Recognizing lawmakers for prioritizing public ed

You may have read Monday’s story about the Senate Finance Committee passing Senate Bill 3, a piece of legislation that would provide annual $5,000 pay raises for all full-time classroom teachers.

Even though the bill doesn’t meet everyone’s expectations, I am extremely appreciative that our senators and representatives recognize the great contributions that teachers have made to the lives of our students. SB3 is a positive sign that our state leaders are serious about addressing the needs in our public school system.

As the 86^th Texas Legislative Session moves forward, I am confident that our lawmakers will also find a way to reward the essential contributions that our campus leaders, librarians, counselors, diagnosticians and other professionals provide to the success of our school system. We are grateful to have thousands of operations support personnel and instructional aides in CFISD. These hard-working employees make sure our campuses are operational and our students succeed in the classroom.

I applaud our legislators from both sides of the aisle for uniting on an issue that impacts more than 90 percent of the school-aged children in Texas who attend public schools. Government works best when our leaders work together!

When you get a chance, thank our state leaders for taking this first step toward helping Texas public schools be the best that they can be. You can find out who represents you by entering your address on the Texas Legislature website.

~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.

More committee appointments

Yesterday I posted about the new chairman of the House Public Education Committee, Rep. Dan Huberty, and one of his committee members, District 138 Rep. Dwayne Bohac.

I also wanted to update you on the other committee appointments by our local constituents who represent Cypress-Fairbanks ISD.

District 126 Rep. Kevin Roberts earned a coveted seat on the House Appropriations committee, which devises the House’s proposed state budget. Rep. Roberts was also assigned to the County Affairs Committee that oversees all 254 counties in Texas, as well as the Speaker Straus-appointed House Select Committee on Texas Ports, Innovation and Infrastructure. This is a big economic development opportunity for Houston and the entire state.

District 130 Rep. Tom Oliverson was asked to serve on the House Administration, Insurance and Public Health committees. As a practicing physician, I know Dr. Oliverson will be well-utilized in these capacities!

District 132 Rep. Mike Schofield will serve on the Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence committee, as well as the Juvenile Justice & Family Issues committee. The former attorney will certainly be an asset to these two groups.

District 135 Rep. Gary Elkins will chair the Government Transparency & Operation committee. He will also serve on the Urban Affairs committee. A veteran legislator since 1995, the Jersey Village resident has been a dedicated leader to our community and I wish him well.

In the Senate, District 7 Sen. Paul Bettencourt will have an essential role on the Education committee. Sen Bettencourt has been very complimentary of CFISD in the past, will continue to support us in this key role. The former county tax assessor and collector will also serve on the Senate Finance committee.

I pray for all of our local leaders in the difficult task they have in the months to come. To stay tuned to 85^th Legislative Session and how it impacts CFISD, I encourage you to check out the Community Legislative Committee webpage on our district website, and give the CLC a follow on Twitter -- @CFISD_CLC.

~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.

A-F Rating System

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Under the current Texas Education Agency (TEA) school accountability system, all 88 CFISD campuses, along with the district, achieved the highest possible rating. We were the largest school district in the state to achieve this feat.

During the 84^th Texas Legislative Session, lawmakers passed HB 2804, redesigning the accountability system to one in which each campus and district will receive one of five ratings from A through F. This change will take effect in the spring of 2018.

However, this Friday, Jan. 6, the TEA is releasing a model of the A-F ratings taken from 2015-2016 data, which indicates the grade each campus and district would have received for five different domains—Student Performance, Student Progress, Closing Performance Gaps, Postsecondary Readiness and Community and Student Engagement.

Criteria for this model is currently a work in progress and will almost certainly change next year, but I wanted to make you aware that the ratings are simply a model. All of our schools have Met Standard.

Please note that one of our Community Leadership Committee’s 85^th Texas Legislative Session Priorities is to “Use the school accountability ratings: Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable and Unacceptable, and eliminate A-F ratings.”

Although we do not agree with the new system and feel that it oversimplifies all the incredible achievements and programs at individual campuses, we will remain focused on our goal of providing the best possible education opportunities for all CFISD students.

~ Mark Henry, Ed.D.