When to Stop Punishing Schools

House Bill 3, the mammoth public school accountability bill, and its Senate counterpart, Senate Bill 3, are taking longer than expected to come back to committee after public testimony showed broad concerns that the new rules keep punishing schools for failure rather than helping them reform. After lengthy hearings March 17, the Senate Education and House Public Education committees started gathering the material together for a new committee substitute that would take the concerns into account. House committee staff confirmed that Chair­man Rob Eissler, R-The Woodlands, had planned to bring the bill back March 26, but the sheer volume and complexity of material made that impossible. The process is further complicated by the two committees working together on the draft language before it gets to the floor rather than hammering out a consensus document in conference committee later. The current plan is to start discussion again next week.