Tarrant County Senate District 12 Convention
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Proposed Resolution Change
Decentralize TEA
The Texas Education Agency shall be decentralized into 4 separate entities without expanding its current operating budget:
1) Texas Education Agency: Operates under a commissioner elected by the State Board of Education body. The individual must be an educator. Oversight includes curriculum, TEKS, and instructional materials.
2) Texas State Academic Assessments Agency (TSAAA): Operates under a commissioner elected by the SBOE and must be an educator. Oversight includes student assessment, teacher certification, charter school applications and review for maintained approval, and private school accreditation.
3) School Safety and Security Agency (SSSA): Operates under a commissioner appointed by the Governor, approved by the Senate. Responsibility includes cyber, personal, campus security and governance.
4) Local Education Accountability Committee (LEAC): Allocates a legal counsel and an administrative staff assistant to each SBOE member. Responsibilities of the LEAC employees include adapting legislative language into appropriate directives to be incorporated into the Texas Education Code. LEAC disseminates updated code to the ISDs within the SBOE district’s ISDs and charter schools. LEAC acts as an ombudsman for legal, local and other grievances as well as special education disputes.