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Dear Board: Following is the draft list of Legislative Priorities slated to be presented to you on Thursday. Please provide feedback here and we can modify if needed for presentation next week.
School Finance:
Protect all programs and funding in HB 3 (86R).
Support use of the state’s Rainy Day Fund to avoid cuts to public education.
Allow districts to receive state funding for virtual learning post-COVID.
Provide full funding for students enrolled in virtual courses at the high school level.
Increase funding for Technology and Instructional Materials Allotment to allow for critical technology purchases necessary in our current public health environment and increased need moving forward. Expand Technology and Instructional Materials Allotment to allow Districts to fund infrastructure to provide internet access that can bridge the digital divide for economically disadvantaged students.
Re-establish the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) to support technology needs in public school districts.
Protect funding for SB 11 (86R) that addresses school safety, trauma informed care, and mental health resources in schools.
Fund the actual cost of providing any and all programs required in legislation, rules and/or regulations, and by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), preventing any unfunded mandates.
Protect a district’s ability to maintain a healthy fund balance without penalties or mandates on use of fund balance.
Maintain a defined benefit plan for the Teacher Retirement System (TRS).
Maintain funding to offset the increased cost of legislatively-mandated increases in TRS contributions.Accountability:
Ensure impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is taken into consideration for accountability ratings for the 2020-2021 school year.Governance:
Oppose legislation or measures that seek to limit school districts’ or administrators’ ability to have representation before the Texas Legislature and state agencies.
Continue to support Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Connectivity plan to provide all Texas students with long-term access to a device and reliable, affordable broadband connectivity.
Prioritize protecting student data privacy by requiring school districts establish data governance teams and providing adequate funding resources to help school districts address cybersecurity vulnerabilities based on state-required risk assessments.School Choice:
Support legislation that amends the State Virtual School Network (TEC Chapter 30A) to allow school districts fair access to funding, curriculum, programs, and services so they may offer students the choice to attend school virtually part-time or full-time.
Support legislation that forces charter schools to serve a population of students similar to the area in which the school is located and to comply with the elements of TEC Chapter 37.
Oppose private school vouchers.
Support increased accountability and transparency for charter schools.
Thank you for compiling the list, Jenny. I’m wondering if there is anything specific for RRISD, but not so much for the other school districts, or something slightly different from PTA’s priorities.
Thanks for posting this and getting the legislative priorities discussion going Jenny. I am good with most of these with a few exceptions.
Fellow Trustees,
Items from the list I don’t support at this time:
The third and fourth items under “School Finance”
My thinking: On-line learning is very different from in-person, face to face (F2F) learning. RRISD has a great reputation for world class F2F instruction which has attracted families to our district for a long time. I am not supportive of expanding our business to other sectors, including on-line (virtual) learning past May 2021. There are vendors in the state of TX (including but not limited to Texas Connections Academy (TCA)) which have perfected the on-line learning model. TCA is currently available to all 5.3M public education students throughout the state. I don’t seek to take on TCA or other on-line learning vendors as competitors. I seek to return to what RRISD does well, F2F instruction. I believe our human capital, facilities, rigorous and varied course offerings and academies, extracurricular activities, partnerships in the community, reputation as an ISD etc are our competitive advantage. When we focus on what we do best, students and families will keep our campuses full. As before Covid-19, students throughout Texas who seek on-line learning have access to vendors who provide that service.
I will add that I would like to see some distance learning initiatives continue in the years to come to widen access to boutique high school courses that are not offered on every campus. For example, if we have one campus that offers Latin (foreign language), and a student at a high school that does not offer Latin would like to take it, I’d like to see that made possible via distance learning if the student’s parent/guardian and teachers approve of this.
The first item under “Governance”
My thinking: What does that language mean? I need clarification in order to offer an opinion.
All items under “School Choice”
My thinking: As stated above, I don’t support RRISD getting into the on-line learning business, thereby adding new competitors to cope with.
I’m also not interested in spending time on forcing charter schools to do or not do things. And I don’t believe we need to oppose or support vouchers. If we remain committed to RRISD being the school district of choice…building on what we do well and making improvements where needed…then families will continue to enroll their children in RRISD. I have full confidence in the competitive advantages we have in RRISD to attract and retain students. All of my children are products of public schools and I believe in public schools.
Lastly, I counted 20 proposed legislative priorities offered here to the trustees. Yesterday in a New Trustee 8 hour training session at the Admin HQ, we learned that 5 is the right number of goals for a school board to have. When there are too many goals, it’s ineffective. As I reflect on that and look at 20 proposed legislative priorities, I can’t help but wonder if our focus should be more narrow. I wonder if just focusing on protecting current funding of things we already do is the strategy we should employ. The comptroller is telling us the 2021 session will start with a $4.6B deficit. Health and Human Services and Public Ed are the two largest recipients of state funding. This reality should drive our legislative priorities.Dear Fellow Trustees,
As you may or may not know, I attend most of the Central Texas School Board Association Meetings and also am our TASB delegate for the Statewide Assembly. I also served on the TASB Grass Roots committee for our region to come up with legislative priorities. I thought it would be helpful to share with you what those bodies adopted for legislative priorities. They are below my comments. While I don’t necessarily agree with every priority adopted by these two entities, I think it is valuable to consider them as we venture to adopt our own.
Regarding the proposed RRISD legislative priorities, I agree with Danielle that having too many priorities makes focus difficult. We may want to consider adopting some core priorities, while also adopting some of the others.
I also agree that focusing on continuance of HB 3 funding should be the absolute top priority. But I would go further. RRISD and districts around the state need not only a continuance of the funding levels committed to under HB 3, but also an increased allotment. We need these additional dollars for two primary reasons: 1. To address the deficits to student outcomes brought on by the pandemic and 2. To provide teachers and staff with raises to both honor their hard work in this time and to encourage retention. It would be very discouraging to our teachers and staff if coming out of the pandemic the state failed to provide resources to districts to give our teachers and staff even nominal raises. The legislature made a commitment to our communities to value teachers by prioritizing their compensation in order to attract talented individuals to the profession and keep them in it. As you may know, the resources we have in RRISD are directly determined by the state formula that dictates our funding level at our current tax rate. So, if the state doesn’t increase the formula, the only option we would have to give our teachers and staff annual raises would be local tax increases.
Regarding advocacy for additional resources to address the deficits to student outcomes brought on by the pandemic, I believe that is tied to our discussion during Thursday’s meeting as to whether we should request that STAAR tests should be suspended in their entirety this school year. TEA has already announced their decision to suspend STAAR for school and district A-F accountability. Danielle and I both stated in the meeting that we felt the STAAR was necessary as a diagnostic tool to know where students are performing. Additionally, I would argue that the data obtained from STAAR will aide in advocacy efforts for additional resources to address student outcomes deficits brought on by the pandemic. Amber was correct to say that STAAR results will likely confirm that students are behind. With concrete data to confirm that, it will be easier to make a case that additional monetary support is required. Given the pandemic’s adverse impact on the state budget, resources are very limited. Advocacy for additional resources will greatly benefit from statewide validated data (from TEA’s own exam) showing the need for interventions.
As for whether RRISD and other districts around the state should have the ability to continue virtual instruction past this school year, while I agree most ISD’s and charter schools main focus is and should continue to be in-person instruction, many families have found virtual instruction to be better for their children. While there are providers around the state that focus on virtual instruction, what we can offer students and families that they can’t is virtual instruction with access to extracurricular activities and other in-person supports (just like we have done this school year). It’s an opportunity to meet the diverse needs of the students and families of RRISD better.
I do have a lot of other thoughts on legislative priorities. I am eager to hear your thoughts and will continue to post throughout the week more on what I have observed as I have participated in these discussions throughout the year.
Sincerely,
Cory Vessa
Central Texas School Board
Association
2020 Legislative PrioritiesThe Central Texas School Board Association (CTSBA) advocates for
lawmaker support of local independent school districts and consolidated school districts to operate in
such a manner to be able to ensure that all students “have access to a quality education that enables
them to achieve their potential.” (Tx Ed Code Sec. 4.001) To do this we will need to retain our teachers,
fund educational opportunities, maintain and support infrastructure, reflect our local community, work on a
level playing field, promote the welfare of our special populations, mental health of all students, and be
able to respond to our community during this COVID-19 crisis.The districts that make up the CTSBA therefore advocate for the following:
Strengthen and Support Local Control
Encourage locally developed accountability systems that measures the progress of district and
school performances toward state and local goals that reflects the diversity of districts.
Support ISD’s ability to decide on alternative assessments/testing instead of using federal and/or
state standardized testing for the majority of accountability.
Support ISD’s ability to make decisions and lessen/decrease the rulemaking authority of the
Commissioner of Education.
Prohibit censorship of locally elected officials and local community voices. Recognize and
preserve the right of public school boards to associate and collaborate with each other and to
communicate the needs of their students and schools, both directly and through representative
organizations, with lawmakers.Continue HB 3 State Funding Commitments
Support HB3 funding to stand as is and extend “Hold Harmless” ADA for the entire 2020-2021
school year so public school districts will not have to cut program funding and to avoid/cause any
layoffs that will contribute to higher student teach ratios, destabilizing the educational system,
and increase the unemployment rate in Texas.Prohibit Bond and Ballot Language that is limiting and Obfuscates Facts; Support a Level Playing Field and Invest Public Funds in Local ISDs/CISDs
Any funding that is being diverted to a “charter” should be held to the same standards and responsibilities the govern local ISDs/CISDs and should clearly identify if Texas taxpayer dollars are going to a privately owned out-of-state management company.
Oppose any form of taxpayer subsidies that go to private entities, public entities managed by private corporations, and virtual vouchers.
Supports that the Legislature gives SBOE the authority to veto and oversee the approval of all privately owned charters that will receive public funds otherwise intended for ISDs and any amendments; and to reduce/eliminate any sole authorization/discretion of the Commissioner of Education.Take Action to Ensure Implementation of TEA’s Corrective Action Response Plan Will Achieve its Intended Result by Supporting Local ISDs/CISDs and Keeping Student’s Needs in Mind
OSEP’s has sent a response to TEA identifying for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) areas of noncompliance with its Corrective Action Response (CAR). As trustees in Central Texas our concerns are that reinforcement or funding is missing supporting local ISDs/CISDs or funding their efforts to provide special education and related services for students regardless of the severity of their disability. For example, TEA’s Documentation/Evidence of Progress/Completion states that 100% of LEAs will receive guidance and information related to their legal responsibilities under state and federal law, including the identification of all eligible students and subsequent compensatory service guidelines but funding and support to carry these out to its greatest extent are lacking.
Recognize the specialized and skilled professionals needed to support and render services to SPED students. ISD’s must hire speech therapists, licensed psychologists, behavioral/life skills staff to meet the needs and mandates for this community of students.Provide Additional Support and Funding as Districts Respond to Local Needs During COVID
Support local school districts to identify and address student needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters, such as access to technology and broadband/utility services, mental health resources, meals, social services, personal protective equipment, additional support for economically disadvantaged children, and remediation for students, while maintaining local control. The state should also suspend accountability ratings during disasters that severely impact school operations, such as the current pandemic, enact a temporary moratorium on the expansion or creation of new charter schools, not supplant state education funding with federal funds provided for disaster recovery, and fund schools based on student enrollment to ensure adequate instructional continuity.
Support increasing funding and support for counselors and social workers who address mental health needs, wellness, crisis counseling, social/emotional support, and critical family assistance & consider legislation related to school safety, requiring, or providing funding for emergency drills and school safety plans, funding for structural or technology-related safety measures.TASB 2020–2022 Advocacy Agenda Priorities
As Adopted October 3, 2020 by the TASB Delegate AssemblyCOVID-19 Pandemic
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to continue working with local school districts to identify and address student needs during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters, such as access to technology and broadband/utility services, mental health resources, meals, social services, personal protective equipment, additional support for economically disadvantaged children, and remediation for students, while maintaining local control. The state should also suspend accountability ratings during disasters that severely impact school operations, such as the current pandemic, enact a temporary moratorium on the expansion or creation of new charter schools, not supplant state education funding with federal funds provided for disaster recovery, and fund schools based on student enrollment to ensure adequate instructional continuity.Charter Schools
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to prohibit the expansion of charter schools, to reduce the impact charter schools have on the state budget and on local public schools, and to increase the transparency of charter schools and their operators, especially with regard to enrollment and expulsion practices, business operations, and expenditures. The state should require charters to have publicly elected board members who are accountable to the communities they serve.Diversity and Cultural Awareness
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to support diversity and cultural awareness initiatives throughout districts through staff and student education and restorative teaching and disciplinary practices that treat all students with equality. We also call on the Legislature and State Board of Education to evaluate the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for accurate and complete education as it pertains to all cultures that have contributed to the rich history of Texas and the United States.Governance
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to recognize and preserve the right of public school boards to associate and collaborate with each other and to communicate the needs of their students and schools, both directly and through representative organizations, with lawmakers.Mental Health and Safety
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to increase state funding for access to proactive mental health services and support in public schools to improve the physical safety and psychological well-being of our students and staff, especially as they cope with additional anxiety related to COVID-19. This includes access to services for all students in a school setting; the ability for districts to provide students with targeted interventions; and the establishment of a collaborative network of school and mental health professionals to better identify and meet the needs of students and their caregivers.TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to work with public school districts and their locally elected trustees to enhance school safety measures, including increased funding for school safety audits, the school safety allotment, and other measures that ensure the safety of students and staff.
Public School Finance
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to aggressively commit to maintain the promises and dedication of funding made in the new school finance system implemented under House Bill 3 (86th Session) and to equitably share the cost of education with local school districts. Further, the state should implement a funding structure that recognizes the flexibility needed by and the additional costs incurred by school districts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.State Assessments
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to continue to reduce state assessments by eliminating those not required by federal law, removing the high-stakes aspect of the system, reducing testing time, and prohibiting standardized tests from serving as the primary indicator of school and student performance. TASB advocates for additional support for non-high-stakes, diagnostic assessment alternatives, such as writing portfolios and adaptive exams.Teacher Recruitment and Retention
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to support adaptive and creative local solutions for recruiting and retaining high-quality, diverse educators in our independent school districts and to help elevate the teaching profession by incentivizing students to enter the teaching profession, shoring up teacher health benefits and retirement, and supporting local measures to develop and assess educators.Vouchers
TASB calls upon the Texas Legislature to prevent any transfer of public education funds through the use of vouchers, savings accounts, or tax credits to private or out-of-state entities, including the unfettered expansion of virtual instruction by corporations.Dear Fellow Trustees,
If I were to pick my top three priorities going into the session, they would be:
1. Protect all programs and funding in HB 3 (86R).
2. Provide additional funding to address deficits brought on by the pandemic and to enable raises for teachers.
3. Protect and enhance funding for SB 11 (86R) that addresses school safety, trauma informed care, and mental health resources in schools.They are all related to funding. There are a couple reasons for this. 1. Our allotment comes from the state based on their formula. The only way we have more resources is if they change their formula or we raise our tax rate. 2. This is going to be a very difficult session. The legislature is facing a serious deficit, must deal with Covid issues, and must redistrict. If I were to take an educated guess, there will be special sessions and very little beyond addressing these necessities will get done. The budget and redistricting must get done per the state constitution.
I believe other legislative priorities outlined by staff are important, but I am not sure 1. the majority of our board will agree to support them, and 2. they will even gain enough momentum this session to go anywhere for the reasons listed above. For example, I don’t think vouchers will have traction this session. It would be a huge fight and there isn’t the bandwidth to have that fight. I think the ban on tax payer funded advocacy is also going struggle for the same reasons. Some charter revisions (like applying the same superintendent severance limitations and penalties to charters as currently exist for ISDs) may pass, but wholescale charter reform isn’t likely (also due to bandwidth issues). What will pass is what must pass and that which has broad support.
My goal in these legislative priorities is to establish what this board and community wants to see this legislative session and then take those marching orders and do our best to advocate to that end. I believe the three core priorities listed above have wide support on our board and in our community. I also believe there is a legislative will to make them happen (which always helps).
Thank you Cory I am with you! Count me as a YES for these 3 only. And thanks for taking the lead on this.
Dear Fellow Trustees,
Last night I had the privilege of speaking to Pond Springs PTA about our board’s legislative priorities. I will also be speaking at the Grisham PTA meeting tomorrow. Both groups have asked me to provide them a form letter which can be personalized to send to their state legislators to help us advocate. I have drafted a letter and was hoping to get your feedback before sharing with those who wish to advocate. My goal in the letter is to highlight the board’s priorities with a focus on the parent’s or community member’s personal narrative. The draft letter is below.
Dear [insert name of legislator],
My name is [insert name] and I am your constituent from the [insert] neighborhood. My children attend [insert] in Round Rock ISD. I am writing today to advocate for the legislative priorities the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees have spoken with you and your staff about. I believe these priorities are critical for recovering from this pandemic and ensuring high quality education at [insert schools attending] and in all public schools in Texas over the next biennium.
Protecting all programs and funding provided in House Bill 3 is vital. Great strides were made towards improving school funding and providing property tax relief last session. I am heartened to hear continuing these commitments is a bipartisan priority. I know given the pandemic, this is not easily accomplished.
Part of the commitment made in HB 3 concerns teacher salaries. Prioritizing funding for increasing salaries to attract and retain the best possible teaching workforce was a constant refrain. It is absolutely critical the state honors this commitment by providing districts the resources to give teachers raises over the next biennium. This is especially needed given the heroic efforts made by teachers to meet student’s needs during the pandemic.
[Optional: Insert anecdote about the efforts of a beloved teacher during the pandemic and why giving him/her a raise is so important].
Additionally, just continuing the same funding levels in 2019’s HB 3 will not be sufficient to remediate the impact of the pandemic both in terms of learning loss and social/emotional strain on students.
[Optional: Insert personal anecdote about the impact of the pandemic on your student(s) or on students you know].
It is vital that schools receive the federal funds allocated by Congress to address the issues that my student encountered and those of so many others. As such, the federal funds must supplement and enhance, rather than supplant, the state’s commitments to public schools.
I appreciate the opportunity to share with you my concerns.
Sincerely,
[insert name]
[insert address]
Thank you trustee Vessa for being a champion, as always, for public school funding. I fully support engaging parents to reach out to our legislators. A copy of the letter with the personal stories and perspectives to the board will be great. I want to hear them too!
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