State Representative Jason Isaac (R-Dripping Springs) wants to include education reform on the agenda of the upcoming 85th legislative session of the Texas House of Representatives.
The major bill Isaac is pushing forward involves reforming the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test. The bill would allow school districts to select any nationally normed standardized test that meets Texas curriculum standards instead of the STAAR.
“I’m looking to put together a package to present on the floor. I’ve had several representatives that have said they’ll back me,” Isaac said. “I’m looking to send a message. Reform on standardized testing is needed. They won’t do away with [STAAR] completely – our schools aren’t there yet – but some reform would help things.”
The STAAR exams have been in place since 2012 when lawmakers replaced the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test in public schools.
Since then, the STAAR exams have drawn steep criticism regarding their backing from education corporation, Pearson Education, and lack of correlation in their testing material with the curriculum taught by teachers in public schools.
“In addition to the testing reform, I’d also like to present a bill that would create education savings accounts for students with special needs,” Isaac said. “These accounts would benefit [the students] by setting somewhere for them to save their money.”
Aside from education, Isaac said he’d like to address groundwater conservation in the area.
“I’d like to possibly address establishing a groundwater conservation district (GCD) for the county,” Isaac said. “There are lots of different rules and procedures that will need to be done before that can be done, but I’d like to move forward with that, so that we can find the best way to manage our groundwater.”
Establishing the GCD would in effect grant it the authority to regulate the spacing of water wells, the production of water wells, or both.
This allows the county to develop its own groundwater management plan in order to most efficiently control/prevent the waste of groundwater.
“I want to use the science and data at our disposal to figure that problem out, instead of relying on what we’ve been doing in the past,” Isaac said.
