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This (Last) Week in The Legislature: More Questions Than Answer as Session Comes to a Close

The last full week of the Texas legislative session ended with final decisions being made on several important pieces of legislation, but going into the session’s final weekend, major bills relating to school finance, private school vouchers, pensions for retired educators, the future of higher education, and more are still undecided. Public Education: Vouchers Make a Comeback, School Finance Bill...

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TEA releases guidance on remote instruction options for districts

Logo for the Texas Education Agency

The Texas Education Agency released a document outlining the rules and procedures needed for districts to offer remote instruction — outside of the Texas Virtual School Network (TVSN) — for the coming school year. With a few rare exceptions, these remote students are not eligible for Average Daily Attendance funding...

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Governor sets special session date for July 8

Tree-lined walkway leading to the Texas Capitol building

Last Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott set a date for a special legislative session: July 8. Abbott did not set the agenda for what can be considered in that special session yet. But he previously has stated that the session will at least cover Senate Bill 7, the voter suppression bill...

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SBOE vetoes 4 of 7 new charter applicants

Photo shows a person holding up their hand, palm stretched outward, as if to say no. Text says, "Tell the State Board of Education to say NO to more charter schools."

The commissioner of education approved seven new charter applicants in June, and the State Board of Education last week had the opportunity to hear from each to determine whether to allow or veto each application. After these hearings, SBOE denied four of the seven applicants. Despite evidence that public schools...

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Local unions successful in winning pay raises, retention bonuses

Unlike 2019’s state legislation that sent new money to school districts for required pay increases, local school boards are responsible for all compensation changes.  Our local unions have been working on campaigns for the past two months pushing for higher pay for all school employees. Here’s a list of recent...

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SBOE meets next week to consider new charter application

Text says, "Protect Our Public Schools." The word "our" is underlined.

And...Court case invalidates bill giving charters property tax breaks on leases Seven new charter applications have been approved by the commissioner of education and are up for final approval or veto by the elected State Board of Education next week. It’s important to remember that once a charter is approved...

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Governor: ‘More must be done’ to ban Critical Race Theory

Abbott says he will add the issue to a special session As if HB 3979 wasn’t bad enough already, Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that he will add the bill’s topic—bans on controversial subjects, particularly those around racism, from being taught in the classroom—to an impending special session. That...

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Local Leader Spotlight: Wanda Longoria, President of Northside AFT

Wanda Longoria Historically, Northside ISD was a small, rural district in the San Antonio area. In the past 20 years, though, it has expanded to the fourth-largest district in Texas. In this rapidly changing pocket of Bexar County, the school board has remained largely the same, with members having served...

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