Topic: Policy

House Public Education Committee Hears Interim Charges 

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

Legislative “Interim Charges”: What Are They and Why Do They Matter? The Texas Legislature meets once every two years for 140 days for its regular legislative session, during which the only bill it is required to pass and send to the governor’s desk to be signed into law is the budget for the next biennium.   We became all too familiar...

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Injunction Issued to Halt Controversial A-F labels  

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

This week, as the Texas House Committee on Public Education met to discuss private school vouchers that would syphon tax dollars from our public schools, a Travis County district court issued a temporary injunction to halt the release of the controversial A-F school ratings determined by the governor-appointed commissioner of education. Five public school districts petitioned the court to stop...

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TEA Rolls Out New School Safety System: Sentinel 

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

On July 25, Governor Greg Abbott announced the launch of a new school safety system called Sentinel. This new platform-- designed to collect, process, store, and distribute school safety and security information-- is housed within the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and is a part of ongoing school safety and security improvement measures.   We have written extensively about House Bill 3...

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The Flaws in Texas’ English Proficiency Testing Hurt Our Students 

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

English-learning students across Texas have faced an uphill battle with the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS). In 2018, the test was redesigned, and the shift to automated computer scoring has led to a troubling trend — drastically lower scores that don’t seem to reflect students' true abilities, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.   For years, TELPAS was a...

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Texas ACLU Finds Dress Codes of 51 School Districts Violate CROWN Act  

Publish Date: August 16, 2024

In 2023, Greg Abbott signed HB 567, also known as the Crown Act, into law to ban hair discrimination in schools and workplaces.  Since then, many school districts have altered their dress codes to adjust to the new regulations put in place by the CROWN Act. However, the ACLU of Texas found that, still, many districts in Texas have not...

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NEXT WEEK: Texas House Public Education Committee Hearings on Aug. 12-13

Publish Date: August 9, 2024

Next week, the Texas House Public Education Committee will hold critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13. The committee will discuss key issues shaping public education's future in our state. These hearings provide an opportunity for us to make our voices heard and influence upcoming legislation.  What Are Interim Committee Hearings?  Interim committee hearings are crucial to...

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Urgent Action: Testify or Submit Public Comments to the House Public Education Committee 

Publish Date: August 2, 2024

Interim committee hearings are an essential part of the Texas legislative process between regular legislative sessions.  The Texas House Public Education Committee is holding critical hearings on Monday, Aug. 12, and Tuesday, Aug. 13, on issues that are having or will have a profound impact on the future of public education in Texas. These hearings present a unique opportunity for...

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“Broken Promises’: A Chronicle of Charter School Failures 

Publish Date: August 2, 2024

Given the recent approvals of four new charter schools by the State Board of Education this summer, we want to revisit the important research that has informed Texas AFT’s continued insistence on a charter school moratorium in this state.   First, let’s start with the national education policy think tank Network for Public Education (NPE), which has released many relevant...

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Urgent Call to Action: Texas House Public Education Committee Hearings on 08/12 and 08/13 

Publish Date: July 26, 2024

The Texas House Public Education Committee is holding critical hearings on Monday, August 12 and Tuesday, August 13 on issues that are having or will have a profound impact on the future of public education in Texas. Perhaps most critically, the committee will consider the implementation of taxpayer-funded private school vouchers and the effect that the increasing quantity of uncertified...

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