Texas. Legislature. Senate. Committee on Education

The Texas Senate Committee on Education is a standing committee concerned with all aspects of education in public schools and with higher education in state colleges and universities in Texas. State agencies within the committee's jurisdiction include the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation. Chairmen of the Committee during the years represented in these records are: Senators Oscar Mauzy, 63rd-66th Legislatures, 1973-1979; W. E. "Pete" Snelson, 67th Legislature, 1981; Carl Parker, 68th-72nd Legislatures, 1983-1991; and Bill Ratliff, 73rd Legislature, 1993.

The Senate Education Committee was at the center of public education reform and public education financing, engaged in such activities as doing research, holding hearings, and drafting legislation. Public school education reform was highlighted with the passage of House Bill 72 (68th Texas Legislature, 2nd Called Session) in the summer of 1984. This reform act was formulated by the Select Committee on Public Education, appointed by Governor Mark White and chaired by Dallas businessman Ross Perot. Senator Parker was a member of the Select Committee. HB 72 provided equalization formulas for state financial aid for public education, initiated competency testing for both entering and existing teachers, and set academic achievement as a priority in public education with the adoption of a no-pass/no-play rule prohibiting students scoring below 70 in any class from participating in sports and other extracurricular activities.

In addition to the Select Committee on Public Education, other special committees were created to study education reform issues. Chairman Parker and other Senate Education Committee members served on these special education committees. The Select Committee on Higher Education (SCOHE) was established by House Concurrent Resolution 105 (69th Legislature, Regular Session) 1985, to make a comprehensive study of all issues and concerns relating to higher education in Texas, including curriculum requirements, projected needs for higher education programs, and faculty workloads/class size. The Select Committee on Education was created by Governor Bill Clements in 1988 to examine the educational system, public education financing, and student performance, and to make recommendations for improvements. House Concurrent Resolution 107 (70th Legislature) in 1987, created the Special Committee on Post-Secondary Medical, Dental, and Allied Health Education (SCOME). SCOME was to investigate the governance and role of each medical teaching institution, and the long-term manpower needs for physicians in Texas, and make recommendations for a cost-effective methodology to fund health-related education. Finally, in 1991, the Joint Select Committee on Higher Education, 72nd Legislature, made recommendations to improve quality, access, business management, and research opportunities at the state's higher education facilities.

The funding of Texas public school education was before the Texas Legislature throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. The impetus for this concern was lawsuits filed in the Edgewood School District in San Antonio that challenged the state's reliance on property taxation for financing education, claiming that the system discriminates against property-poor school districts such as Edgewood. In 1990 a state district judge declared that Texas' method of financing education was unconstitutional. The Senate Education Committee responded by assisting the 71st Legislature in drafting a variety of plans in an effort to come up with a constitutional school finance plan. One attempt was the so-called "Robin Hood" plan, taking funds from richer districts and redistributing money to poorer ones. This proposal was defeated by the voters at the polls. The 72nd Legislature subsequently passed a similar plan giving richer districts several options to pass funds to poorer districts. This plan was challenged in court as unconstitutional.