The House Public Education Committee held its first meeting of the 89th legislative session Tuesday. The committee heard only invited testimony from TEA Commissioner Mike Morath and the Tri-Agency Workforce Initiative: the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).  

The new committee consists of:  

Chairman Brad Buckley gave an opening statement, discussing the work the committee did in the interim and its interim report. Looking ahead to the committee’s work this session, Buckley alluded to the fights that will likely take place in the committee over vouchers: “There will be bills heard in this committee that will be hotly debated, but make no mistake, we’re going to make certain that we provide the largest investment in public education in the history of this state. We’re going to move forward with strong discipline reform for our teachers. We’re going to get rid of the STAAR test, and we’re going to have debate about reforming the A–F system. We’re going to hotly debate, I’m certain, and talk about giving parents the power to be the primary decision makers in their kids’ education future. I look forward to those discussions. Everyone will be heard, and we will always seek to collaborate on what we do on behalf of Texas kids.” 

As the hearing started, members questioned Morath on topics ranging from teacher pay to certification to school finance. Democrats challenged the commissioner on teacher pay, pointing out that while Morath’s data showed a rise in teacher pay, adjusting for inflation actually shows a decline. Talarico asked for adjusted numbers: “Do we have base pay adjusted for inflation? Do we know if it’s up or down?” Morath answered, confirming that it was down: “I can tell you it’s lower. If pay rises 15% and inflation is up 24%, then real pay is down.” Hinojosa and Bryant also questioned Morath on pay, asking what number would be “fair” compensation and pointing out that educators make less than professions with like degrees.  

The conversation then moved onto the Teacher Incentive Allotment, with Morath stating that the amount of educators participating in the program is increasing slowly. Buckley suggested that one issue is likely the fact that districts set parameters for designation, often using STAAR scores: “I would also argue that there are many other teachers on campuses doing great work where it’s a little harder to find the metric. … I would love to see the agency come up with some best practices and a framework for how a choir teacher, theatre arts, some of our CTE folks … they’re really impacting kids’ lives, where they can participate as well.”   

A bulk of the questioning concerned the sharp rise in uncertified teachers in the state, the reasons for the rise, and what can be done to reverse the trend. Leach and Frank drilled down on this, asking questions about the number of uncertified teachers (currently around 11% of educators are uncertified, with over half of incoming teachers in the past year uncertified), the path for them to earn their certification, and the impact of having uncertified educators in the classroom. Morath told the committee that performance data shows a “stark” contrast between certified and uncertified educators and that having uncertified educators in the classroom is also a safety concern because TEA and SBEC cannot sanction/discipline uncertified educators.  

“[With] uncertified teachers in the classroom, students not only didn’t learn but they actually backed up,” Buckley stated. “There was learning loss, and the attendance rate is typically lower in that classroom.” Morath confirmed this, stating that data shows attendance rates dip when students have an uncertified teacher and that performance dips as well.  

Leach seemed incredulous that the numbers of uncertified teachers continued to climb, telling Morath “the standard should be the same for any employee on a campus.”  Seeking a solution to the issue, he asked Morath about the path to certification for uncertified educators, citing constituent stories saying it is time consuming and cost prohibitive. Morath confirmed this, stating “in most cases, they don’t get any kind of compensation increase once they obtain certification, so there’s really no reason for them to do this.”  Leach pressed him on this, asking if the state had made any investment into getting uncertified teachers certified. Morath told him no, the state has not invested in certification, and that some local districts had, but they were not required to.  

Morath encouraged the committee to devote time and resources to this issue: “Teachers are the most important in-school factor impacting student outcomes. It is absolutely worthy of this committee to devote the majority of your policymaking attention to how we can improve support and health of the teaching profession and the efficacy of teaching.” 

Talarico challenged Morath’s data showing huge increases in school funding, pointing out that when adjusted for inflation, funding was down. Morath seemed hesitant to confirm this, but ultimately did agree that inflation was causing funding issues in school districts and that many were being forced to run deficit budgets. Meanwhile, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and members of the Legislature claim to have made “historic” investments in public education. 

The committee will meet at 8 a.m. every Tuesday. The agenda has not yet been posted for next week’s meeting, but the committee is expected to take up HB 3, the House’s voucher plan.