School Performance Review El Paso Letter of Transmittal 1999
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL March 29, 1999 The Honorable George W. Bush The Honorable Rick Perry The Honorable James E. "Pete" Laney Members of the Texas Legislature Commissioner Michael A. Moses, Ed.D. Ladies and Gentlemen: I am pleased to present our performance review of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD). This review, requested by EPISD's superintendent and endorsed by Senator Eliot Shapleigh, is intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the district's operations by identifying problem areas and recommending innovative improvements. To aid in this task, the Comptroller's office contracted with Empirical Management Services, a Houston-based consulting firm. We have made a number of recommendations to improve EPISD's efficiency, but we also found a number of "best practices" in district operations. This report highlights several model programs and services provided by EPISD's administrators, teachers, and staff. Our primary goal is to help EPISD hold the line on costs, streamline operations, and improve services to ensure that every possible tax dollar is spent in the classroom teaching the district's children. This report outlines 142 detailed recommendations that could save EPISD $27.9 million over the next five years, while reinvesting $14.9 million to improve educational services and other operations. We are grateful for the cooperation of EPISD's administrators and employees, and we commend them and the community for their dedication to improving the educational opportunities offered to the children of El Paso. Sincerely, Carole Keeton Rylander Comptroller of Public Accounts Executive Summary In September 1998, the Comptroller's office conducted a performance review of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) at the request of the superintendent. After more than seven months of work, this report identifies exemplary programs in EPISD and suggests concrete ways to improve the district's operational efficiency. If fully implemented, the Comptroller's 142 recommendations could save EPISD nearly $28 million over the next five years. Executive Summary - Discussion Summary of Costs and Savings by Recommmendation - Chart Improving the Texas School Performance Review Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander, who took office in January 1999, consulted school district officials, parents, and teachers from across Texas and carefully examined past reviews and progress reports in an effort to make the Texas School Performance Review (TSPR) more valuable, even vital, to the state's more than 1,000 school districts. With the perspective of having served as a teacher, and later a school board president in her own career, the Comptroller has vowed to steer TSPR to being more accountable to local school districts and the communities they represent. Comptroller Rylander began by establishing new criteria for selecting school districts for future reviews. Priority will be given to districts judged poor performing academically or financially, and to hands-on reviews that will benefit the greatest number of students. These are the school districts and children that need help the most. In EPISD about 52 cents of every education dollar is spent on instruction. Recognizing this fact, Comptroller Rylander emphasizes an approach that will give local school officials in El Paso and in other Texas communities the ability to move every possible dollar to the classroom. In addition, no longer will school districts' best practices and exemplary models be left buried inside individual TSPR reports. Instead, Comptroller Rylander has ordered best practices and exemplary programs to be shared quickly and systematically among all the state's school districts, and with anyone who requests such information. There is simply no reason for a district that has smartly solved a problem to keep the solution to itself. Comptroller Rylander has directed TSPR to serve as an active clearinghouse of the best and brightest ideas in Texas public education. Under Comptroller Rylander's approach, consultants and the TSPR team will work with districts under review to: · ensure that students and teachers receive the support and resources needed to succeed; · identify innovative options for addressing core management challenges facing the district; · ensure that administrative activities are performed efficiently, without duplication, and in a manner that spurs education; · develop strategies for ensuring continual assessment and improvement of processes and programs; · understand the link between functional areas of the district and determine ways to provide a seamless system of services; · challenge any process, procedure, program, or policy that impedes instruction and recommend ways to reduce or eliminate obstacles; and · put goods and services to the "Yellow Pages test"; if a private firm can do a job better and at a lower cost than the school district, that firm should be awarded a contract to provide that service. Finally, Comptroller Rylander has opened her door to Texans who share her optimism about the potential for the TSPR. Suggestions to improve school reviews are welcome at any time. The Comptroller believes that Texas has a responsibility to raise its education standards and strive for excellence in all public schools. For more information, contact TSPR by calling toll-free at 1-800-531- 5441 ext 3-4900, or see the Comptroller's website at www.window.state.tx.us. TSPR in El Paso TSPR began its review of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) in September 1998. As in previous reviews, TSPR came to El Paso in response to a local call for assistance. In August 1997, Dr. Stan Paz, then superintendent, requested a review, along with the superintendents of the Ysleta and Socorro ISDs and Senator Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso. At the request of the former superintendent, work on the performance review was delayed to allow EPISD time to implement the findings of a manpower efficiency study begun in 1997. With the help of Empirical Management Services, a Houston-based consulting firm, the TSPR team held community meetings in each of the district's four regions. Participants were invited to write their observations on major topics of concern or be interviewed by a member of the review team. To obtain additional comments, the review team conducted focus group sessions and interviewed district employees, school board members, students, parents, business leaders, and representatives from community organizations. The team also collected comments from letters to the Comptroller and calls to the Comptroller's toll-free hotline. Written surveys were sent to district personnel. TSPR received completed responses from 111 principals and assistant principals; 71 central and district administrators; and 294 teachers. Some 870 EPISD students completed a written, self-administered questionnaire. A telephone survey of 600 El Paso citizens provided additional public input. Details from the surveys and public forums appear in Appendices A through H. TSPR also consulted two databases of comparative educational information maintained by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)-the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) and the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS). For the review, EPISD selected peer districts for comparative purposes based on similarities in size, location, student enrollment, and property values. The selected peers were the Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Socorro, and Ysleta Independent School Districts (ISDs). TSPR also made comparisons with averages among districts in the TEA's Regional Education Service Center (RESC) 19, to which EPISD belongs, and the state as a whole (Exhibit 1). Exhibit 1 District Property Value per Pupil/ Percent of Students Passing the TAAS EPISD Versus Peer Districts and the State 1997-98 1997-98 Percent of Rank by District 1997-98 Property Students Rank by Property Name Enrollment Value Passing Performance Value per Pupil TAAS Ysleta ISD 47,616 $82,401 8 80.0% 1 Socorro ISD 22,051 $82,404 7 74.0% 3 San Antonio 61,112 $96,936 6 56.5% 8 ISD El Paso ISD 63,909 $125,829 5 70.7% 4 Corpus 40,975 $142,013 4 76.6 % 2 Christ ISD Fort Worth 76,901 $150,465 3 63.0% 6 ISD Houston ISD 210,988 $222,444 2 69.5% 5 Dallas ISD 157,622 $264,440 1 59.9% 7 State of $182,154 77.7% Texas Source: Texas Education Agency. Acknowledgments The Comptroller and Empirical Management Services wish to express appreciation to the EPISD Board of Trustees, Interim Superintendent Ken George, and the district employees, students, and community residents who helped during the review. Special thanks are due to Ms. Kari Hutchison, who acted as EPISD's liaison by arranging for office space, equipment, and meeting rooms and otherwise accommodating the review team's needs. El Paso ISD EPISD is the fourth largest school district in Texas, serving nearly 64,000 students. In recent years enrollment has held relatively stable. EPISD's property value per student is below the state average, and 68 percent of its students are economically disadvantaged. However, the percentage of students passing the state-mandated achievement tests, the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), is only slightly less than that of students statewide. In 1997 the board approved a district reorganization into four distinct regions, each responsible for providing services and supporting educational programs in the district's 85 campuses and centers. The district has a staff of more than 8,400 employees, and teachers make up about 4,300 (or 51 percent) of the EPISD total. The district's annual operating budget is about $400 million. This revenue is generated from local, state, and federal sources. In all, TSPR found EPISD to be a school district with some notable successes and some daunting challenges ahead. In recent years, board members have not focused on issues that potentially will improve EPISD as a whole. The district's reorganization into regions has improved EPISD internal operations, but its downtown Education Center seems inaccessible to many community members. Some parents believe that education resources are not fairly allocated among the region's schools.