Central Education
An Assessment of the Texas Education Agency's Monitoring Systems for Public Education
August 1996
Report Number 96-072
Overall Conclusion
The Texas Education Agency (Agency) does not use its financial and student performance accountability systems to effectively monitor school districts. This increases the risk that the $10 billion in state and federal funds (fiscal year 1996) are not fully used to achieve the state's goals for public education. Program funds totaling $160 million were not spent by districts on direct services as required in 1994. The student dropout rate is more than double the reported rate for 1994.
Key Facts and Findings
The Agency does not effectively use the extensive quantities of financial expenditure data collected from school districts to assess district expenditures. As a result, the Agency cannot ensure that funds are spent appropriately and that students receive the intended benefits.
The student dropout rate is estimated at 5.7 percent for fiscal year 1994 rather than the 2.6 percent reported by the Agency. The dropout rate is one of the base indicators to determine district and campus accountability ratings which are used to assess the effectiveness of the Texas public education system.
The Agency has not performed cyclical on-site monitoring visits for the Bilingual Education program at 860 districts. Additionally, the Agency has not visited 205 districts for its Special Education program in eight or more years. Performance of comprehensive monitoring visits is critical when compensating controls such as financial analysis and risk assessment do not exist.
Poor communication, reliance on manual processes, and a lack of streamlined internal procedures hinders the Agency's ability to monitor school districts. This creates incomplete and inaccurate records, results in inefficiencies in Agency operations, and places unnecessary burdens on school districts.
The Agency's leadership changed in March 1995 with the appointment of a new Commissioner of Education. Efforts have been made by the leadership to address the changes in Senate Bill #1, 74th Legislature. Additionally, the Agency has responded positively to address the issues and recommendations in this report.
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