Excellence and Accountability in Education

Sarah, a proud graduate of the Texas public school system, believes in the power of education to transform the lives of Texans of all ages. Sarah knows a loving, supporting family and a good education are the two most important keys to future success for our young Texans.  

High quality education starts with our youngest Texans, and Sarah supported the high quality pre-kindergarten grant program that will allow for pre-k expansion throughout our state, without the ineffective restrictions of Common Core Standards Washington would dictate for our State. 

Sarah supports local control for school districts and believes we should not force every student to follow a cookie cutter approach to learning. She supports students graduating career-and college-ready by allowing them to choose customized education paths achieved through targeted course selection and the expansion of dual credit availability.

 Of course, schools must be help accountable.  Sarah supported legislation that provides that school districts will be evaluated using the state A-F system, which includes three domains:

 1. Student Achievement domain

    • STAAR results,
    • Graduation rates,
    • SAT/ACT/TSIA, AP/IB, Dual Credit,
    • Industry Certifications,
    • Military Enlistment,
    • Postsecondary readiness metrics,
    • Associates Degrees, and 
    • OnRamps courses.

 2. School Progress domain

    • Counts students who grow from one year to the next on the STAAR, even if they fail the assessment;
    • Requires that even top-achieving students are credited for growth if they maintain performance; and
    • Rewards schools for doing well relative to campuses with similar student demographics.

3. Closing the Gap domain

    • Highlights student performance based upon indicators such as race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, special education status, and limited English proficiency; and 
    • Requires the performance of former special education students to be tracked.

The state system will go into effect (and districts will receive their first ratings under the system) in August 2018.  Campuses will either be evaluated under the default state system, or, if the district chooses, under a local accountability system developed by the district

 Sarah also supports investment in higher education across Texas and expansion of graduate medical education. Sarah believes we must provide the tools necessary to continue Texas' outstanding record of graduating some of the most accomplished professionals in the medical and science fields.

 Sarah passed House Bill 4092, allowing qualifying community colleges to offer four-year degrees in nursing, applied science, applied technology, and early childhood development.  This legislation will help alleviate increasing workforce needs, allow Texas students to take full advantage of all educational opportunities, and provide an economic boost to the state.