Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

The sweeping school accountability bills passed by the Texas House and Senate last week make much needed changes in the way the state evaluates schools and prepares students for college.

Under existing law, state officials have few options other than to close schools that have repeatedly failed to meet minimum requirements on the state's standardized tests. Even if those schools demonstrated a record of improvement, as did Austin's Johnston High School, successive years of "unacceptable" ratings meant ridding the school of its administration and students and reconstituting the campus.

Even the principal, teachers and staff responsible for the improvements must be assigned elsewhere and most of the students sent to other schools. It is a draconian remedy that removes the name on a school building without helping students.

House Bill 3 and its Senate counterpart, both approved unanimously, dramatically change the landscape of school accountability. Campuses can still be closed and reconstituted, but school districts have more tools and more time to improve and help struggling students.

These changes could be critical for Austin's Pearce Middle School, which could be closed this summer if it is again rated unacceptable by the Texas Education Agency because of low test scores. Pearce might avoid being shuttered under the new law.

Among other changes in the bills, principals of failing schools must help develop programs to improve student performance, and failing students must receive accelerated instruction. A system will be developed to identify, evaluate and help those students.

Under current law, the statewide standardized test — Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills — determines whether a student is promoted to the next grade or receives a high school diploma. That changes significantly under the House and Senate bills, which state that in lower grades, teacher recommendations and grades must be considered along with the TAKS score in promotions. High school students must show college readiness on new English III and Algebra II tests to graduate.

The bills also allow schools to substitute career and technical courses for higher math and science courses now required for a diploma. That could help prevent school dropouts and increase graduation rates.

School district ratings would change as well, to accredited, accredited-warned and accredited-probation. Campuses would be rated acceptable or low-performing according to test scores and dropout rates.

Low-performing schools would have more time to become acceptable before being faced with closure. Also, a school that is failing but showing promise can be granted a waiver by the state education commissioner before it is closed and reconstituted.

Because of amendments added in the committees and on the floor, the bills must go to a conference committee. But what emerges should be a vast improvement over the current rigid accountability system that punishes schools without helping students.