The 65% Solution (Divided by Two, Over Three Years, Plus Football)

by: Ryan Goodland

Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 11:07 PM CDT

Rules released Friday by the Texas Education Agency split in half a new requirement that schools spend 65 percent of their budget on instruction.

One part, to be phased in over three years, follows the U.S. Department of Education's definition of instructional spending, which does not include money spent on nurses, counselors or libraries.

The other part, effective this coming school year, includes spending on nurses, counselors and libraries among instructional expenses.

The result is that there will be two standards to define instructional spending. Schools will be expected to put 65 percent of their money toward instruction under both definitions within three years.

Both rules will be part of a larger rating system that the state uses to evaluate districts' financial health. Schools that do not meet the 65 percent rule, ordered by Gov. Rick Perry last year, could avoid penalties if they meet other benchmarks.

These rules seem convoluted; does this mean there are two sets of standards, both of which schools should try to reach but that they won't be penalized if they don't meet the more stringent ones? Are the first set temporary, and the latter to be imposed later? And (as the AAS story points out) are sports still being considered as an in-the-classroom expense?

The most basic reading here is that the governor now has the right to say, "We are counting salaries for nurses, counselors and librarians as in-the-classroom expenses," even though in just a few years (after a gubernatorial election, say) they won't be counted. But the TEA ruling still seem hazy. If there's anyone who understands the background here of what these new rules mean, use the comments below to elaborate.