New Texas Education Agency Commissioner
Dr. Shirley Neeley
Dr. Shirley Neeley
PRESS RELEASE
Gov. Perry Appoints Dr. Shirley Neeley Texas Education
Commissioner
Robert Scott to Continue as Chief Deputy Commissioner
January 12, 2004
http://www.governor.state.tx.us/divisions/press/pressreleases/PressRelease.2004-01-12.5906/view
AUSTIN -- Gov. Rick Perry today named Dr. Shirley Neeley, superintendent of Galena Park schools, as commissioner of education. Robert Scott will continue his role as chief deputy commissioner. The commissioner of education oversees the public education system of Texas in accordance with the Texas Education Code.
Neeley has been a teaching professional since 1971 and associated with Galena Park ISD since she began as a sixth grade teacher in 1975. She has been superintendent since 1995. Neeley, a graduate of the University of Houston, earned a master's degree from Prairie View A&M University, and a doctorate from the University of Houston.
"Dr. Neeley is a results-driven education leader who sees challenges as opportunities, and who has proven that success in our schools is not predicated on the wealth of a community, but the commitment of the educators, parents and students in that community," Perry said. "Dr. Neeley's focus on high standards and classroom excellence, her refusal to accept the status quo or conventional wisdom, and her proven track record of success make her the ideal Texan to lead the Texas Education Agency."
"Dr. Neeley is a proven leader, a tremendous administrator and an experienced educator. She will bring the same commitment to educational excellence that she has shown in Galena Park to the Texas Education Agency," said Sen. Mario Gallegos. "Gov. Perry has chosen a great individual to be the next education commissioner.
In announcing Neeley and Scott, Perry said his goal is to make meaningful and measurable reforms in Texas schools while redefining the way Texans pay for public education. To help reach the goal of better schools, Perry said he supports placing existing and new dollars into a fund that provides incentives for Texas schools to achieve greater educational excellence and efficiency.
"I support results-based performance funding incentives rather than a blanket increase to the current funding formulas that lacks accountability," Perry said. "Like most taxpayers, I believe we must demand that education dollars be spent wisely and efficiently."
"In the coming weeks, I will unveil new proposals that will reward schools that lower their dropout rate, successfully prepare students for advance placement exams and college boards, and make measurable strides in increasing the percentage of new dollars spent directly in the classroom."
Under Neeley's leadership, Galena Park ISD has been rated an exemplary district for the past two years. The district has a student population that is 66 percent economically disadvantaged and 88 percent minority. Nineteen of Galena Park's campuses have achieved a rating of either recognized or exemplary. The number of students taking the SAT or ACT has doubled under her tenure while Galena Park's dropout rate is among the lowest in the state.
Additionally, the number of students taking advanced placement courses and advanced placement tests continues to rise in Galena Park. More than 80 percent of Galena Park graduates enroll in higher education.
"I am asking Dr. Neeley to do on the state level what she has done in Galena Park, which is to create a culture of educational excellence, and a focus on educational efficiency, so more students graduate from high school prepared for college and success in life," Perry said.
Robert Scott, will remain at TEA in his role as chief deputy commissioner. He has served as interim commissioner since June 2003. Scott served as a senior education advisor to Governor Perry since 2001. He previously was a division director at the TEA. Scott received a bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of Texas.
"Robert Scott is an innovative education leader who has helped me develop a number of policy initiatives over the past few years, including a dropout prevention program, the math and science initiatives, and my high school completion initiative," said Perry. "With Dr. Shirley Neeley and Robert Scott on board, I believe Texas has one of the best education leadership teams in the country."
TEA Website Description of Dr. Shirley Neeley
Dr. Shirley J. Neeley was named the Texas commissioner of education on Jan. 12, 2004 by Gov. Rick Perry. As commissioner, she serves as the head of the Texas Education Agency, which oversees 1,037 school districts and about 200 charter schools.
A former elementary school teacher, assistant principal and principal, Neeley served as superintendent of Galena Park Independent School District, Texas' largest exemplary district from 1995 until her appointment as commissioner of education. A product of Galena Park ISD, Neeley received her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston.
As superintendent of Galena Park ISD, Neeley embraced accountability and demanded that principals, assistant principals, teachers and the entire district focus on keeping "the main thing the main thing"&emdash;student performance. In Galena Park, a district with a student population that is 66 percent economically disadvantaged and 88 percent minority, that meant accepting no excuses and focusing every day on every child that walked through the doors of every school.
A former president of the Texas Association of Suburban and Mid-Urban Schools, Neeley also served on the Board of the Harris County Youth Program, the Texas Academic Decathlon and as chair of her local hospital Board of Directors. Neeley has also served as president of her local Rotary Club and on the Board of Directors of the North Channel Area Chamber of Commerce. Neeley is a life member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and has served as a committee member for twelve years.
Neeley was appointed by Gov. Perry to the Southern Regional Education Board in the summer of 2003 and was named Texas Association of School Boards' Superintendent of the Year in the fall of 2003.
An avid Harley-Davidson rider, Neeley is as handy with a cross-stitch needle as with a branding iron. She spends her free time on her family cattle ranch in Buffalo, Texas with her daughter Brandy and her two grandsons Zachary and Conner.
Houston-area educator to lead TEA
By TERRENCE STUTZ
The Dallas Morning News
Monday, January 12, 2004
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/tsw/stories/011204dntexeducationsec.bd92027.html
AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry tapped a Houston-area superintendent to be the new state education commissioner Monday, filling the high-profile post as legislative leaders prepare for a difficult special session on school finance.
Galena Park Superintendent Shirley Neeley, who was recognized for her work by Mr. Perry in his state-of-the-state address a year ago, will become the first woman in modern times to serve as Texas top education official.
Ms. Neeley, 55, has been superintendent of Galena Park for nearly nine years and led her district to an exemplary rating from the state in 2002 based on improved student test scores and good attendance. Exemplary is the highest rating a district can earn.
Dr.
Neeley's focus on high standards and classroom excellence, her
refusal to accept the status quo or conventional wisdom, and her
proven track record of success make her the ideal Texan to lead
the Texas Education Agency, Mr. Perry said in announcing the
appointment at a Capitol news conference.
Dr. Neeley is a former classroom teacher who worked her way up through the ranks and became superintendent of Galena Park in 1995. Last year, she was named superintendent of the year by the Texas Association of School Boards and Texas Association of School Administrators.
This is a big day in the life of a little, old, Texas Harley-riding school marm, and I am truly honored, she said after being introduced by the governor.
This is a new beginning in my 33 years of service to Texas public schools and a huge challenge, but what a huge opportunity. We have a lot of work to do, and were ready to begin.
Dr. Neeley, who will manage the Texas Education Agency and oversee state regulation of school districts, will earn $164,748 as commissioner.
The veteran educator caught the attention of the governor and others through her no-nonsense approach in running the 20,000-pupil Galena Park school district, where 88 percent of the students are minority and 67 percent are economically disadvantaged.
To boost student test scores and school performance levels, she instituted a tough mandate calling on every principal to get a recognized or exemplary rating from the state for their schools within three years or lose their jobs. A recognized rating is equivalent to a grade of B, while exemplary is equivalent to an A.
In every instance where a principal was removed and we brought in a new leader, the school was recognized or exemplary the next year, she said. It worked very well for us.
We must never, ever accept failure, mediocrity, the status quo or excuses. There is zero tolerance from this lady for excuses. We must guarantee a first-class, world-class exemplary education.
Gov. Perry noted that Galena Park is the largest, most diverse exemplary school district in the state.
Dr. Neeley has proven that success in our schools is not predicated on the wealth of a community, but by the commitment of educators, parents and students of the community.
State Board of Education Chairwoman Geraldine Miller of Dallas said Dr. Neeley has great credentials and an excellent track record in running a large school district.
We have great expectations as we prepare to work with Dr. Neeley, she said, also complimenting Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott, who has run the TEA for the past seven months.
Dr. Neeley will replace former Commissioner Felipe Alanis, who left the post last June.
While she is the first woman to serve as education commissioner, Annie Webb Blanton was elected in 1918 to what was then called the state superintendent of public instruction.
Dr. Neeley takes over the job at a critical juncture as the Legislature is preparing for a special session on education as early as April. Lawmakers are planning an overhaul of the states beleaguered school finance system and also are considering possible education reforms such as an incentive pay program for teachers.
Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and Rep. Kent Grusendorf, R-Arlington, chairs of the special House-Senate committee working on school finance, both praised selection of the new commissioner.
I know her vigor and passion for education at the district level will transcend statewide and become contagious, Ms. Shapiro said. I look forward to working with her to improve education in our state.
Mr. Grusendorf called the nomination an outstanding appointment that is good for public education.
Her appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.
Dr. Neeley was an elementary school teacher in the Pasadena and Galena Park school districts in the 1970s. She held several administrative jobs in Galena Park, including principal and director of elementary education, before she was selected as superintendent for the district. She also attended Galena Park schools as a child.
E-mail: tstutz@dallasnews.com
New education chief jumps into job
Neeley highly praised for her work as superintendent in Galena
Park
By Dave Harmon
Austin American-Statesman
Monday, January 26, 2004
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/monday/news_04419c16d696623f1062.html
The way Shirley Neeley sees it, she was born for this, as if guiding children were a part of her genetic code.
"I knew from day one I wanted to be a teacher," the new Texas education commissioner said recently from her new office in her new city.
Back in Galena Park, a working-class town just east of Houston, Neeley's mother fashioned a desk from an apple box, and Neeley created an imaginary classroom in the yard. Because her mother ran a day care from the house while her father ran heavy machinery at Shell Oil Co., pretend pupils were plentiful.
Now, this 55-year-old mother, grandmother and ex-teacher has 4.1 million Texas schoolchildren under her guidance after Gov. Rick Perry tapped her as the state's first female education commissioner.
"We've only just begun," Neeley said. "Just stand back and watch."
Standing back and watching has never been Neeley's strong suit.
After Perry introduced her earlier this month, Neeley decided against returning to Galena Park and started introducing herself to the 500-plus Texas Education Agency staffers who have seen three commissioners come and go in the past six years. She had soon walked four of the seven floors in the Travis Building.
"I'm sure folks are very concerned with a new commissioner, wondering what I'm like," Neeley said.
In Galena Park, pretty much everyone knows what she's like. It's hard to find someone among the city's roughly 10,000 residents who hasn't crossed paths with her on a campus, at a football game, at the Rotary Club or at a community fund-raiser.
And once Neeley's name comes up, it's hard to get people to stop gushing.
"She's a wonderful lady," said Timo Wehmeyer, a beauty shop owner whose three children attended MacArthur Elementary, where Neeley was an assistant principal and principal.
"When she came on (as superintendent) it was like a breath of fresh air," said Dawn Fisher, a former city commissioner now on the Galena Park school board. "I don't know that I've ever seen her with a negative attitude. She's just always up and excited and energetic."
Her former co-workers say Neeley's philosophy is simple: hire good people, set ambitious goals, give them the tools to succeed, then cheer like hell.
"Shirley Neeley can motivate anyone," said Linda Sherrard, Galena Park's director of staff development.
Neeley oozes energy. Even sitting down, she shifts and twitches, her hands fluttering. She considers it a gift, something she got from her mother, who's still caring for neighborhood children.
"I don't think you'll ever see me down," Neeley said.
Not that she doesn't have bad days. She just doesn't let it show.
She swears that if she'd been born 40 years later, she would have been diagnosed as hyperactive. When she's not working, she keeps her hands busy by cross-stitching. Or riding her 100th anniversary edition Harley-Davidson motorcycle -- painted in Galena Park High School black and gold.
Her refuge remains the family's ranch near Buffalo in Leon County, where her father taught her to raise cattle and where she still keeps a small herd of Santa Gertrudis, 20 years after his death.
"I'm very simple," she said. "What you see is what you get."
District devotee
Texas schools are getting a commissioner who favors the concept of vouchers -- she says Texans shouldn't fear school choice -- and who thinks it's time to get rid of the school finance system, dubbed Robin Hood by critics, that shifts money from wealthier school districts to poorer ones. Galena Park is one of the districts that receives money under the current system.
Neeley also turned a middle-of-the-pack school district into the largest in the state to receive an "exemplary" rating, the highest of four levels based on state test scores.
She has devoted most of her adult life to Galena Park's school district since graduating from Galena Park High School in 1966.
She got married, had a daughter -- Brandy, now a mother of two -- earned a degree from the University of Houston and landed her first teaching job at an elementary school in nearby Pasadena. A few years later, she came back to Galena Park as an elementary school teacher.
When her marriage broke up, she continued on as a single parent. She was among the first female assistant principals in the district. She got her master's and doctoral degrees. She was promoted to principal, then moved into the district's central administration.
By the time she was named superintendent in 1995, Neeley was in charge of a district that had changed dramatically since she was a student.
The Houston Ship Channel used to be the town's lifeblood, where generations of men drew their paychecks loading cotton and working in the oil refineries and the steel mill. When Armco Steel Corp. shut down the mill in the 1984 -- taking thousands of jobs and 40 percent of the school district's tax base with it -- the population shrank, and many remaining workers started commuting to the chemical plants in Pasadena and Bay City.
At the same time, Hispanic families began moving into Galena Park in large numbers.
Gerald Cobb, who first promoted Neeley back when he was superintendent, remembers counting 21 Hispanic students when the district integrated in 1970. When Neeley took over, the district was half Hispanic. Today, 88 percent of its roughly 20,000 students are minorities, and 66 percent are considered economically disadvantaged.
The Texas Education Agency rated the Galena Park Independent School District "academically acceptable," one step above "low-performing," when Neeley became superintendent. Her alma mater had received the dreaded low-performing tag.
Neeley said she met with parents and promised that the district wouldn't have another low-performing school and that, if it did, she would resign. Then she put her principals on notice: You have three years to reach "recognized" or "exemplary," or you'll be replaced.
"It was a scary feeling," said Sherrard, who was principal of North Shore High School at the time.
After setting the new standard, Sherrard said, Neeley gave her principals whatever help they needed in the form of new programs, tutors or extra staff. Neeley helped push through major bond issues to pay for it all.
She also launched a foundation to pay for things not covered in the budget, such as college scholarships for students and grants for teachers who wanted to try new techniques in their classrooms. The community responded with more than $700,000 in donations.
Neeley improved teachers' pay and increased the teaching staff by 40 percent during her tenure, going as far away as the Philippines to find bilingual teachers. She started a new arrival center for immigrant students that gave them a semester of intensive English.
And she encouraged students to come back to Galena Park as teachers with a "home grown" program that let them serve as teacher's aides and work in school offices.
Team builder
Along the way, Neeley's colleagues said she molded them into a team with a mix of enthusiasm, self-deprecating humor and intense interest in the people around her.
"She disarms people," said Karen Javellana, who has worked with Neeley since 1987 and is now Galena Park's assistant superintendent. "She is very comfortable with who she is, and she puts other people at ease."
Neeley signed birthday cards for each of her more than 2,000 staff. She seemed to know every student by name and when someone's mother was sick. She ordered business cards identifying herself as "head cheerleader for GPISD."
She ultimately had to replace several principals, many of them long-time friends.
"It was very difficult, and I knew it would be," Neeley said. But in each case, she added, the schools reached their goal after the switch.
"She believed that our kids could do it, so we all believed it," Javellana said.
Now Neeley is entering new terrain full of land mines. The commissioner's job is known for grinding down people. The State Board of Education is famous for its feuds, with Democrats and Republicans routinely launching broadsides at each other during meetings.
And the agency has shrunk after state budget cuts eliminated more than 300 positions.
Neeley said she doesn't see herself making any major changes immediately -- she credits Deputy Commissioner Robert Scott with doing a lot of that work during his seven months as interim commissioner -- but if her history is any guide, Neeley won't be sitting still for long.
dharmon@statesman.com; 445-3645
State's education boss takes direct approach
By Karen Adler
kadler@express-news.net
San Antonio Express-News
01/29/2004
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1120497
AUSTIN &emdash; Only two weeks after Shirley Neeley was appointed Texas education commissioner, the self-described Harley-riding, fast-talking schoolmarm isn't shy about offering her stance on hot-button issues.
School choice? She's all for it. Temporary teaching certificates for college graduates? Absolutely.
And the state's "Robin Hood" school finance system? Bring it down, she says.
"I'm not afraid of the devil himself," said Neeley, speaking to 400 people Wednesday at the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature.
The two-day program ends today and includes panel discussions on tax reform, school finance and health care costs.
Neeley, 55, was appointed Jan. 12 by Gov. Rick Perry to oversee the state's public education system.
The post is the pinnacle of Neeley's career. She is a former elementary school teacher, assistant principal and principal.
She had served since 1995 as superintendent of the Galena Park School District, near Houston, where she employed a supportive, yet take-no-excuses style of leadership.
Under her tenure, Galena Park became the largest and most diverse district rated "exemplary" in Texas.
Neeley is perplexed by the furor over school choice, the idea that parents of children in low-performing schools should be given state money in the form of vouchers to send their children to private institutions.
"School choice is nothing to be afraid of if you are doing a good job," she said.
"Your school will be the school of choice."
Neeley said she fully supports the recent decision by the state Board of Educator Certification that would let college graduates into the classroom if they majored in the subject they're teaching.
Considering the state's teacher shortage, if someone loves children and loves to teach, "it's our job to give them the opportunity," Neeley said.
"Certification is nothing but a piece of paper," she said. "It does not make a master teacher."
Despite her apology-free opinions, Neeley has had no problem racking up fans.
"I love her," said Dan McLeroy, a member of the State Board of Education. "She treats our board like we hired her. I feel more important as a board member than I've ever felt before."
The Texas Public Policy Foundation doesn't often agree with the education establishment, acknowledged President Brooke Rollins, but she's thrilled with Neeley's appointment.
"Dr. Neeley represents to me a visionary thinker that has the record of credibility," she said. "You don't often find those two together in one package.
Neeley, a longtime Houston resident, said she's confident the legislators in her new hometown will work together to find an equitable school funding system.
The Robin Hood formula of taking money from wealthy districts to give to poor districts, which benefited Galena Park, has had its day, she said.
"Everybody knows property owners need a tax break," she said. "We're going to find a funding system that is a win-win for everybody."
Education commissioner's stance has changed on vouchers
Neeley opposed them in 1997, supports them today
By Dave Harmon
Austin American-Statesman
Friday, January 30, 2004
http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/auto/epaper/editions/friday/metro_state_04a10122a66e211d0036.html
The state's new education commissioner has been vocal in her support of school vouchers since taking office earlier this month. But in 1997, she sent then-Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock a letter urging him to oppose a voucher proposal.
Shirley Neeley was superintendent of the Galena Park school district in Houston when she urged Bullock to "seriously reconsider your position on vouchers."
At the time, Bullock surprised many people by becoming honorary chairman of the pro-voucher group Putting Children First and supporting a bill to provide taxpayer-funded private school tuition to children in low-performing public schools.
Since Gov. Rick Perry appointed her as education commissioner, Neeley has stated her support of vouchers, saying schools that are doing a good job shouldn't fear school choice.
That spurred the Texas Freedom Network, an anti-voucher group that dug up Neeley's letter, to accuse her of flip-flopping on the issue. The group said her change of position "supports what had been reported by other candidates for the commissioner position:" that Perry required his appointee to support vouchers regardless of their own position.
"I resent that," Neeley responded. "Governor Perry has never asked me to support vouchers. He has never even asked me what my position might be regarding vouchers."
Neeley said a lot has changed since 1997, when superintendents were worried that a voucher system would give private schools public money without holding them to the same standards as public schools.
"Voucher proposals that have been discussed in the last several years contain testing and accountability requirements," Neeley said. "Seven years later, I have much more knowledge of and experience with private and charter schools."
Voucher opponents disagree, saying the 1997 bill required private schools to assess students' performance the same way public schools did, and would have cut off public money to private schools that performed poorly.
dharmon@statesman.com; 445-3645
New education chief isn't cheerleader some expected
By SCOTT PARKS
The Dallas Morning News
Sunday, March 7, 2004
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/columnists/sparks/stories/030804dnmetedcol.2095c.html
Shirley J. Neeley, the new Texas education commissioner, refers to herself as Gov. Rick Perry's popcorn lady.
The governor likes fresh popcorn. So, Dr. Neeley started bringing along a bag when she and Mr. Perry fly around Texas to tout their education policies.
She arrived for one flight and found the governor already supplied with popcorn. With mock indignation and a feigned sense of rejection, she hit him over the head with her now-superfluous bag of popcorn.
A couple weeks ago, Dr. Neeley told this story to about 250 members of the Texas School Public Relations Association gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Austin. Dr. Neeley expressed the hope that news reporters weren't present because she wanted to let her hair down. I was not there, but the walls have ears and mouths in a political town like Austin.
I spoke with six people who were there.
Critics didn't feel comfortable sharing their thoughts with their names attached. They are public employees who serve as spokespeople for their school districts. Sometimes, they feel beleaguered by constant criticism of public schools. And they had hoped to hear an unabashed cheerleader for public education; someone who, like themselves, ardently opposes school vouchers and supports increased state funding for schools.
After all, Dr. Neeley was a career educator just like them. She arrived in Austin after a stellar run as superintendent of the Galena Park district near Houston. The powerful Texas Association of School Boards had named her superintendent of the year for 2003.
But they didn't get the cheerleader they wanted.
Instead, they got a steely lesson in political reality. Dr. Neeley's message, in effect, was, "You gotta suck it up. Give a little to get a little. You can't expect more state funding without giving GOP lawmakers some vouchers and stricter accountability for higher student test scores."
She said she recently heard legislative staffers in a Capitol restroom talking about "WASPs." She said it puzzled her because she thought the acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants had fallen out of use.
Imagine her surprise, she said, to discover that the acronym now stands for Whiny-Ass School People &endash; at least in the new parlance of the GOP-dominated Capitol.
One WASP in the audience had this response: "I thought to myself, 'And your point is what?' She was very cavalier when we were looking for a serious discussion of our funding crisis."
Dr. Neeley declined to be interviewed for this column.
Debbie Graves Ratcliffe, a Texas Education Agency spokeswoman who heard the speech, stressed that her boss didn't call anyone a WASP but reported only what she had heard at the Capitol.
"I think she was stunned to learn that some people had this attitude about school people," Ms. Ratcliffe said. "She was trying to make these school public relations professionals people aware of it."
About the popcorn lady story, Ms. Ratcliffe said, "Dr. Neeley is a very gracious person. If she knew you liked Oreos, and you came to visit her, she would have them there when you arrived."
Austin officialdom hasn't seen anything like Shirley Neeley in quite a while. She is the newest "one tough grandma" in state government.
Think of Ann Richards without the Democratic political credentials and without the white cone of hair &endash; a brassy, super-competent career woman who rides a Harley. To take the edge off, she projects a folksy Texas image. According to her official bio, she is "as handy with a cross-stitch needle as with a branding iron."
Mr. Perry chose Dr. Neeley to lead TEA at an interesting time. Education tops the political agenda in Austin. Public school funding is the big issue, but vouchers have become the symbolic heart of a protracted culture war over education. And there's not much middle ground.
Advocates, including Mr. Perry, favor legislation allowing voucher experiments in the Dallas ISD and other big school districts. They argue that low-income students trapped in bad public schools deserve state tax money to help finance private school tuition. The voucher choice will motivate superintendents to improve inferior schools, they contend.
Most teachers, principals and superintendents oppose any voucher experiment. They say vouchers will drain money from underfunded public schools. They also fear that vouchers will open the door to wholesale privatization of education in America and that for-profit companies will start half-baked schools to get the government money.
Now, Shirley Neeley is dancing with Mr. Perry, the man who brung her to the party in Austin. Once an avowed voucher opponent, she now pronounces herself open to the concept.
Some people who heard her speech in Austin think she has popcorn stuck in her ears.
Others, such as education consultant Jerry Smith, are more flexible. He says Dr. Neeley has the governor's ear and that their travels around the state are valuable. He hopes she shows the governor that most public schools are good and that most Texas educators are Willing Able School People &endash; not the other kind of WASP.
"She has access," says Mr. Smith, executive secretary of the Gulf Coast Area Association of School Boards. "She gets the governor to be relaxed and keep things light. And she can count votes in the Legislature. If we say certain things will only happen over our dead bodies, it will be over our dead bodies."
Scott Parks writes about education for The Dallas Morning News. E-mail sparks@dallasnews.com
Galena Park ISD and Dr. Shirley Neeley, Part 1
TEA chief's inflated grades
By RICK CASEY
The Houston Chronicle
March 27, 2004
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/casey/2471445
When Gov. Rick Perry elevated Shirley Neeley from superintendent of Galena Park Independent School District to state commissioner of education in January, he virtually canonized her.
"Dr. Neeley is a results-driven education leader who sees challenges as opportunities and who has proven that success in our schools is not predicated on the wealth of a community, but the commitment of the educators, parents and students in that community," he enthused.
He noted that in her nine years at Galena Park, she had turned it into the state's largest district to be given the top rating of "exemplary," an achievement "made all the more noteworthy by the fact that Galena Park serves a student population that is 66 percent economically disadvantaged."
The governor was right. When she took over, the district was rated "acceptable," the second lowest rating. At that time, 59 percent of all students passed all portions of the TAAS test.
By 1999, she and her staff had raised the percentage to 80 percent. In 2002, it was 89 percent.
Through management skill and cheerleading, Neeley had done what the state asked her to do. The state judged schools and districts on the TAAS, and she dramatically improved those scores.
The governor should have stopped there, but he went on:
"At Galena Park, the number of students taking the SAT or ACT has doubled under Dr. Neeley's tenure. Eighty-two percent of graduates attend college, and their dropout rate is among the lowest in the state. And the number of students taking advanced placement courses and advanced placement tests has tripled under Dr. Neeley's administration."
The picture is of a district that not only raised the floor, as TAAS scores showed, but also the ceiling. Neeley had students soaring.
The picture is wrong.
Most striking is the assertion that 82 percent of graduates attend college.
That figure is so impressive that several major papers have repeated it, including this one.
I asked the governor's spokesman where the facts in his speech came from. He said from Galena Park.
For the past seven weeks I've asked Galena Park officials for the source of the 82 percent figure. I finally received it Thursday.
It's not a report of how many students went to college. It's a survey, taken last spring, of the plans of Galena Park seniors.
According to a spokeswoman for the district, no follow-up has yet been done as to how many of the students actually went to college. And the survey is not so formal that a report on it has been generated.
But she did give me a breakdown of the roughly 80 percent of the class that took the survey:
·37 percent said they were going to a four-year college.
·19 percent said they would attend a two-year college.
That's 56, not 82, percent who said they were going to college. You may wonder about the other 26 percent.
·25 percent said they were going to technical or business institutes.
I know, that's 81 percent, but let's not quibble. I'm more concerned about using statements of intentions as though they reflected actual college attendance. In late February I spoke to a senior class at a high school in an area similar to Galena Park. Several students told me they were going to college, but when I asked where they said they didn't know.
What's more, Galena Park uses a broad definition of "higher education." In a district publication they cite the survey and say "90 percent of the graduating class attend some type of higher education institution."
How do they get to 90 percent? By including the 12 percent who said they were going into the military, cosmetology or other.
There's much more to cover in Wednesday's column. Neeley, unfortunately, had to cancel a phone interview Friday. I hope to talk to her before the next installment.
Galena Park ISD and Dr. Shirley Neeley, Part 2
TEA numbers counter chief
By RICK CASEY
The Houston Chronicle
March 30, 2004
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2476568
After an hour on the phone with Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley, it's clear why she has won praise as the chief cheerleader who succeeded in dramatically raising the TAAS scores in the blue-collar Houston-area school district of Galena Park.
She
talks with great energy and pride of her accomplishments at Galena
Park and those of the staff and students. Her hard work there, her
attainment of an "exemplary" rating for the district and the sheer
force of her personality have earned her both considerable praise
and the job as the state school chief.
She is so likable and her story so inspiring that it almost feels impolite to examine how real the story is.
For example, when Gov. Rick Perry introduced her as the new education commissioner in January, he said, "At Galena Park, the number of students taking the SAT or ACT has doubled under Dr. Neeley's tenure."
A spokesman for the governor said the data was provided by Galena Park. Galena Park officials say they don't know where the governor's office got that figure.
Texas Education Agency figures tell a different story.
The number of students taking one or both tests in 1995, the year before Neeley became superintendent, was 325. In 2003, it was 497, an increase of 53 percent, not double.
What Galena Park officials didn't mention to the governor's office was that the number of non-special-education graduates over that period grew 62 percent. So as a percentage of seniors, the number taking the test actually shrank from 55 percent in 1995 to 46 percent in 2002, the last year that number is available.
But boasting about the number of students who take the test raises another question: How did they do?
When you see the figures, you'll understand why a cheerleader doesn't yell them out.
SAT recalibrated scores in 1996 (the year Neeley became superintendent), so we'll compare scores from that year through 2002, the last year data is available.
In 1996, the average ACT score was 18.8. Over the next six years it steadily declined 7 percent to 17.5.
In 1996, the average SAT score was 1016. By 2002 it dropped 13 percent to 885.
Neeley points out that two-thirds of Galena Park students come from economically disadvantaged families. But the national SAT average score for students with family incomes of under $20,000 was 887, two points higher than Galena Park's average for all students.
Neeley says the drop in scores was predictable.
"Please remember as you test more children, you go after average and below-average students," she said. "You have to decide: Do you want to test fewer children and have a higher mean?"
She has a point, but the TEA provides another statistic of considerable importance. It gives the number of students from each class who score at what is called the "criterion" level in the SAT and ACT.
For the SAT, the number is 1110. For the ACT, it is 24. Those scores would put you just above the bottom quarter of students applying to UT Austin.
Theoretically, the number of students scoring above that level would not decrease just because you were encouraging more lower-performing students to take the test.
Yet that's exactly what happened in Galena Park. In 1996, 62 graduates (18 percent of test takers) scored at the criterion level.
In 2002, after six years of Neeley's concentration on raising TAAS scores, 46 students (just 10 percent) scored at criterion level.
Galena Park officials suggest that the poorer performance may reflect an increase in students from economically disadvantaged families. The number rose from about half in 1996 to about two-thirds today.
The state provides another measure of college readiness. Students who want to attend state institutions or community colleges are required to take the Texas Academic Skills Programs tests. Those who achieve high academic scores in other ways are exempt.
In 1995, 34 percent of Galena Park seniors who took the test passed all portions on the first try. In 2001, it was 18 percent.
In 2001 and 2002, Galena Park ranked 18th out of 20 Harris County school districts in the percentage of students who either passed all portions of the TASP or were academically exempt from taking it.
I've shoveled a bushel full of statistics out in this column. Boiled down, they tell a story of a school district that raised the floor, as measured by TAAS scores, while lowering the ceiling, as measured by college entrance tests.
Friday, in the last of my Galena Park trilogy, I'll discuss the two reasons it is important to take a hard look at Neeley's performance, whatever the risk to the image of a ranching, Harley-riding grandma who is impossible not to like.
Galena Park ISD and Dr. Shirley Neeley, Part 3
'All we trained on was TAAS'
By RICK CASEY
The Houston Chronicle
April 1, 2004
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2480758
The problem isn't that Shirley Neeley, Gov. Rick Perry's choice for education commissioner, is a rogue or a fraud.
To the contrary. The problem is she rose to the top by doing exactly what the state's "accountability system" asked her to do.
She single-mindedly raised TAAS scores at Houston's working-class Galena Park Independent School District, making it the state's largest "exemplary" school district -- based on TAAS scores.
She did it as a self-professed "cheerleader" (it was on her business cards), and she did it by telling principals they either made their campuses "exemplary" or they would be replaced.
The danger is that Perry might mean what he said in a press release announcing Neely's appointment in January:
"I am asking Dr. Neeley to do on the state level what she has done in Galena Park," he said, "which is to create a culture of educational excellence and a focus on educational efficiency, so more students graduate from high school prepared for college and success in life."
As we've seen in the last two columns, Neeley did not, in her nine years at Galena Park, produce graduates who were better prepared for college.
Perry, introducing her, said the number of students taking college entrance exams doubled under her tenure. Actually, the number went up 53 percent.
But during that time, the size of the senior class grew 62 percent. So the percentage of eligible seniors taking the college tests actually shrank from 55 percent to 46 percent.
Worse, as TAAS scores rose, the SAT and ACT scores sank. The average SAT score fell from 1016 Neeley's first year to 885 in 2002, the last year for which they are available. The ACT average dropped from 18.8 to 17.5.
Neeley says whenever you have more students taking a test such as the SAT, the average score will drop. Yet statewide over the same period, TAAS scores improved and the percentage of students taking the SAT or ACT grew, but SAT and ACT scores stayed level.
Galena Park is an example of the downside of the Texas accountability system. While it forces schools to help students who had been left behind, it is doing harm to other students by taking teacher time and other resources away from higher-level teaching.
Nicole King says she graduated 12th in her class at Galena Park High last year with a grade point average higher than 4.0. She said she has known Neeley since elementary school.
"Here is my main point to get across," she wrote from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio. "Since the beginning, all we were trained on was the TAAS test, that's it. We had hours of classroom time devoted on strategic ways to enhance our test scores. It's ridiculous."
She continued: "I can pass the TAAS in a heartbeat, but my SATs were another story. I'm ashamed to say, but I didn't score higher than 850. This is coming from a magna cum laude grad and who has been in advanced classes and programs since the age of 4."
She said she is doing well in English due to "a few strong teachers" at Galena Park but is struggling in math.
But the accountability system didn't define "exemplary" as making students ready for college or for life. It defined it as getting them to pass the TAAS.
A former principal summed up the situation well.
"I believe that you are uncomfortably close to a real truth in education today," she wrote. "Only a valiant and persistent cheerleader will survive the system and climb to the top of whatever the heap might be. Cheerleading may be needed and indeed beneficial at times, but when it comes at the expense of seeing reality -- well, this old teacher and past cheerleader says, surrender the pompoms and let's get down to some serious conversation about change."
You can write to Rick Casey at P.O. Box 4260, Houston, TX 77210, or e-mail him at rick.casey@chron.com.
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