Texas Constitution: The Texas State Board Of Education

During the twentieth century, Texans struggled to maintain acceptable funds for public education. Schools were short on funds, leading them to be short on school supplies, and textbooks. In 1949, the state legislature passed three bills to help with this issue. These bills also helped reconstruct the public education in Texas. These bills were known as the Gilmer-Aikin Laws. They helped raise teacher’s salaries regardless of race or sex, established minimum standards for teacher training, and mandated a nine-month academic year for students. (Erekson

Measuring Up: The National Report on Higher Education stated in 2006: “Texas’ under-performance in educating its young population could limit the state’s access to a competitive workforce and weaken its economy over time.” Yet in the intervening years, Texas leaders have done nothing to reverse this downward trend, instead slashing scholarships and other resources even further.

From all the constitutions that Texas has had throughout the years, the one that has stood out from the rest it would be the 1876 version, which is the one Texas still uses in this current point of time. All throughout history we have had 7 constitutions in Texas all through the time of 1836-1876. So, with all these different versions of the constitution of Texas the real question is where did Texas get the foundation for its constitution? The answer is from the U.S constitution, which leads to the purpose of this essay. We will be discussing the similarities and differences, the historical reasons for the restrictive nature of the Texas Constitution, limiting state government, details and how the bill of rights for both Texas and U.S protects

Many of the other financing problems come from individual districts that some times misuse money that could be used to better the quality of education. Assistant Attorney General Shelly Dahlberg, said that individual districts must also “show they are spending their money efficiently”. Superintendents spend too much on items that they seem to prioritize such as iPads and equipment for the sports departments and other extracurricular activities that aren’t required by the state. At times, they also base their teacher pay on seniority rather than student performance. If Texas were to stop overemphasizing on the local control of its school districts and were to hold individual districts responsible for not spending their money efficiently, there would be a lot less shortcomings and a lot more money directed into bettering the

Texas faces many problems with the current educational system and many of them continue to go unresolved due to the way Texas has established certain laws. A decline in education has been seen since 2006 when legislators decided to cut property tax which pays for education (Maule). Those policies only further hinder the progress of education improving, which is why policies like those do not need to be further implemented. More involvement with students is needed and that will be acquired by having more effective teachers. Many studies have shown that students with effective teachers do better in class than those with ineffective teachers. Not only do students do poorly with ineffective teachers, but “[s]tudies show that most students drop out due to poor academic performance. And studies have proven that the teacher in the

The current state of the Texas education policy is very complex and its roots can be traced all the way back to times were there was no equality in the public school system, we can even say it can be traced as far back to the state’s split from Mexico. This was a very problematic situation that began to be reformed heavily starting in 1954. The legislations that passed to resolve this problem have morphed the Texas Public education policy into what it is today.

Education issues in Texas can affect several areas in the Lone Star State. Texas is the leader of all 50 states in teenage birth rates. This number alone can affect high school graduation rates which also trails other states in the rank of 41 of 50 states, and can be partially to blame for Texas’ last place position of the percentage of population over age 25 with high school diplomas. These low graduation rates affect social issues by forcing people into low income jobs, housing which usually leads to high poverty levels. Texas should be worried about the future that this information predicts because if nothing is done to correct the issue it will only get worse. In order to improve this reality Texas needs to be better equipped to help with

11.13). When it comes to addressing the performance issues facing Texas schools, issues facing the poor, the reality of a water shortage, and problems relating to transportation, there is great reluctance among Texas Republicans when it comes to expanding the government’s role in improvements, as well as in raising the necessary funds through taxation. The Texas Politics Project (2017) explains that when it comes to the current state of Texas schools, supporters of a more fiscally conservative approach feel that such an approach “at least achieves average results with below-average spending” (p. 11.9). The current conservatism that defines the overall political approach in Texas may not be adequate in the long term. As we are seeing, changing demographics are substantially impacting the state of Texas and will likely lead to necessary changes throughout the state.

For example, the head board leader said he is a fundamentalist Christian which means that he is all about God and spreading the word of God. This can cause problems especially since now a days not everyone believes in a God. What he seemed to be doing is secretly putting God in the textbooks which is not allowed. This caused issues with scientific education because it would go against his beliefs. This is why open minded board members would be able to do a better job than what Texas has now. They would consider all logics for the textbook and would make sure that there wouldn't be any problems with what the students are learning. They especially wouldn't try to push their own beliefs and religion in the books. The board would be considerate of all logics of science and would give the opportunity to let students see other logics that scientists have come up

The Texas constitution is one of the oldest constitutions which was initially adopted in 1876. Since the adoption of the Texas Constitution, the Legislature has proposed 662 amendments. Out of these amendments, the electorate has approved 483 while the voters ' majority has defeated 179. From the many modifications and many more proposals pending or that are yet to come, it is evident that the Texas Constitution is not a perfect one as many other constitutions of individual states. As argued by Maxwell, Crain, and Santos, there is enough evidence to assert that constitutions have several setbacks, and there is no ideal constitution that can serve the interests of all the fifty states or permanently meet the diverse and changing needs of the citizens (Maxwell et.al, 51). Therefore, both the Texas state and the overall U.S. Construction, are not an exception in this context. However, the more the amendments, the more likely unsatisfactory a constitution is to the citizens and thus the reason for the many amendments.

Following the first few years after adoption few amendments to the Texas Constitution were proposed and even fewer were adopted, but by the late 20th century the number of amendments had skyrocketed exceeding 200 amendments to the original 1876 document. Thus far in total the Texas Constitution has been amended a little over 474 times out of over 600 proposed amendments (Ericson, Wallace). Again, it is important to note that the reason behind this multitude of amendments is owing to the fact that when the original document was drafted the aim of the document was to restrict the state government to an extreme extent so as to insure that it operated with the public will in mind and to guard against possible corruption and power abuse that was prevalent under the previous Republican orchestrated constitution of 1869 (“Texas Politics-The Constitution”). The framers of the Texas Constitution of 1876, out of fear, placed many restrictions on state and local government activities from aspects such as governmental office terms and salaries, to spending activities, public school regulations, etc. In the long run however this proved to be a hindrance to the growing and rapidly urbanizing state and given that no provision was made in the constitution regarding another constitutional

A constitution is an accumulation of principles and rules that establishes the character of a government. Additionally, by showing the authority each part of the government holds, it is describing the organization and regulation of the government and how a society must conform. The Texas constitution has been reformed on multiple occasions and is troublesome to amend due to it being highly restrictive and detailed. The process on how to amend the Texas constitution, the attempts and failure of the constitutional reform in the 1970’s and why Texas should adopt an easily accessible and flexible constitution are the primary focal points that will be addressed throughout this essay.

In addition, the second problem of Texas Constitution is too much split of government authority and responsibility, particularly within the executive branch. Texas Constitution states that shall consists of six distinct offices: the governor, who serve as the chief executive; the lieutenant governor, who serves as the president of the Senate; the secretary of state, who keeps the official seal of the state; the comptroller of public accounts; the commissioner of the General Land Office; and the attorney general who act as the state’s chief legal office. too much spilled of government authorities can lead to conflict. The Texas Constitution creates a plural executive which means, an executive branch in which power is fragmented because the election

There has been seven Texas Constitutions since 1827 including our current Constitution, which was established on 1876. Our current constitution has been amended hundreds of times because of its tight restrictions. The Legislative department is the dominant branch of the Texas Constitution it is subject to check and balances in the tripartite system. The Executive department limits the government’s power, and the judicial powers is divided into smaller courts. These three branches of the Texas are examples of how restricted and limited our constitution is.

School board members are responsible for policy and budget decisions that determine the level of support for facility maintenance, and improvement and renovation. Their decisions clearly affect the quality and condition of the schools in their districts. These decisions are made in conjunction with competing demands for limited fiscal resources needed to address all school issues. School board members are instrumental in maintaining the quality and condition of the public schools in a responsible and timely manner. Grover, State Superintendent of Wisconsin, said it this way (EWA, 1989): The state has been spending more money to provide safe housing for its 5,600 prisoners than it has for its 760,000 school children. We build golf courses and jails by fiat, but we put our children in storefronts and church basements. . . . That says a lot about what’s wrong with America. (p. 2) Ambach, Executive Director of The Council of Chief State School Officers, was quoted in the Schoolhouse In The Red study (AASA, 1992): If national goals for student performance are to be met, our students must have learning environments that support high productivity. Investments in high-tech plants and overcoming the neglect of maintenance is essential for a 21st century opportunity to learn for every student in America. (p.7) Finally, an interview in the February 1997 American School and University Journal included comments from Hawkins,