89 days remain in the 140-day 87th Regular Legislative Session.

Don't forget that we have a membership meeting this afternoon, March 3, at 2:00 p.m. You are not yet registered, but it's not too late to make plans to join us. Just click on the link below to register and receive the details you need to participate.

We also know this is a very difficult time, so please know that if you are not available today, we will make an abridged recording available for you to view at your convenience.

The House Public Education Committee, under Chairman Harold Dutton (D-Houston), conducted their first hearing of the 87th Legislative Session yesterday, to hear invited testimony from Education Commissioner Mike Morath.

Fielding questions from committee members Rep. Gary VanDeaver (R-New Boston) and Rep. Keith Bell (R-Forney), Commissioner Morath said that “we’re very near a solution on the hold harmless” and that while he could not commit to a specific time for an answer, “it will be announced very, very soon.”  

When asked if the delay in the announcement was related to concerns over removing an incentive for schools to recover missing students, the Commissioner said that evidence exists from educators around that the state that the majority of schools are being very aggressive in their efforts to reach and recover missing students. But also said that from a policy perspective, the removal of the incentive is the biggest concern, as fiscal implications are no longer a big concern.

The Commissioner described the $5.5 billion in federal ESSER II dollars as “very significant.” He also explained that the state would need to decide what of that funding is considered “new” funding and what would be used to support thing already in the system, such as the hold harmless.

The Commissioner also addressed the topic of learning loss and explained to the committee that due to the pandemic, students are (on average) 2-3 months behind in math, based on October 2020 assessment data. He emphasized that this is an issue the state will need to address.

Rep. Dan Huberty (R-Humble) asked the Commissioner about school district fund balances. Morath explained that statewide districts have $15.3 billion in fund balances right now, but also acknowledged that the state’s FIRST financial rating system also requires districts to have funding for 90 days of operations on hand. Morath reported that districts have $7 billion in fund balances in excess of the 90-day minimum required. Rep. James Talarico (D-Round Rock) asked TEA to provide the committee with data detailing the amounts districts have in their fund balances, broken down by categories of wealth.

Rep. Huberty also asked about provisions of HB 3 (86R) that will require some legislative clean-up. Morath mentioned CTE for small and mid-sized districts, the structure of the Fast Growth Allotment (who’s in and who’s out), and criteria for the College Career and Military Readiness bonus. Huberty mentioned the need for additional flexibility within the spending requirements placed on comp ed and CTE.

Chairman Dutton did not announce the date for the next hearing, but he did say the Committee will meet on Tuesday mornings at 8:00 a.m., in the Capitol Auditorium.

If you care to watch Tuesday's hearing for yourself, you can do so here.

Our next priority to get a little more attention is that of preserving local control and flexibility for school school districts.

In a state as diverse in Texas, locally elected school boards should have the flexibility to make decisions that are best for their communities’ unique needs. That's always a priority and principle this organization stands on. And now, more than ever, as we look (with hope) towards the possibility of the state figuring out how to use federal dollars sent to K-12 schools in Texas to address learning loss, we hope state leaders will value the wisdom of local control as well.

Please read this note from our friends at TASBO's Center for School Finance regarding the recent update to TEA's Summary of Finance data:

The Texas House will convene on Wednesday, March 2, at 10:00 a.m. and Texas Senate will meet that day at 3:00 p.m.

The House Elections Committee will conduct an organizational hearing on Thursday, March 4, at 8:00 a.m. They will hear invited testimony from the Attorney General, Secretary of State, and DPS.

Additionally, the Senate Finance Committee and House Appropriations Committee will both continue on their work of reviewing each article and agency in the proposed budget bills. Senate Finance workgroups per article have not yet been named.