After initially approving a petition
submitted to the State Board of Education (SBOE) requesting that
athletics be added to the list of allowable elective credits for
graduation the SBOE has take action to initiate the rule making
process.
They have placed on the agenda as an action item for the Committee of
the Full Board, the "Approval to Proceed with
Options for Graduation Credits for Athletics."
It is important, prior to this meeting, for the SBOE
elected officials to be informed of the overwhelming support of
allowing four credits for participation in athletics during a
student's four years in high school. The following is a timeline
and information of actions taken on this petition.
TIMELINE:
March 2008
Craig Agnew, an Assistant Coach at
Brenham High School presented a petition to add athletics to the
approved elective credit list at the March
SBOE meeting as a concerned parent. Thanks to his efforts the SBOE
approved the petition to be reviewed by the TEA and bring their
recommendations and concerns to their May meeting.
After the March meeting the THSCA
posted and emailed a
"Legislative Alert" in
support of Craig Agnew's proposal.
May 2008
At the May
SBOE meeting, the THSCA
presented a written proposal supporting Coach Agnew's Petition.
Also at the May SBOE meeting the TEA
expressed the following concerns about adding the extra credits
for Athletics.
- No TEKS written for Athletes
- By allowing the extra credits in athletics they would not be
adding academic rigor in our high schools
- Would reduce the number of elective courses that student
athletes could take in high school
At the May meeting the
Committee on Instruction, directed the TEA Staff to seek input from administrators
throughout the state regarding the proposed amendment and to
present the item at the July 2008 meeting of the Full Board for
further discussion.
July
2008
At the July
SBOE meeting the proposal was
placed on the agenda as a discussion item. The THSCA presented a
Revised Proposal (PDF)
addressing the TEA's concerns. In this proposal, efforts were
made to point out the following reasons why this was the right
thing to do and to address the TEA's concerns.
- Lack of fairness towards Athletics
- Positive educational outcomes of a strong athletic program
- We should be encouraging youth in physical activity (i.e.
Senate Bill 530)
- An opportunity to develop curricula to promote physical
activity
- Proposed that we could generate athletic courses that would
include components with the appropriate
course credit
perspectives with TEKS on each component
Also at the July 2008 meeting, TEA
staff presented the results of the survey that had been sent out
to the administrators throughout the state. The results of this
survey indicated significant support for Athletics to be added
to the list of allowable elective credits for graduation, giving
the student athletes the opportunity to receive one to four
credits. On Thursday, July 17th, the SBOE took action to approve
the petition and initiate the rule making process.
September 2008
There will be a proposal drafted by
the SBOE to be voted on as an action item at
their next meeting in September. This meeting was scheduled for
September 17th - 19th and has since been cancelled due to
Hurricane Ike. The meeting
has not yet been rescheduled. It is important that our coaches,
athletic directors and friends of athletics support this
petition and encourage people to call, write or email their SBOE
representatives and their legislators regarding this critical
petition. It is important for you to express your feelings
towards the issue of allowing four credits for athletics under
the new 4x4 graduation requirements. Click on the
"Legislative Alert" to see a list of SBOE Representatives or visit the
following link:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/sboe/members.html.
Program