The End of the 65% Rule in Texas = the Death of a Very Poorly Thought Out Idea

At the first committee meeting of the House Public Education Committee this afternoon, Chairman Rob Eissler announced that the poorly conceived 65% Rule is dead.

As reported this afternoon by the Quorum Report:

Chair Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands) told the House Public Education Committee today that the much-maligned 65 percent rule approved by executive order three years ago likely is a thing of the past. Gov. Rick Perry issued an executive order in August 2005, requiring that school districts expend at least 65 percent of operational funds on instruction in the classroom. In comments to the committee today, Eissler said he had met with Perry to discuss the new accountability system proposal and told Perry the 65 percent rule didn’t fit into the committee’s new vision of school accountability. Perry agreed, Eissler told the committee. Hence, it’s a pretty good bet the 65 percent standard, still being phased in as part of the state’s financial accountability system for school districts, will either be removed or neutralized in FIRST, the state’s financial accountability for local school districts. “We need to set better rules,” Eissler told the audience.

There have been very few issues that I have written about on this blog that have received more  attention than the 65% Rule under which Texas school districts were mandated to spend 65% of their revenue on "instruction."  While that sounds good on its face, the definition of "instruction" or what is included in the 65% Rule, is problematic because the following were not included in the definition of "instruction:" Administration, Plant Operations & Maintenance, Food Services, Transportation, Instructional Support, including Librarians, Teacher Training and Curriculum, and Student Support, including nurses and counselors.

Ultimately, the Texas Education Agency's implementation allowed school districts to meet the requirement by posting the district's check register online, something Spring Branch began doing in November 2006. 

For more information on the 65% Rule, see these prior posts.

Comments

[Melanie Scales]

Hooray! That's the best news I've heard all day! I hope the rest of the legislative session is just as "education-smart" as this move. There is so much work to be done to improve our schools and make them more functional for the next generation of Little Texans. This is a step in the right direction.