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Superintendent outlines 89th Texas Legislature priorities; basic allotment increase urged
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Rapp reviewed early filings for the 89th Texas Legislature, highlighted bills related to school finance, testing, safety and curriculum, and urged increased basic allotment funding as the district's top legislative priority.
Superintendent Dr. Rapp briefed trustees on the approaching 89th Texas Legislature, outlining the start and filing timelines and describing bills already filed that could affect school finance, assessment, safety and curriculum.
Dr. Rapp said the session begins Jan. 14 with a March 14 deadline for filing bills and a June 2 adjournment. She reported seeing 43 school-finance bills, five related to vouchers/education savings accounts (ESAs), 22 on school safety, 22 on special education and 37 on curriculum and instruction among early filings.
Rapp noted the comptroller’s estimate that the state could end the biennium with an unspent balance near $23.76 billion and referenced proposals on FundSchoolsFirst.org that illustrate the effects of increasing the basic allotment. "When you increase the basic allotment, you address educator compensation and you address recapture," she said, and the district has adopted increasing the basic allotment as its top legislative priority.
She described interim recommendations from the Senate Education Committee including reinstating annual letter-grade accountability ratings, considering testing reforms (shorter summative assessments and through-year pilots) and exploring additional funding options such as expanding the early-education allotment. Rapp also said the district is preparing a template to help families contact legislators and will update its legislative website as committees are formed.
Ending: Rapp encouraged community members to use district templates and to share personal stories with elected officials; trustees asked staff to track committee assignments and bills as the session proceeds.
