator

April 17, 2015

AD HOC COMMITTEE ON THE LONG-RANGE PLAN FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION

SUMMARY: The Ad Hoc Committee on the Long-Range Plan for Public Education will continue to develop the process the State Board of Education (SBOE) will use as it creates a long-range plan for Texas public education. It will consider the issuance of a request for qualifications (RFQ) seeking an outside facilitator to coordinate the development of the long-range plan.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Texas Education Code (TEC), §7.102(c).

PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: The SBOE in September created an ad hoc committee to study the viability and utility of developing a long-range plan for public education. The following board members were appointed by the board to serve on this committee: Donna Bahorich, Ruben Cortez Jr., Martha Dominguez, Pat Hardy, Tom Maynard, Geraldine Miller, Marisa Perez, Thomas Ratliff, and Marty Rowley. The committee was reauthorized in February 2015.

SBOE Chair Barbara Cargill and Ad Hoc Committee Chair Marty Rowley sent the Commissioner of Education a letter in February, requesting that he ask the Texas Legislature for $150,000 appropriation to fund the development of the long-range plan. The funding would primarily cover the cost of hiring an outside facilitator, travel expenses and printing costs. If funding is not available from the Legislature, the board leaders requested that the Texas Education Agency cover these costs. In the letter, they also asked that the commissioner encourage the regional education service centers to work with the board to host meetings related to the development of the long-range plan.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: The State Board of Education approved the Long-Range Plan for Public Education, 2001-2006 in November 2000. In November 2006, the board approved the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. A 2014 Progress Report on the Long-Range Plan for Technology was presented to the Texas Legislature in December 2014.

The Committee on School Initiatives began reviewing the requirement to produce a long-range plan for public education, as well as past plans, in July 2013 when it received a presentation on the Long-Range Plan for Technology, 2006-2020. During the January 2014 board meeting, the committee heard about long-term issues facing Texas public schools from representatives of the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium, as well as from a six-member panel representing the state’s Education Service Centers. The committee discussed the creation of a long-range plan during the April, July, September, October and November 2014 meetings. Based on the committee’s recommendation, the board created the nine-member ad hoc committee in September 2014.

During meetings in October and November 2014, the ad hoc committee agreed that a long-range plan should be developed. It determined that the goals for the plan are:

• Internally – to create and define the SBOE’s vision regarding its role in fulfilling the state mission of Texas education;
• Externally – to bring together the stakeholders of Texas education in order to identify the core values that will guide Texas public education in the future; and
• Globally – to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the Texas education system going forward.

Committee members have also begun to seek feedback from stakeholders about the development of the long-range plan.

The committee at its November 20, 2014 meeting also unanimously consented to the following timetable:

• The Ad Hoc Committee on the Long-Range Plan will present its findings and recommendations to the SBOE at the April 2015 board meeting;
• The SBOE will begin creating the long-range plan in the summer of 2015, after the regular session of the Texas Legislature has ended; and
• The target date for completion and implementation of the plan is January 2016. The completion date has now been adjusted to August 2016.

FISCAL IMPACT: The committee estimates this project will cost a total of $150,000, with about $40,000 of that spent on an outside facilitator. There may be additional costs assumed by groups that host meetings related to the development of the long-range plan.

PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT: The public and students would benefit from a long-term strategy designed to provide high quality education to Texas children.

PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS: This will be determined by actions of the board. Typically, long-range plans have been made available to the public and shared with the Texas Legislature.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: None.

Staff Members Responsible:
Gene Acuna, Director
Division of Communications and SBOE Support

Debbie Ratcliffe, Director of Media Relations
Division of Communications and SBOE Support