Deputy Commissioners of Education
Organizational Chart
- Mike Morath, Commissioner of Education
- Kelvey Oeser, Deputy Commissioner Educator Support
- Jennifer Alexander, Deputy Commissioner Special Populations
- Lily Laux, Deputy Commissioner School Programs
- Jeff Cottrill, Deputy Commissioner Governance Accountability
- Megan Aghazadian, Deputy Commissioner Operations
- Mike Meyer, Deputy Commissioner Finance
- Melody Parrish, Deputy Commissioner Technology
- Von Byer, General Counsel
Educator Support
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Finance
The Office of Finance Administration leads strategies to use agency funds efficiently and effectively in support of the commissioner’s priorities and to ensure that all agency financial functions comply with applicable federal and state requirements. Finance Administration is comprised of the offices of the Chief School Finance Officer and Chief Financial Officer, department of Grant Compliance and Administration, and the Permanent School Fund (PSF). The work across these departments includes distributing state education funds; maintaining all functions related to the state’s school finance system; administering all discretionary and formula grants the agency awards; ensuring the agency operates within its budget; providing strategic planning, supervision, and direction for the implementation of State Board of Education (SBOE) policies; and administering and investing the PSF in accordance with SBOE guidelines.
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School Programs
School Programs provides resources, services, and program models to improve educational quality, access, and opportunity from birth to career for all students in Texas. School Programs includes the divisions of Assessment; College, Career, and Military Preparation; Early Childhood Education; Elementary, Middle School, and State Programs; Special Projects; and divisions under Standards and Support Services: Curriculum Standards and Student Support; Digital Learning; Instructional Materials; and State Board of Education Support. Through their work, these teams support the agency’s strategic priorities, particularly building a foundation of reading and math and connecting high school to college and career. |
Governance & Accountability
The Office of Governance and Accountability is responsible for improving the governance and overall system performance of local education agencies. This is accomplished through the coordinated efforts from the three streams of work: Governance, Research and Analysis, and Performance Reporting. These different office components oversee a wide variety of initiatives including: board training, general inquiries, compliance, investigations, enforcement, accreditation, waivers, districts of innovation, TEA’s data governance board, policy development for state and federal accountability measures, educational policy research, data processing, data validation, assessment scoring, and assessment reporting. Ultimately, the collaborative approach by various units allows for a coalescence around the central tenet of supporting the educational progress in Texas public schools. |
Operations
The Office of Operations is responsible for coordinating most intra-agency functions at TEA. This includes the work of the Governmental Relations, Communications, Human Resources, and Rulemaking Teams, as well as the Strategic Initiatives Division, which is responsible for agency-wide planning and performance management. |
Special Populations
The Office of Special Populations and Monitoring is responsible for oversight of Special Education, Review and Support, Special Education Complaints and Dispute Resolution, At-Risk and Highly Mobile, and English Learner support. This work includes ensuring compliance with state and federal requirements, as well as developing supports, training, and technical assistance in identification, pedagogical strategies, and family engagement. |
Technology
The Office of Information Technology (IT) works closely with all agency divisions to implement innovative technology solutions in a cost-efficient manner that support the goals and priorities of the Texas Education Agency. The Office of IT provides efficient technology solutions and stellar customer services to internal staff and to 1,200-plus district and charter schools. We develop and support over 70 in-house applications. The Office of IT provides the following services: leadership on IT initiatives; guidance on Security/Policy issues; New application development/enhancements; software acquisition; technical support; Request for Offer (RFO), Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP) assistance; and oversight on the data collections/process. |
General Counsel
The General Counsel reports directly to the Commissioner of Education. The Office of Legal Services provides legal counsel to the various divisions of the agency. In addition to counsel regarding the education code, the office provides employment, contracting and ethics advice. When necessary the office acts as liaison to the Attorney General for official opinion requests and litigation involving TEA. The office also provides legal support to the State Board of Education. In addition, the office administers several other functions for the agency such as administering hearings and appeals for the agency and assigning independent hearing officers to termination and non-renewal employment hearings at the school district level; administering the special education due process and mediation system to resolve special education disputes; and processing public information requests. The office administers the agency duty to develop and publish the Texas School Law Bulletin, the compilation of school laws after each legislative session. |
