The 84th Texas Legislative Session is Underway: 4 Things to Look for in Education

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The 84th Legislative Session kicked off Jan.13. Lawmakers are filing bills and making arguments about a wide variety of issues. They will also set the budget. Some of these issues and finance decisions will affect public school children.

In November, Superintendent Dr. Wanda Bamberg [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]met with state lawmakers. She discussed Aldine ISD’s priorities.

Public education leaders throughout the state are closely following the the 84th Legislative Session. A few top education topics state lawmakers are currently discussing include the following items:

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Early Education — Several lawmakers have already filed bills to expand and reform prekindergarten.[/li] [li] School Choice — Proponents for school choice want to use vouchers. They would use public dollars to help pay for private school tuition. Some folks are against vouchers. They argue that vouchers drain money away from the public education system.[/li][/ul] [ul class=”list list-search”] [li]School Finance — A state judge has ruled that the state’s school finance system is unconstitutional. A final decision from the Texas Supreme Court may not happen until 2016. This may keep lawmakers from making sweeping changes in school finance. But some feel that lawmakers can take small steps to improve school funding.[/li] [li] Testing, Counselors & Grading Schools — Lawmakers will be looking into reducing the number of standardized testing. They will also review adding more counselors to guide students through new graduation plans. Another item on the agenda is grading individual campuses on a scale of A to F.[/li][/ul]

Many in public education are hoping to see an increase funding. Districts across the state would like funding for public education restored to pre-2011 levels. The legislature has only restored about $3.4 billion of the $5.4 billion it cut from public schools in 2011. The restored funds didn’t take into account growing enrollment numbers and increasing costs.

School district leaders would also like to see an increase in funding for students who are not proficient in English. Other items include seeing the cap on the number of charter schools maintained and a rejection of school vouchers.

Texas is not the only state with decreased funding for public education. Last year, the [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Center on Budget Priorities performed a review of state funding. It determined that most states are funding schools less than before the recession.

Public education funding accounts for a large part of the state’s budget. Some lawmakers and public policy gurus argue that this is a good time to invest in public education. The Texas economy is growing steadily and unemployment is just above 5 percent. The oil boom continues. The slide in oil prices may have slowed things a little but state revenues have exceeded projections. Some budget analysts and lawmakers expect a “surplus” of as much as $10 billion for the biennium that ends Aug. 31.

The state begins every two-year fiscal cycle with an $8 billion structural deficit. That will eat away much of a possible $10 billion surplus.

Steve Murdoch has for years stressed the importance of investing in education. Murdoch is the former director of the U.S. Census Bureau. He is currently a professor of sociology at Rice University. At a symposium on demographic change last year, he again talked about investing in students.

“The key is education,” Murdock said after the speech. “Education since the history of the U.S. has been the big driver of individual and socioeconomic progress. If we don’t address the socioeconomic differences by education, Texas and the U.S. in the long run will be a poor state and poor country.“

At the November meeting with [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]lawmakers, Bamberg has similar sentiments. She is aware that lawmakers have a tough job ahead of them. But she asked them take a good look at the issues affecting public school districts in Texas.

“Aldine ISD and other districts in Region 4 are also facing the same issues and challenges,” said Bamberg. “I and other public education leaders are asking you to consider data. Please consider the issues and challenges we are facing. We hope that any changes to existing state laws target improving public education for all the children we serve.”

Community members interested in following the 84th Legislative Session can visit [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Texas Legislature Online.