Texas Education Policy Alert |
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IDRA's weekly email alert includes legislative updates, opportunities for action to make your voice heard, bills to watch and other information through the session until it closes in late May. |
And please tell your friends!
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Coming Up: Week of April 10, 2023 |
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Hearings this week will address:
- Higher education resources for mental health and certain scholarship programs
- School truancy provisions, including increased penalties to students and parents
- Private school voucher proposals
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Hearing Tuesday on Voucher Proposals |
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You can make your voice heard in House committee hearings through the electronic comment portal! This week, the House Public Education Committee will focus entirely on private school voucher proposals that take public money out of public schools.
The Texas Freedom Network (TFN) offers resources on how to register your position on a bill during a hearing and sign up to testify, if able. TFN staff will be at the Texas Capitol South steps entrance assisting with registration on Tuesday, 4/11/23, for anyone interested.
The costs of each private school voucher plan vary, but they all take public students and funding out of public schools with NO accountability.
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Monday
Higher Education Committee
Monday
Youth Health & Safety Select Committee
Tuesday
Public Education Committee
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Wednesday
Education Committee
Thursday
Subcommittee on Higher Education
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The Texas House voted on its state budget of $302.6 billion for the next biennium. The budget includes modest increases to teacher pay, though far below what many teachers’ groups have advocated, and $1.6 billion for school safety facilities upgrades and other infrastructure measures.
The bill allocates over $60 billion for public education though also includes provisions through property tax cuts and reductions to recapture funding that could exacerbate inequitable funding in public schools.
Notably, House members voted to include an amendment to protect public funding for public schools, signaling the House’s lack of appetite for funding private school voucher proposals.
Unfortunately, the House voted to retain a new provision that would disallow state funds for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in higher education institutions.
At the same time, the Senate passed both SB 8 and SB 9. SB 8 includes restrictions on discussions of gender and sexuality across K-12 grades in public schools and creates a private voucher education savings account program. SB 9 includes one-time payments for teacher raises.
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Testimony Presented Recently |
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“Over 13,000 Texas kids were hit in their schools more than 21,000 times and that should be alarming to everyone.”
Texas reported the second-highest number of students hit in the country. See our map showing the number of incidents in Texas school districts.
See our issue brief, Hitting Hurts, on why corporal punishment is harmful and how it disproportionately affects Black students & students with disabilities.
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The Texas Senate debated this week #SB8. Here’s a reminder of what the bill really does.
It would take money from public schools, with no accountability.
Let’s fully fund our public schools instead so that every child can succeed!
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Other Testimony Presented Last Week |
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IDRA is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to achieve equal educational opportunity through strong public schools that prepare all students to access and succeed in college. |
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