115 days remain in the 87th Regular Legislative Session.

With so much happening in and around the Texas Legislature, we're having a membership meeting on Wednesday, February 17, at 2:00 p.m. (via Zoom) to provide an update and answer any questions you may have. Please make plans to join us if you are able. You can register for the meeting via the link below and receive all the information you need to participate.

Have you checked out the Texans for Local Schools website lately to see all the information and resources available there? Texans for Local Schools is designed for parents and community members who want to keep up with what's happening with the Texas Legislature that affects local public schools. Through weekly blog posts and emails, we are keeping folks informed and providing opportunities to participate in the process by providing sample messages.

If you haven't already done so, please pass information about Texans for Local Schools to your local parent organizations and/or members of your community who like to stay informed and engaged. We would be happy to have them subscribe and be added to our list!

We added a new presentation to the Members Area of our website today. This presentation addresses what we know (so far) and what questions we have about the 87th Legislature. You are welcome to download the PowerPoint slides or a PDF to review or for use in your district.

Remember that your email address is your username to access the Members Area, and you can always reset your password if you don't it.

Just a reminder that Speaker Dade Phelan released House committee assignments yesterday. Chairman Harold Dutton (D-Houston) will lead the House Public Education Committee, while Chairman Greg Bonnen (R-Friendswod) will be responsible for leading the House Appropriations Committee.

You can access the full list by committee here, or the list by member here. If your district is represented by any of the above listed individuals, please consider reaching out to them to congratulate them on their appointment and offer your assistance as they work to learn and make decisions about matters important to their local school districts.

Lt. Governor Dan Patrick announced Senate committee appointments last month. Those can be found here.

For the next few weeks, we're going to do a deep-dive on each of our legislative priorities and provide a one-pager with some talking points and food for thought on each one. This first week, we're looking at COVID-19's impact on public education.

We know that many students statewide have experienced learning losses during the pandemic, and that applies to those who have resumed in-person learning, those who are still learning remotely, and those who have not returned to school. Schools need the resources necessary to close the gaps, address these learning losses, and get students back on track.

The Texas House and Texas Senate did not meet this week. They will meet again Tuesday, February 9.

The Senate Finance Committee will meet on Monday, February 8, for an organizational hearing and to hear an overview of Senate Bill 1, beginning the appropriations process. Then, on Monday, February 22, the committee will take up Article III, relating to public education.

If you haven't already done so, please bookmark this link to our Legislator Profile Book. This link will allow you to easily access school finance details about the districts represented by every member of the Texas Legislature, along with maps of the school districts in each legislative district. It's a resource for our membership that we hope you will find useful. We're also going to be updating that book with key talking points and information as the session evolves, so it's a handy place to find information.