In 1967, the Texas Legislature established twenty media centers in response to Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Act passed by Congress, which provided limited funding for instruction related training and services for teachers. As time passed, the legislature worked to expand the role of these media centers to enhance the teaching standards in the state, and ultimately, student performance. Today, 20 Regional Education Service Centers (RESCs) make up the RESC system. These centers, located throughout the state, serve more than 4.1 million students and over 550,000 administrative and campus staff and play an integral part in ensuring the success of Texas’ education system.

Regional education service centers are intermediate educational units that provide training, technical assistance, administrative support and an array of other services as determined by the legislature, the Commissioner of Education and the needs of local school districts and charter schools. Most often associated with assistance to small and medium-sized school districts, the RESCs have a long history of providing assistance to all districts, including metropolitan and large suburban districts. The third party client satisfaction survey, authorized by the commissioner, indicates that the Superintendents, principals and teachers in large suburban and metropolitan school districts rate the work of the RESCs comparable to that of small and medium-sized school district personnel. All of these services are reviewed annually in a multi-phased review of the education service centers and the quality and effectiveness of their services as reflected in an analysis of both student achievement and client satisfaction measures.

In recent years, the RESCs have taken the lead in preparing content area teachers to meet the ever increasing demands of Texas Assessment of Academics Skills (TAAS), the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), and now STAAR. Additionally, the ESCs have been sharply focused on assisting the Texas Education Agency (TEA) in promoting the financial health and viability of Texas school districts during rapidly changing and more complicated financial times. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has, once again, raised the level of accountability Texas educators must meet. RESCs will play an active role in helping school districts and charters understand the compliance requirements and develop strategies to successfully implement the accountability system.

Section 8.002 of the Texas Education Code (TEC) defines the RESCs’ mandate as:

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 Texas Legislature or the Commissioner of Education.
Education Service Centers address this critical mandate by providing Texas educators with solutions
that improve student performance. Service Centers work closely with school district and charter
school administrators, analyze district and school data, provide quality training to teachers,
administrators, business office personnel and school boards. Service Centers also provide countless
hours of technical assistance to educators and other education related stakeholders. ESC staff has a
thorough understanding of the student population that it serves in each region and customizes
programs and services to meet those unique regional needs.

Education Service Centers have made a significant contribution in public education. Many programs
and services support more than one of the legislative objectives. The following chart provides a profile
of the major programs and initiatives implemented by service centers in response to legislative
mandates, priorities of the Commissioner of Education, and customer needs.