Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath spoke to the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) on April 12, the second day of the body’s regular meeting.
Morath has been serving as the commissioner of education since 2016 and was previously elected to the Dallas Independent School District’s Board of Trustees.
“I’m grateful for your work and appreciate this body,” Morath opened before moving to a review of the TEA’s most recent annual report.
He explained to the SBOE members that the practice of doing an annual report “grew out of my time as a school board member” and the belief that “there needed to be a source of information with what is accurate.”
Morath then proceeded to walk through the 2022 Annual Report, highlighting TEA’s strategic goal of ensuring “at least 60% of Texans will have a degree, certificate, or other postsecondary credential of value” by 2030.
Currently, only 36% of Texas students earn a two-year degree, four-year degree, or industry certification within six years of graduating high school.
To accomplish this aim, Morath noted that the TEA had implemented a four-pronged approach, which includes:
- Recruit, support, and retain teachers and principals.
- Build a foundation for reading and math.
- Connect high school to career and college.
- Improve low-performing schools.
Concerning the first point, Morath said, “We know that the teacher in the classroom is the most important factor that affects school outcome.”
Secondly, he emphasized that by addressing the fundamentals of reading and math early, “the learning challenges long term become less.” Morath made sure to identify that in all learning strategies, the TEA sought to balance rigor and relevance in the curriculum.
Looking at the fourth pillar, the improvement of low-performing schools, Morath suggested that intervening “is a moral commitment.”
Morath then turned to the issue of school safety and the expansion of mental health services, noting that more than $500 million in new taxpayer funding had been allocated for safety initiatives.
On the subject of overall school finance, Morath admitted that it “is a very muddled topic” but suggested that Texas allocates “roughly $72 billion in total funding” and $13,278 per student.
When it came to student enrollment, Morath explained, “A lot of kids left the public schools during COVID,” but claimed that enrollment levels had largely recovered.
He also said that “Texas is the largest educator of rural children in the United States,” with 644,121 students in rural schools.
Teacher retention data revealed somewhat paradoxical trends, as Morath reported that both the number of employed teachers and the teacher attrition rate are at their highest-ever levels.
“There is essentially more churn in the profession,” the commissioner said, but he reassured the SBOE that more teachers are being hired than are leaving.
“We are employing more teachers than ever before,” Morath told the board members, adding that Texas’ most recent data reflected the “lowest teacher/student ratio” in the state’s recent history. In the 2021/2022 school year, there was one teacher per 14.6 students.
Teacher pay has also continued to climb, with the state’s yearly teacher salary averaging $58,887.
SBOE members were then given time to ask questions about his presentation, after which Morath left for another appointment, and the SBOE recessed for roughly 10 minutes before returning to hear public comments.