Graford, Texas – Today, Texas State Representative Glenn Rogers (R-Palo Pinto County) announced his intention to file legislation for the 2025 legislative session that will eliminate the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
“For many years, conservatives have viewed the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., as a source for liberal indoctrination of students, terrible policy ideas, ridiculous mandates, and out-of-control government spending that is both wasteful and harmful,” said Rogers. “Many of those same conservatives have called for the elimination of the Department of Education. While I agree that we should eliminate the federal DOE, I think we must look also to our own state and confront the bloated and dangerous bureaucracy that we are allowing to grow right under our noses. It is time to disband the Texas Education Agency before it destroys education in this state.”
Over the past ten years, the budget of the Texas Education Agency has increased by 39%. The agency has grown from 826 full-time employees to a staggering 1157 as of the new budget. Unlike many other states, the head of the TEA is appointed rather than elected, making the commissioner unresponsive to pressure from parents, community leaders, and teachers. The TEA is responsible for administering one of the most unpopular standardized tests in the United States, the dreaded STAAR Test. The agency applies its rating system for school districts in an inconsistent and arbitrary manner. Many of the unelected bureaucrats who fill its downtown Austin office buildings are liberal “education experts” with advanced degrees from left of center universities.
“Each legislative session, the TEA is hunting for new areas of regulatory control. Like any bureaucracy, the TEA craves increased budgets and mandates,” said Rogers. “The edu-crat crowd at the TEA has limited experience in actual classroom settings. And yet, they put themselves forward as the experts for what our kids need. In reality, we know that parents first, followed by teachers and local elected officials, are in a much better position to determine the educational needs of our students.”
This past legislative session, the TEA made a bid to expand its regulatory authority into a completely new realm: the regulation of private and home education in Texas.
“Right now, Texas is the freest state in the country when it comes to the ability of parents to choose how and where their children are educated. As of now, parents can make these choices, whether it be for private or home education, with no reporting requirements to state agencies,” said Rogers. “Under the voucher plan discussed this past session, the TEA would have gained a foothold in monitoring private and home education in this state.”
Representative Rogers welcomes the input of parents, grandparents, active teachers, retired teachers, fellow legislators, and concerned citizens from across the state as he crafts this important legislation. Input from unelected TEA bureaucrats is not requested.
