FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2021
CONTACT: Rob D’Amico, 512-627-1343, rdamico@texasaft.org
Texas AFT President Zeph Capo commented today on the state leadership’s announcement regarding billions of dollars in federal aid for Texas Schools:
Finally, districts are able to start the process for getting federal aid to our classrooms. This is a positive first step in getting the funds our schools need. It’s unfortunate that it took nearly two months of pushing the governor to get to this point. Many districts that have been contemplating cuts related to pandemic expenses can now implement plans to help students catch up.
As educators, we pushed hard for this release to be as fast as possible, because we see the need daily. And we fought to ensure the state didn’t use these funds for existing budget holes, which happened with the first aid package last year.
It’s clear that our legislators were listening to our calls to release the funds. Texas House members rallied behind a state budget amendment by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez last week requiring the state to release the funds and prohibiting it from using the money for existing budget needs. Rodriguez’s amendment and overwhelming support from legislators spurred the governor to take action. We have one opportunity to respond to this pandemic, so we have got to get this right.