A $10 million donation from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation will help fund a state data system to track student performance and allow educators to access academic, attendance, disciplinary, and state testing records for individual students.
The creation of the data system is one of the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) top priorities over the next four years. The Dell Foundation’s donation should help Texas compete for the additional federal stimulus funds needed to cover the system’s total costs (around $50 million). Such sophisticated data systems are critical for states that want to earn federal Race to the Top grant funds.
The system will build on the state’s current data sysem, which includes student performance, demographic, and school personnel information. Parents, school administrators, and policy makers would all have access to the database, though they would see different levels of information according to their needs.
–“Dell foundation gives $10M for student data system,” Austin American-Stateman, Sept. 23, 2009.
At their Sept. 18 meeting, the State Board of Education (SBOE) took no action on changes to the recently adopted State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) rule requiring a superintendent to report educator misconduct to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). As a result, the revisions to Title 19 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 
249.14 will become effective on Oct. 25, 2009.
SBEC made revisions to the code expanding the information that must be included in reports of employee misconduct to TEA. Districts must now provide a detailed description, rather than a summary, of the factual circumstances requiring the report and must include the name(s) and contact information of alleged victims and any relevant witnesses. These new requirements have been added to the Sample Report of Educator Misconduct or Criminal History 
in the HR Library. The amendment also modifies the description of circumstances requiring a superintendent to report alleged misconduct of an educator to align with Texas Education Code §21.006.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently relaunched its informational Web Site on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with a new name, disability.gov , and social media tools to help people access information in new, convenient ways. The site integrates content from 22 federal agencies and is designed to meet the needs of anyone seeking disability-related information.
The new tools allow visitors to sign up for Twitter updates, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, and a blog. More tools will be added to the site in the future. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis describes the new site as “…a meeting ground for Americans to learn, respond, and communicate about a wealth of critically important disability related topics.”
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a revised version of the Employment Eligibility Verification form (Form I-9) with a new revision date (Aug. 7, 2009) that expires on Aug. 31, 2012. There are no substantive changes to the form, and employers can use it or the form dated Feb. 2, 2009, for all new hires and reverifications. The revision dates are found in the bottom righthand corner of the form.
For the second consecutive year, the winner of the nation’s largest education award for the country’s best urban school district is from Texas. Aldine ISD will receive the $1 million prize for college scholarships for its noteworthy gains in student achievement in 2008. Aldine ISD serves some of the poorest students in the Houston area.
Brownsville ISD was the winner of last year’s prize, and Soccorro ISD was among the five finalists for this year’s prize. Aldine ISD was a finalist for the award for three years prior to its win this year.
Some Florida school districts, flush with millions in new federal funding, are hiring educators from other parts of the state or nation rather than rehiring those who were laid off a few months ago due to budget cuts.
The move has local teacher unions crying foul and one Broward County union has sued to stop the practice. “It may be legal, but it’s wrong,” said B. Grassel, president of the Lake County Education Association. Virtually all of the teachers who were laid off had less than three years of experience, not enough to have tenure. They worked on an annual-contract basis.
Lake County school officials defended the move, saying the increased pressure to boost standards means schools need to hire the best candidates they can find. Florida’s state legislature recently approved a new accountability program that requires principals to hire teachers with a proven record of boosting student achievement who have completed specific training programs. Experienced teachers are more likely to have those credentials.
—“Schools pass over laid-off teachers when jobs open up,” by Denise-Marie Balona, OrlandoSentinal.com, Aug. 10, 2009.
