Decentralizing and Reforming Texas Public Education

Decentralizing and Reforming Texas Public Education

Texas' K-12 public education system is struggling with persistent low student proficiency—only about 52% of students in grades 3-8 meeting grade level in reading and 45% in math on 2024 STAAR tests, with just 47% passing Algebra I—high teacher turnover at 21.4% in 2022-23, bloated administrative costs consuming 11% of the $65 billion annual budget, and fragmentation from charters and vouchers pulling resources from neighborhood schools. This inefficiency wastes taxpayer dollars through ever-increasing government bureaucracy, leaves teachers underpaid at an average of $60,000, and fails to prepare our 5 million students for success, demanding urgent reform to prioritize mastery, efficiency, and local strength.

Doc will reform the public education system that is failing our students, our teachers, and our taxpayers in the same manner he treated wounded Soldiers on the battlefield: stop the bleeding, treat the wounds, and stabilize for long-term care:

Stop the Bleeding:

In the first 100 days and Year 1, file bills to establish TSPSA and an education endowment, seed the endowment with $5B, announce +$10K teacher raises, freeze admin hiring, launch statewide platforms for HR and SIS, begin magnet conversions to Academies-Within, and pilot charter alignment while adopting phonics/math materials.

Treat the Wounds:

Over Years 2-5, deposit $1B annually to grow the endowment to $10.6B with initial payouts, implement the back-to-basics curriculum statewide, achieve ≤6% admin overhead through consolidations and shared services, end vouchers/ESAs, and track gains like +10 points in Grade-3 reading via public dashboards.

Stabilize for Long-Term Care:

From Year 6 onward, sustain $0.5B annual deposits to reach a $25B endowment yielding ~$1B non-tax revenue yearly by Year 20, maintain TRS reforms for ongoing savings, and ensure enduring student outcomes through mastery-based assessments and facilities upgrades via pooled lending.

The Why

Texas needs this reform because our current system is letting down students and families, with proficiency rates stuck below 50% in key subjects like math and Algebra I, despite spending $13,000 per pupil annually. High teacher turnover—nearly double the rate from a decade ago—stems from low pay and excessive bureaucracy, leading to classrooms staffed by uncertified educators at a rate of 12%, up sharply since the pandemic. Good teachers have to put up with increasingly frustrating administrative requirements, required testing and curriculum that fails the students while enriching select individuals, and behavioral nightmares with zero support from administration and parents. Fragmentation from charters and vouchers drains resources from local zoned schools, wasting billions that could go toward instruction under the guise of “school choice” that ultimately doesn’t achieve what was sold to taxpayers and opens the door for government to interfere and dictate what happens in private and home schooling.

Moreover, administrative overhead at 11% diverts funds from essentials like teacher support and facilities, while outdated curricula overloaded with tech and tests fail to build foundational skills in reading, writing, and math. Without change, Texas risks perpetuating cycles of underachievement, as seen in widening proficiency gaps. This reform shifts focus to mastery, efficiency, and sustainability, ensuring every child gets a strong start in neighborhood schools without the burden of high-stakes fragmentation.

The How

To accomplish these reforms, we start by replacing the Texas Education Agency with the Texas School Performance & Support Authority (TSPSA), a practitioner-led body with divisions for accountability, educator growth, innovation, and regional hubs. These 20 regional hubs—upgraded from existing Education Service Centers (ESCs)—decentralize control by providing tailored support like professional development, special education assistance, and technical guidance directly to local districts, enabling them to adapt statewide standards to community-specific needs without every decision being dictated from Austin. TSPSA ensures representation from these regions on its board, focusing on coordination rather than top-down mandates, while local boards gain educator-trustee seats, single-member districts, and community councils for enhanced transparency and input.

Next, we'll implement a back-to-basics curriculum: K-5 emphasizes 120 minutes daily on phonics-based reading and 60 on math mastery, with no state tests but teacher-scored unit checks triggering interventions. No more will parents be frustrated when they help their children with math and phonics homework that make no sense. The TSPSA will be key in keeping teacher-scored checks free from administrative pressure. Grades 6-8 limit to 6-8 courses with protected core time and practical electives like CTE surveys; high school requires a strong core plus choices, including work-release programs for juniors and seniors to gain credit-bearing job experience. Technology is minimized—no devices in K-5 classrooms—to focus on print materials and movement, like daily PE and recesses.

For student services, schools will contract community providers for counseling to keep focus on instruction, while a tiered discipline code includes progressive sanctions, restorative practices, and potential felony referrals for severe threats starting at age 13. Low-performing campuses must adopt Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RTI), with parents disclosing discipline history during enrollment for proactive sharing via the statewide system.

Facilities and operations get streamlined through a state-backed capital pool for low-interest lending to poor or growing districts, phased projects with independent audits, and statewide procurement for efficiencies like farm-to-school rebates. We'll consolidate small districts, convert standalone magnets to "Academies-Within" every secondary campus for preserved programs, and phase charters to align with standards for full funding, deferring full integration to later years based on data.

Financially, an Education Replacement Fund (ERF) will centralize costs, backed by general revenue, efficiencies, and non-tax sources like endowment payouts and curriculum licensing. Prospective TRS reforms cap pensionable pay and anti-spiking to save $65 million yearly, while the endowment—seeded at $5B and growing to $25B by Year 20—provides sustainable funding without new taxes, ensuring long-term stability and teacher raises, with a long-term intent of completely funding State public education.

Doc Pete Chambers is committed to decentralizing education away from inefficient systems that are letting our kids and our teachers down. We must rebuild a strong education system that empowers students, supports teachers, and serves The People. More government involvement is never associated with increased efficiency or effectiveness and when we’re dealing with something as important as our children’s future, we can’t sit on the sidelines and maintain the current status-quo.

These are PROPOSED SOLUTIONS subject to the will of The People and specific implementation will occur with future Education Task Force guidance. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with patriotic, Texas-loving educators and administrative personnel to ensure reforms maximize benefits for students, teachers, and the taxpayer while shrinking government.

Vision and Guiding Principles

Vision: A simpler, mastery-based school system that strengthens neighborhood campuses, raises teacher pay, cuts waste, finances facilities cheaply with accountability, and builds a permanent non-tax endowment.

Principles:

• Instruction first: Reading, writing, and math mastery; knowledge-rich content; fewer, stronger courses.
• Simplicity and transparency: Clear budgets, public dashboards, plain-English ballot language.
• Local schools as hubs: End fragmentation (e.g., magnet central offices); bring programs inside zoned schools.
• Sustainable finance: Lower interest via pooled lending; endowment growth; non-tax revenue (curriculum licensing).
• People over paperwork: Less admin overhead; better pay, residencies, and leadership pathways for teachers.

Five-Year Goals:

• Student outcomes: +10 pts Grade-3 reading; +8 pts Grade-5 math; +10 pts Algebra I by 9th; +12 pts CCR (dual credit/industry credentials/SAT-ACT benchmarks).
• Teacher pay: +$10K average statewide, with role/shortage stipends.
• Admin share: ≤6% (from ~11%).
• Trust: Real-time spending & outcome dashboards; public capital audits; participatory budget pilots.
• Finance: Endowment corpus >$10B with sustainable payouts; interest costs lowered via pooled lending.

Curriculum Blueprint (K-5, 6-8, High School)

K-5: Back-to-Basics, No State Standardized Testing:

• Reading/ELA (120 min/day): Phonics (decodables, sound-symbol, blending), fluency drills, controlled text practice; daily dictation/sentence combining; short writing tied to read-alouds.
• Mathematics (60 min/day): Explicit instruction; daily cumulative review; fact fluency; problem solving with worked examples.
• Integrated Science & Social Studies (45 min/day): Content knowledge through reading/writing: non-fiction read-alouds, vocabulary, short writes.
• Specials & Movement: Two recesses (2×20 min), daily PE (30 min), Art/Music (3×40 min/week), Computer Lab (typing + basic apps once/week).
• Technology: No classroom devices; typing labs only; manipulatives and print-first materials.
• Assessment: No K-5 state test. Teacher-scored unit mastery checks logged in state system; immediate intervention triggers for below-mastery students.
  

Grades 6-8: Fewer, Stronger Courses; 6-8 Courses Total:

• Core Four every year: ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies.
• Electives: Speech, Civics, Home Economics, Shop/CTE survey, Athletics/Fine Arts.
• Schedule: ~6 hours/day; common planning for core teams; unit mastery scores flow into state dashboard.
• Assessment: No state test; course exams + unit checks guide reteach/tutoring.

High School: Core Four + Choice + Work-Release:

• Core: ELA; Math (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II); Science (Bio, Chem, Physics); Social Studies (US, World, Gov/Econ).
• Electives: Speech, Civics, Home Ec, Shop/CTE pathways, Athletics, Fine Arts; dual credit wherever offered.
• Work-Release (Grades 11-12): Supervised, credit-bearing placements (1-2 periods/day) with employer partners; attendance & safety recorded in statewide SIS.
• Assessment: SAT/ACT for all juniors; ASVAB/ACCUPLACER as options; course-embedded unit tests.

Assessment & Data Flow (Unit Mastery → Action)

• Unit Mastery (all grades): Short, aligned checks every 1-3 weeks; teacher-scored; uploaded to state SIS to track progress and trigger tutoring or reteach.
• Junior-year summative: SAT/ACT for all; ASVAB/ACCUPLACER allowed; CCR metrics reported publicly.
• Dashboards (public): Campus and district pages show mastery growth, retention, CCR outcomes, and equity indicators (AP/dual credit access, counselor ratios, facilities).

Student Services & Discipline

• Counseling model: Schools contract with community providers (in-person/tele-health) for counseling; schools focus on instruction. Parent consent and privacy laws apply.
• Tiered Code of Conduct: Progressive discipline; restorative & alternative placements for repeated disruption; due process for sanctions.
• Classroom safety: Clear thresholds for removal; coaches support re-entry plans; repeat serious offenses escalate per statute.

Governance (TSPSA + Strong Local Boards)

• Replace TEA with Texas School Performance & Support Authority (TSPSA):
  • Divisions: (1) Accountability & Equity; (2) Educator Certification & Growth; (3) Innovation; (4) Regional Support Hubs (upgraded ESCs).
  • Practitioner-majority board; strict conflicts; open meetings.
  • Runs statewide educator platform (certification, applications, discipline, fingerprints) and statewide SIS (grades, unit mastery, transcripts, discipline, transfers).
• Local board reforms:
  • Educator-Trustee seats (1-2) elected by district staff (recuse on individual HR cases).
  • Single-member districts; November even-year elections; contribution caps and real-time disclosures.
  • Educator-Community Councils with formal consult rights; boards must publish “response memos.”

Operations & Technology

• Statewide educator platform: Replaces district HR/ATS; removes duplication and improves background/discipline checks.
• Statewide SIS: Unified transcripts, unit mastery, discipline, transfers; parent & employer portals (for work-release).
• Lean EdTech:
  • K-5: Remove classroom devices; keep typing labs (once/week).
  • Default to low/no-cost LMS; annual value audits terminate low-impact tools.
• Procurement & food: Farm-to-school price preferences and vendor rebates; statewide master contracts for buses/HVAC/devices/books.

Facilities & Capital (Cheaper & Audited)

• Facilities Capital Pool (state-backed): Pooled lending at lower rates; equity-weighted for property-poor/fast-growth districts.
• Phased projects: 10-year plans in 2-3-year phases; independent audits gate each next phase (“green-light” process).
• Plain-English ballots (if used): Total cost, interest, and per-$100k impact displayed at the top.
• Performance contracts: HVAC/energy/buses must include third-party measurement & verification (M&V) so savings pay for upgrades.
• Citizen oversight: CPAs, engineers, and teachers publish quarterly dashboards (budget vs. actuals, change-order history, completion dates).

School Assignments, Charter/Magnet Conversion, and Consolidation

• All students attend their zoned local campuses (with “Academies-Within” at every secondary campus to preserve advanced/access programs).
• Standalone magnets closed/converted; their programs reopened as “Academies-Within” every secondary campus (AP, dual credit, arts, CTE pathways).
• Charter Alignment Phase: Charters remain open but must align with plan standards (e.g., curriculum blueprint, unit mastery, SIS adoption) to receive full ERF funding. Voluntary conversion to district programs encouraged with incentives (e.g., asset retention, staff priority hiring with service credit). Full integration/closures deferred to Year 6+ or next term, based on performance data from dashboards.
• Small-district consolidation (clusters/mergers) where feasible; shared services (HR/IT/transport/maintenance) via Regional Hubs to reach ≤6% admin by Year 4.
• Voucher/ESA programs ended pending data from surrounding State EFA programs to enable legitimate, functional school choice for parents and students without government overreach.
  

Finance Architecture (ERF, TRS, and Endowment)

Education Replacement Fund (ERF): Single statewide fund that pays all K-12 costs.

• Sources: General Revenue (GR) appropriation (backstop); recurring efficiencies (admin cuts, capital interest savings, EdTech reductions, counseling externalization, consolidation); non-tax revenues (endowment payout; curriculum licensing royalties).

TRS Reforms (Prospective):

• ERF assumes the employer share (previously local).
• TRS remains a defined-benefit plan; contributions continue (state + employee).
• Pensionable compensation cap: $185K (2025$), CPI-U indexed; IRS §401(a)(17) cap applies (lower prevails).
• Anti-spiking: Final-5-year pay growth capped at CPI+10% for HAC unless bona fide promotion/job-family change; exclude one-time stipends.
• HAC = highest 5 of last 10 post-effective-date years.
• Lifetime annuity cap on benefits from post-effective-date service: $140K (2025$), CPI-U indexed.
• Supplemental 403(b)/457(b) allowed for pay above cap (no TRS match).
• Estimated savings: $0.065B/year (mid-case).

Endowment:

• Purpose: Build a permanent, non-tax revenue stream that grows with time and buffers downturns.
• Seed: $5.0B (Year 1).
• Deposits: $1.0B/year in Years 2-5; $0.5B/year from Year 6+.
• Returns: Modeled at 7% nominal (with 6% & 8% sensitivity).
• Payout rule: 0% (Years 1-2), 3.5% (Years 3-5), then 4.25% (Year 6+) of the trailing 3-yr average corpus.

Adjusted Net Fiscal Projections (Selected Years, 7% Case, Post-Charter Adjustment):

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA, Year 10 Steady-State)

Quantified Fiscal Benefits: +$5.04B savings + $0.56B endowment + $0.10B licensing = +$5.70B inflows.

Recurring Costs: -$3.23B teacher raises - $1.00B instructional upgrades - $0.50B maintenance & renewal - $0.50B deposit = -$5.23B.

Net Fiscal Effect: +$0.47B.

Educational & Social Benefits (Monetized Proxies): $0.5B (literacy/Algebra gains → earnings uplift) + $0.15-0.225B (reduced teacher turnover) + $0.05-0.1B (health/safety via PE/discipline) ≈ $0.7-0.9B.

Economic Value-Add: $0.7-0.9B/year.

CBA Ratio: 1.22-1.26:1 (rises as endowment grows).

Implementation Timeline (Who Does What, When)

First 100 Days:

• File bills: TSPSA; Capital Pool; Board Democracy & Transparency; Endowment; Consolidation/Admin Cap; TRS Fairness & Anti-Spiking; Assessment/Curriculum/EdTech Simplification; Student Assignment & Program Integration.
• Freeze new charters/magnets; publish consolidation clusters; launch HR/SIS pilots; adopt phonics/math materials; announce +$10K raise; launch charter alignment guidelines.

Year 1:

• Seed endowment $5B; begin magnet transitions; admin hiring freeze; launch Capital Pool; K-5 device shift begins; PE/art/music schedules finalized; pilot alignment with select charters.

Years 2-3:

• Deposit $1B/yr to endowment; implement Academies-Within at all secondary campuses; SAT/ACT pipeline and dashboards live; Phase-2 capital only after green-light audits; monitor charter compliance.

Year 5:

• Admin ≤6%; corpus ~$10.6B with ~$0.28B payout; measurable gains in early literacy and Algebra I; evaluate charters for potential next-term integration.

Year 10:

• Corpus ~$14.9B with ~$0.56B payout; facility renewal backlog reduced.
  

KPIs & Public Dashboards

• Student learning: Grade-3 reading, Grade-5 math, Algebra I by 9th, CCR (dual credit, industry credentials, SAT/ACT).
• Teacher workforce: Vacancy rates; 3-year retention; % shortage-area classes with certified teachers; residency placements.
• Finance & trust: Admin %; debt service share; capital on-time/on-budget; audit items resolved; dashboard traffic.
• Equity: Proficiency gaps; AP/dual credit access; facility condition index; counselor ratios.

All KPIs published quarterly at state/district/campus levels, with open data for third-party analysis.