Dive Brief:

• Texas gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott revealed the second part of his education reform proposal: creating a statewide district--similar to the ones in Michigan, Louisiana and Tennessee-- for Texas' 15 lowest performing districts.
• Abbott also aims to expand the controversial 'Parent Trigger' law, which gives parents agency in changing the administration of poorly performing schools and often results in districts transforming into charter schools.
• Earlier this month, Abbott revealed the first part of his education reform agenda: a contentious pre-K plan that involves the testing of 4-year-olds to assess the effectiveness of an early-education program.  

Dive Insight:

Abbott's push for a statewide district should be a red flag. We've seen it done in Michigan with disastrous​ results.  

Making his ultimate goals more confusing is Abbott's statement that, "Our public education system is too centralized, with too many one-size-fits-all solutions being pushed down from the top," at the same event where he announced the statewide plan.  

Statewide districts are the pinnacle of top-down, one-size-fits-all education reform.  

If Abbott does feel strongly about creating this miniature statewide district, he should perhaps look instead to Connecticut or the recently proposed "Turnaround Network" in Colorado. In the latter case, the bottom performing schools that opt into the program will receive professional development and resources, but will still have autonomy when it comes to budget and curriculum.