There’s a new school finance law in Texas: Now what?
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Topic: Legislation
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New Education Laws Affecting Educators
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Your Weekly Briefing: Pay for test scores? And TRS pension bill moves forward as health insurance spikes for active employees
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Your weekly briefing: Big bill up for retired educators, community schools bill moves ahead and notes on the budget
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Your weekly briefing: More pay-raise news, some bad things buried in the school finance bill, and a great week to talk to legislators at our rally!
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School district ratings reveal continuing trend of charters underperforming traditional public schools
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 15, 2017 CONTACT: Rob D’Amico, 512-627-1343 Texas AFT President Louis Malfaro commented today on the release of school accountability ratings by the Texas Education Agency: We’re pleased to see a decline in the number of districts rated as “Improvement Required,” but it’s also clear that charter schools continue to underperform traditional public schools, since charter...
Read MoreAnti-teacher amendment rejected in Texas House; deal on school funding delayed in Texas Senate; TRS-Care cost relief for retirees coming to House floor Tuesday
An anti-teacher amendment was rejected decisively by a bipartisan majority in the Texas House late on Monday afternoon. Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington) tried to insert the anti-teacher amendment into SB 16, a bill creating a commission to study long-term fixes for school finance and recommend a comprehensive overhaul before the next regular legislative session in January 2019. Zedler's amendment would...
Read MoreNo Senate Vote on 2018-2019 School Funding; House Vote Pending on Long-Term School-Finance Study; TRS-Care Issue Being Negotiated
The Texas Senate keeps delaying a vote on increased school funding for 2018-2019 and now has recessed until 4 p.m. Monday. It may be just as well that they are still working out their stance, because what's on the table so far in the Senate is very little. The $311 million senators have included thus far in their version of HB...
Read MoreTexas Senate Delays Vote on School Finance–Have Your Say
You have one more day to send your message to the Texas Senate to support a sensible compromise on school finance, because the Senate has delayed action until Sunday evening on the key House bill, HB 21. Send your letter to your state senator now if you have not done so already! These letters matter. Just yesterday Senate Education Committee chair Larry Taylor...
Read MoreSenate panel okays stingy substitute for house school-funding plan–our take
Speaking in "optimistic opposition" today before the Senate Education Committee, Texas AFT President Louis Malfaro testified against a stingy Senate substitute for the substantial, $1.8-billion school-funding bill passed by the Texas House, HB 21. Malfaro noted that committee chair Sen. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood) acknowledged there's room to negotiate up from the meager $311 million in the Senate substitute. Taylor specifically...
Read MoreFight goes on for school funding, TRS retirees’ health-care cost relief
With six days left in the current 30-day special session of the Texas Legislature, not a single bill has been passed and sent to Gov. Greg Abbott, despite Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's ardent efforts to push through many hot-button proposals, including private-school vouchers and transgender-discrimination mandates. Still alive in the special session are important school-funding and TRS-Care cost-relief measures. You...
Read MoreGet it done! TRS retirees need health-care cost relief NOW
The Texas House and Texas Senate both have passed competing bills providing $212 million to cut rising health-care costs they recently imposed on retired school employees. The House passed HB 20 and the Senate passed an equivalent provision as part of SB 19 in direct response to grass-roots pressure from retired and active school employees. However, with just a week...
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