Craddick announces appointments to the Public School Accountability Task Force Print E-mail
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Thursday, 24 January 2008
(Austin) - Speaker Tom Craddick (R - Midland) today appointed Rep. Diane Patrick (R - Arlington) and Mr. Salem Abraham to the Public School Accountability Task Force. The task force was created to oversee a new educational accountability system for Texas' public schools.

"Representative Patrick and Mr. Abraham have both done a tremendous job working to improve education in their communities," Speaker Craddick said. "They each have a strong grasp of what is needed to bring a higher level of accountability to Texas' public schools, and I am pleased to appoint them to this task force."

The Public School Accountability Task Force was created by Senate Bill 1031, which passed during the 80th Legislative session. The bill makes changes to the state's current educational code by considering student performance on end-of-course assessments, rather than traditional exit-level assessments in order to gauge public high schools' performance.

The task force will advise the state's  Commissioner of Education and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on monitoring assessment practices and the use of statistical methods to determine the state's educational standards. Rep. Rob Eissler (R- The Woodlands), chair of the House Committee on Public Education, and Sen. Florence Shapiro (R - Plano), chair of the Senate Education Committee, are co-presiding officers of the task force.

Rep. Patrick is serving her first term as the representative for House District 94. She was a member of the Arlington Independent School District Board of Trustees for 11 years, including four years as School Board President. She was also an elected Republican on the Texas State Board of Education from 1992-1996. Rep. Patrick currently sits on the House Public Education and Higher Education Committees, and successfully passed several pieces of legislation which focus on enhancing school safety and ensuring that the largest cities in Texas receive important sales tax information for budget and planning purposes.

Salem Abraham is the president and owner of Abraham Trading, a futures trading company based in Canadian, Texas. Mr. Abraham is a longtime advocate for Texas public education, serving as a member of the Canadian Independent School District school board for the past seven years. In May 2007, he became the board's president. Mr. Abraham is also on the legislative committee for the Texas Association of School Boards. Mr. Abraham is the grandson of former Texas House member, Malouf Abraham, Sr. who served in the legislature from 1965 to 1969.

Rep. Patrick and Mr. Abraham's terms as members of the task force are effective immediately.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 January 2008 )
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