86th Legislative Session 8 January - 27 May 2019 (sine die) 

Track Bill Progress, Receive Alerts here, and View a Map of Texas Bills
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Texas Legislature Online (TLO)   TASA Bill Tracker  Map of Bills filed by House Rep/Senator

Who represents me?
TXSBOE, Congress, House, Senate

Texas House of Representatives Public Education Committee
Committee Meetings: 2pm (CST) Tuesdays

 Texas Senate Committee on Education
Committee Meetings: 9am (CTS) Tuesdays & Thursdays

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​Texas Public Education ~ Bill Tracker
86th Regular Legislative Session​

As of  20 May 2019, we are tracking 1127 Education Bills

REVIEW EDUCATION BILLS

MOST FOLLOWED
20 MAY 2019 - Read the the "short list" of 23 Bills

REVIEW THE SHORT LIST

Click to enlarge

Bills that TXSBOE1 is watching:

SB 2339 - Notice and Public Hearings on Charters and Charter Expansions (additional locations); this Bill intends to offer the opportunity for more public input in order for charters to continue to receive public dollars. No movement since 21 March

SB 213 - Individual Graduation Committees & Path2Diploma; this Bill proposes to extend the opportunity for students to demonstrate success via portfolios and projects (rather than STAAR only) in order to receive their high school diplomas as well as allows former students to receive three diplomas who were denied due to TAKS (and prior) requirements. Read more about Path2Diploma 
11 Apr Placed on  Local/Uncontested Calendar; Companion HB 851 sent to Calendars 9 Apr 

Bills which address STAAR Readability, Audits, Moratoriums, etc.: 
SB 2400 (Sen. Menéndez) filed 21 March
SB 2401 (Sen. Menéndez) filed 21 March; Companion HB 4242 (Rep Bernal)
SB 96 (Sen. Menéndez) filed 1 Feb; Companions HB 546 (refile from the 85th, Rep Deshotel) & SB 215 (refile from 85th, Sen. Mendez)
SB 2297 (Sen. Powell) filed 21 March
HB 525 (Rep. Holt)filed filed 5 March
HB 1687 (Rep. White) filed 4 March
HB 3237 (Rep. M. Gonzalez)​ filed 13 March
HB 4242 (Rep. Bernal) filed 8 March; House Committee Hearing scheduled 9 April

​Summaries of the House & Senate Public Education Committees

19 Mar 2019: The Texas House passed HB 92, a Bill which will allows ISD's an alternative to draconian laws, such as 1842 & 1882 - which require charter partnerships or closure. If passed in the Senate, this Bill will allow public schools to operate as a community schools.  *Which all public schools should already be doing because the State of Texas should already be funding these programs and staff to effectively implement and monitor. 

• Community schools reduce barriers to learning through intensive engagement and planning with the community and service coordination.

19 Mar 2019: Click here to view hearing with Commissioner of Education Mike Morath came before the Senate Committee on Nominations where he was grilled by several senators on the misalignment of STAAR which he vehemently defended, and what he is or is not doing to fix this persistent problem. Questions about charter funding mismanagement, were response do with, it's  “shady, but legal under current statute.”

​12 Mar 2019: Click to view archived video of the House Committee on Public Education's full presentation & public hearing on House Bill 3

• Click to view the PubEdComm public hearing (archived video) on these Bills 

5 Mar 2019: House Bill 3 (Huberty - R, Chair of the House Committee on Public Education) The Texas Plan

​Read the Committee Substitute to House Bill 3 (19 March 2019) - Merit Pay was removed. 

Read the TASA'S (Texas Association of School Administrators) Summary of House Bill 3

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Watch the archived video of the House Committee on Public Education here, which begins with the STAAR Test Public Hearing. 

​TEA Commissioner Michael Morath provided testimony: Presentation on Assessment and appendix

Click for PDF

A couple of noticeable disconnects between TEA and Superintendents, Teachers:

• What STAAR/EOC is actually testing
• Teachers do not need to cover their walls or remove materials from the classroom during STAAR/EOC testing 

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Planning on visiting the Capitol? Here are some great tips from CPPP:

1. The early bird gets the worm: Members are usually only in Austin while in legislative session on the Senate or House floor and available for meetings when not on the floor, in committee, or in caucus meetings. This leaves a very limited time for meetings that will only get shorter the longer the floor sessions and committee hearings last. Schedule those meetings while you still can.
2. Staff can get the job done: While it’s great to talk to the elected member and get her or his take on matters, time constraints mean it’s likely you will be talking to staff members instead. Staff make important recommendations and can provide great insight on the member's thinking and the legislative process. Don’t feel slighted by meeting with staff, and instead use it to your advantage.
3. Make your case but be sure to listen: Often we are so determined to make our policy case that we forget to listen. Be sure to ask how the member feels about the issue, if they have taken previous positions, and what concerns they have. This will better inform your follow-up materials and future meetings.
4. Do you make an ask? Nothing is easier for a member or staffer than a visitor that provides a bunch of information and never makes a request. While this is great for the member it’s not effective advocacy. Be sure to ask if the member will support your issue, file your bill, or follow-up with an answer. Staff are trained to not speak for the member unless authorized, so follow-up with an email and offer to be a resource for when the time comes to make a vote.
5. Stay relevant and timely: Staff and members are pretty focused on the issues directly before them. It’s extremely difficult to expect a member or staff member to be an expert on every issue before the Legislature. They tend to focus on the issues before the committees on which the member serves. Try to time your visits to coincide with the issues before the member, but don’t wait for the day of the hearing or the floor vote when a recommendation to the member has already likely been made.

Remodeling our School Finance System

The school finance system is complex, outdated, and underfunded. These problems are not new, and have led to a long tradition of challenging the school finance system in court. The latest court challenge resulted in the state Supreme Court declaring our school finance system to be barely constitutional and urged the Legislature to take action. As a result, the Legislature created the Texas Commission on School Finance to study and make recommendations for the school finance system. 

This commission will be meeting all year and the Center for Public Policy Priorities will be at each meeting to keep you informed. We're glad this commission is meeting, because making meaningful changes to our school finance system is gonna take the time and focus not available during a regular legislative session. However we know that commissions and studies alone are not enough to fix our school finance system because we've done this before. 

​The commission's recommendations will only bring meaningful change if they're coupled with the political will necessary to bring the needed investments to our public education system. As this commission is meeting, it's important that the people of Texas communicate to their legislators (http://bit.ly/txlawmakers) that we cannot wait any longer for a school finance system capable of providing a high-quality education to all 5.3 million children in our public education system. Please continue to follow CPPP for updates and analysis as the commission works to build their recommendations. ​Read more from the Center for Public Policy Priorities here.    
​Read the Commission on School Finance Report here.

Texas State Board of Education
2019 Legislative Priorities

New Permanent School Fund Governance Structure

• Unify the asset allocation policy and Available School Fund distribution decision making; 
• Limit cash holdings to the amount needs for near term cash calls and other commitments that cannot be met with income revenues; 
• Add to the School Land Board (SLB) either a public member appointed by the Texas State Board of Education Chair or an TXSBOE Member appointed by the TXSBOE Chair; and,
• Require reporting and regular meetings between the Texas State Board of Education and School Land Board.

Funding

• Texas State Board of Education & Textbook Adoption Activities - Ensure sufficient legislative appropriations to increase staffing at the Texas Education Agency, particularly the curriculum division, to provide adequate personnel to oversee and support the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) review and implementation process and the textbook adoption process;
• TEA Reading & Math Academies - Continue financial support for literacy and mathematics academies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students; 
• Special Education - Ensure sufficient legislative appropriations for a family support call center and an online portal to assist families in navigating public school systems for students with special and specific needs;
• Safe & Healthy Schools - Create an advisory council on family engagement and empowerment to inform all state and local policymakers on best practices on family and school partnerships;
• Teacher Salary & Retention Improvements - Ensure sufficient legislative appropriations to sustain competitive salaries for educators; school districts implement induction programs, innovative compensation plans, professional development, and mentoring; and
• Education Service Centers - Ensure sufficient legislative appropriations to contuse supporting the Foundation School Program appropriation (8.051) which funds services provided through our ESC's;
• Funding Support for TEA’s two Legislative Appropriations Request (LAR) Exceptional Items – Special Education Supports and Safe and Healthy Schools Initiative: A brief overview of the exceptional items are available in the TEA LAR, beginning on page 3. *The LAR is the TEA's request for how much legislators should budget for public education. The latest LAR has been controversial because the Commissioner Morath is requesting $3.5B fewer dollars from the state in state funding over the next two years. The TXSBOE did NOT discuss or vote on this entire request — only the two exceptional items which request additional funding for Special Education and School Safety. Exceptional items are formal requests that go above and beyond what is contained in the regular LAR. While the funding contained in these items is still less than what is needed to fully address Special Education and Healthy Schools, they are a necessary step in the direction of targeted funding.
• Texas Commission on Public School Finance - Address the outdated inefficient school funding formulas by working to implement the findings of the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, specifically, the considerations for new Dyslexia and Dual Language allotment.

Legislative Priority from my office

Create a New Dual Language Allotment
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To better incentivize and resource school districts to offer these effective programs, the Texas State Board of Education recommends that the state create an additional allotment at an additional 0.05 weight (for a total 0.15 weight) for dual language programs. 

Fiscal Impact: Depending on the amount of participation, it is estimated that this weight would reflect an annual incremental cost to the state of between $15 and $50 million.

There are 1 million students in Texas who are English Learners (EL), this is 1 of every 5 Texas public schools students.While 120 languages are spoken in our schools, 90% of our EL students speak Spanish. 
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Compelling data prepared by Dr. Elena Izquierdo, University of Texas at El Paso, was presented to the School Finance Commission illustrating that dual language strategies are highly effective while bi-lingual or pullout strategies (ESL) are much less effective / not at all effective.

​Currently, the school finance system reflects a single bilingual education weight of 0.1, which includes students in pullout, bi-lingual and dual language programs. The total annual cost to the state of this current weight is $570 million. However, this weight does not incent (nor provide sufficient funding) for school districts to offer dual language programs despite evidence of greater effectiveness.

Texas' Privately-Operated Charters

What is the Return on Investment in Your Community?

Read / Download the entire report

2018

Texas Public Schools are Losing 1 out of 4 Students

​​The Intercultural Development Research Association released detailed findings today from its latest study - which examines time series data. Key findings show: 

• Texas is failing to graduate one out of every four students - which translates to losing 11 students per hour. The statewide attrition rate is 24 percent (down from 25 percent last year).
• Texas high schools lost 99,960 students in 2016-17.
• At this rate, Texas will not reach universal high school education for another two decades in 2037.
• Black students and Hispanic students are about two times more likely to leaveschool without graduating with a diploma than White students.
• In the last 32 years, Texas schools have lost a cumulative total of more than 3.7 million students from public high school enrollment prior to graduation.​ Read More

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Education Legislation passed in the 85th Regular & Special Session

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​​Education Bill Tracker

As of 24 July 2017, more than 100 Education Bills
​have been filed during Special Session:

Education Bills - Special Session

We tracked 1,091 Education Bills during the
​85th Legislative Session:

Education Bills -  85th Legislative Session

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2017 Texas State Board of Education Legislative Recommendations:

The Texas State Board of Education on Nov, 18, 2016 approved the following recommendations to the 85th Texas Legislature:

1. Expand the State Board of Education’s authority listed under Texas Education Code §31.023 to review and approve instructional materials beyond 50% of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills coverage, factual errors and applicable physical specifications.
   
2. Allocate funds to the State Board of Education to support the creation and implementation of a long-range plan as required by Texas Education Code §7.102(c)(1).  
   
3. Ensure sufficient legislative appropriations to increase staffing at the Texas Education Agency, particularly in the curriculum division, to provide adequate personnel to oversee and support the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills review and implementation process and the textbook adoption process. 
   
4. Support the Texas Education Agency’s Legislative Appropriation Request Exceptional Item to improve student data privacy by: 1) providing resources to the agency to ensure the agency data systems maintain and improve student data privacy, 2) passing requirements for publishers and third-party suppliers to ensure student data privacy and 3) enacting student data privacy guidelines for local districts that include a requirement for local district to adopt a plan to protect student data privacy.
   
5. Support the Texas Education Agency’s Legislative Appropriations Request Exceptional Item for E-Rate to support funding for high-speed internet infrastructure for classroom connectivity to improve student access to online resources for all Texas students.
   
6. Remove the limitation on the agency listed under Texas Education Code §7.028 to undertake on-site monitoring of school districts and charters and provide funding for on-site monitoring.  
   
7. Protect the public education funds/services to adequately identify and serve the needs of all special education students by identifying and not limiting the number of students served or funding. 
   
8. Conserve public free schools and prohibit public dollars from going to private schools or parents/guardians.

​The Equity Center's Legislative Update: School Finance Bills

​What else does HB 21 (School Funding) do?
House Bill 21 adjusts the funding formula by allotting an additional $1.65 billion to public education over the next two years, per the bill’s fiscal note. Here are some of the other major changes the bill makes:

• An additional weight for dyslexic students that Huberty says will affect 154,000 students
• An increased weight for career technical education and technology
• An increased bilingual adjustment to factor in for the diverse student population
• A professional development grant for nonprofessional staff
• Adjustments made to the hardship grant in light of the end of Additional State Aid for Tax Reduction funding

​Read the article     Follow House Bill 21
​

Compare the House & Senate Budgets, side by side, online
by the Center for Public Policy Priorities

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HB 22 Public School Accountability (A-F Rankings) 
Texas House Public Education Committee Chair Dan Huberty filed HB 22 relating to the public school accountability system. TASA Governmental Relations staff are reviewing the specifics of the bill, but noteworthy changes include:

• moving from five domains of achievement indicators to three
• assigning A-F grades to each of the three domains but not assigning an overall A-F grade to schools/districts
• reducing the weight of standardized tests from 55 to 50 percent
• changing the performance rating of “D” to reflect performance “in need of improvement”
• requiring “what if” performance ratings to be issued in 2017 and 2018
• delaying implementation of the A-F system to 2019

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TXSBOE1 Recommended Revisions to A-F:

• Any school/district receiving state funding should be subject to EXACTLY the same criteria and requirements.
• There should only be ONE method of evaluation, to include the same data and calculations, and not several (i.e. PBM, TAPR, and A-F).
• Only statistically valid and uncompromised data should be used; corrupt data must be thrown out.
• There should be NO overall rating, AND the ratings should include only those domains/areas that a district has control of (i.e. ISDs accept all students regardless of Spec Ed, LEP, 504, migrant, or otherwise).
• Score reports should include ALL schools/districts for comparison purposes, listed/shown on a normal curve distribution.  The current method of determining Campus Groups is completely inaccurate and invalid.
• ALL decision making which uses the data and report should be left to the LEA.  The state is NOT the primary source of funding, and, therefore, should not be the primary source of decision making for the LEA.
• Reports should include the use of long term trends and averages (to compensate for small test group sizes at small rural schools).
• Tests, criteria, and students performance goals should NOT change.  No valid statistical analysis can be made from continually changing tests and performance goals.​

Follow House Bill 22 

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ARTICLES​

​Kids no longer get arrested for truancy and guess what?
​They still go to class

90% decrease in the # of court filings and a .13% increase in attendance. 

Critics of the law feared decriminalizing truancy would lead to a dramatic drop in school attendance across the state. They argued a lack of criminal punishment for excessive and unauthorized absences would serve as a disincentive for school participation. Empirical evidence, however, has shown otherwise.  Read More

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Rural "school choice" letter campaign sparks confusion, accusations inside Texas Capitol
An advocacy group says thousands of letters sent to rural lawmakers suggests widespread support for legislation that would create education savings accounts. But lawmakers — and some constituents — say the letters are dubious.  ​Read More  Read more about SB3 - Voucher Bill 
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​TEXAS RANKS 3RD IN NATION FOR HOMELESSNESS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
 The report says homeless high school students have worse health outcomes than others, they disproportionately face the most extreme health risks, and are also more likely to take advantage of school-based clinics. The study also suggests more homeless students are depressed and arrive to school hungry than those who aren’t.”  Read More

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THE OBSCURE LAW THAT’S MEANT TO GET HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS VOTING
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​Secondary school principals are required to pass out registration forms twice a year – but that doesn’t always get done. Read More
It’s a very important law on the books ~ The Texas Association of Secondary School Principals writes letters to all Texas HS principals (2x/year) to remind them of their obligation. Principals may delegate this responsibility to another educator, however, the law is clear.

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TEXAS ELECTION CODE
​Distributing Voter Registration Applications and Materials to Eligible Students and Employees.  A high school deputy registrar SHALL distribute voter registration applications during the final month of each semester to high school students who are or will be 18 years of age or older during that semester. Applications may also be distributed at any time during the school year to students and employees of the high school who request them.   Read More

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It's a small step, in the right direction

​"AUSTIN - As a result of ongoing reporting issues with the state’s testing vendor, Commissioner of Education Mike Morath announced today that the state will be removing student consequences attached to State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) for fifth and eighth-grade students for the 2015-2016 school year. He also cancelled the June 21-22 fifth and eighth-grade retest administration.”   Read the Commissioner’s Release

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Struggling Schools Craft Plans To Improve Their Campuses
IR = Improvement Required, based on STAAR/EOC scores (despite evidence demonstrating that 1/3 of Texas students are college ready)

​"If campuses on the list don’t turn around after five years, the commissioner will have to make some tough choices. He can choose to install new leaders at the schools, or shut them down.”  Read More

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Eanes District, Vendor at Odds Over Supposed Loss of State Exams 

​"The state’s testing vendor has informed an Austin-area school district that it has lost tests taken by 3rd through 8th graders. The number of misplaced exams could be in the thousands, according to an Eanes school district spokesman." Read More

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​Do up to 80 percent of Texas high school graduates (still) flail afterward?
Which leads us to the next logical questions: 

1. Evidence has proven that our STAAR/EOC does NOT prepare our students for college/university, why do we continue to hurt our students, educators, schools with these metrics?
2. How is the exorbitant cost justified?  Read More

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• 25% of El Paso children live in Poverty ($24K, family of 4 - established in the 1960s) ~Center for Public Policy Priorities
• 66% of Texas students are Economically Disadvantaged ~TEA
• Food Insecurity affects Black & Brown children in Texas at rates 2X as high as White children ~CPPP
• School Finance is a Racial Inequity issue ~CPPP
• Property Wealth - the poorest 20% of TX school districts are funded at $167,020 while the wealthiest of TX school districts are funded at $2,014,811 ~CPPP
• Teacher instability affects black & brown students at much higher rates ~CPPP

More info: cppp.org/kidscount

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Potty Policing is the distraction. ​Privatization is the goal.

​Texas Lt. Gov. asks schools to risk funding while laying groundwork to redirect their funds to vouchers
"Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday announced he is asking Attorney General Ken Paxton to weigh in with an official opinion on whether the Fort Worth ISD’s policy on protections for transgender students is legal under Texas law.
My fellow former radio talk show host acknowledged that he is “not a lawyer,” so he’s asking an indicted lawyer’s office whether Superintendent Kent Scribner has violated the Texas Education Code with a restroom policy to accommodate transgender students.”  Read More

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“Good Enough” is nether good, nor enough.

The state continues to focus on standardized testing as a measure of the students’ achievement and teachers’ performance. The state rightfully demands high performance from teachers and students but the Texas legislature has continuously given students, teachers, and Texas families the bare minimum.

Texas families deserve and expect more from our legislature. The Texas legislature needs to make education a priority and fully funding education is just the beginning.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled that our funding system meets “minimum constitutional requirements”. It’s time we expect the same high standards from our legislature that we expect from our students and teachers. Can you imagine what this state would be if our teachers allowed our students to do just the bare minimum instead of pushing them to meet their potential?

Texas has continued to short-change students and families. This unproductive cycle needs to stop. Our legislature has an obligation to step up and make education a priority in this state. It’s an economic imperative and Texas families deserve better.”
~ Georgina Cecilia Pérez
Texas State Board of Education District  1
https://www.tribtalk.org/2016/05/27/school-finance-ruling-is-a-call-to-action-for-the-legislature/

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