The Texas Education Agency – TEA
The Texas Education Agency is the state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education. It is headed by the commissioner of education. The mission of TEA is to provide leadership, guidance and resources to help schools meet the educational needs of all students.
There are 20 Texas Education Service Centers – ESCs
* Location and contact information – map and contacts
* History and purposes: ESCs History and Purposes
In 1967 the Texas Legislature directed that the State Board of Education provide, by rules and regulations, for the establishment and operation of regional Education Service Centers (ESCs). Twenty Regional Service Centers were established to provide services to school districts throughout the state. The Centers are service organizations, not regulatory arms of the Texas Education Agency, and participation by schools in services of the centers is voluntary. Chapter 8 of the Texas Education Code, enacted by the 75th Texas Legislature in 1997, specified the following purposes of ESCs: Regional Education Service Centers shall:
* Assist school districts in improving student performance in each region of the system;
* Enable school districts to operate more efficiently and economically; and
* Implement initiatives assigned by the legislature or the commissioner.
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired – TSBVI
TSBVI serves as a special public school in which students, ages 6 through 21, who are blind, deaf-blind, or visually impaired, including those with additional disabilities, are eligible for consideration for services on the TSBVI campus. It is also a statewide resource to parents of these children and the professionals who serve them, from birth through transition from school.