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89th Legislative Session

On June 20, 2024, the Board of Trustees of the Austin Independent School District approved the District’s first group of priorities for the 89th Legislature which will convene in January14, 2025. On November 21, 2024, the Board voted on its complete set of priorities which appear below.

Fair Funding

  • Increase the basic allotment and add a requirement that the basic allotment be adjusted each biennium based on the rate of inflation.
  • Require that all recapture dollars be spent on education, ending the practice of the state supplanting its investment in education with recapture dollars.
  • Commission a study that identifies the true cost of educating all students, including the cost of complying with state mandates.
  • Update the Foundation School Program allotments to reflect the actual costs of programs associated with each allotment.
  • Increase funding for students receiving special education services to cover the actual district costs for providing needed services.
  • Fund school districts on the basis of enrollment rather than attendance.

Recapture Reform

  • Instituting a formula to determine the amount of recapture paid by districts that takes into account the demographics of the student population.
  • Commission a study of the impact of recapture on housing affordability.
  • Commission a study of the recapture system to examine whether the current operation of the system aligns with the original goals when created in 1993.
  • Restore a discount for districts that make early recapture payments
  • Convert two copper pennies to two golden pennies.

Public Accountability for Public Funds

  • Oppose vouchers, tax credits, taxpayer savings grants, tuition reimbursements or any other programs that divert public tax dollars to privately run schools.
  • Oppose vouchers, tax credits, taxpayer savings grants, tuition reimbursements or any other programs that divert public tax dollars to private schools that are exempt from the state and federal accountability and admissions requirements applicable to public schools and for other non-public education purposes.
  • Require charter schools to accept students regardless of documented histories of behavioral or attendance concerns and to adopt enrollment practices that encourage them to serve a population of students similar to the area in which the school is located, including a similar percentage of students receiving special education services, and to comply with the elements of Texas Education Code Chapter 37.
  • Provide taxpayers with ample notice and information about prospective charter schools and their expansions, including the planned location, cost to the state and local school district, the academic and financial record of the school, and a meaningful process for taxpayers to provide their support or opposition to said charter in their community before the charter may be approved or expanded. Require the Commissioner of Education, before granting an expansion, to consider, at a minimum, whether a charter holder has achieved the representations and goals included in its initial charter application.
  • Authorize the State Board of Education to exercise veto authority over charter expansions approved by the Commissioner of Education.

Assessment and Accountability

  • Establish a comprehensive accountability system developed by a statewide workgroup or other means, that looks beyond high-stakes, multiple-choice exams to meaningful assessments that have value for students, parents, and teachers as well as flexible measures that local communities value, and are offered by the Every Student Succeeds Act.
  • Add a college career military readiness (CCMR) indicator for middle school to the accountability system.
  • Mandate a grace period of at least one year in the assignment of campus and district ratings following significant changes to STAAR/end of course exams and/or the state accountability system.

Local Control and Governance

  • Protect local control of school finances and prioritize local control in all legislation to ensure those closest to the community and voters are held accountable.
  • Oppose any efforts to usurp or diminish the role of the elected State Board of Education in setting curriculum standards and adopting instructional materials.
  • Oppose any unfunded mandates and infringements on local control, including measures that erode local discretionary money and measures that seek to limit school districts’ ability to have representation before the Texas Legislature, and the executive branch of government, and the judicial process.
  • Oppose legislation regarding bond elections that increases ballot language requirements, limits dates upon which elections may be held or creates additional requirements for voter-approved tax rate elections and bond elections, such as voter turnout thresholds.

Parent and Family Involvement

  • Support the right of families to opt out as the preferred method of supporting a family that objects to materials, lessons, programs, events or other services provided by a local public school or district.
  • Oppose measures that support parent and family involvement that would give one or a small number of families control over the resources or information available to other families’ students, or that would allow a request from an individual family or small number of families to divert scarce resources of time and money from classroom, campus and district funds intended to serve all students.

Safety and Security

  • Increase the school safety allotment to fully fund all mandates approved under House Bill 3 and expand the allowable uses of the allotment to include mental health services.
  • Establish a criminal offense for openly carrying a firearm on or within 300 feet of district property with the intent or effect of creating a disruption to the educational environment. 

Student Supports

  • Increase funding for counselors to provide students more robust college and career counseling by reducing the counselor to student ratio and to provide students greater access to mental health counselling.
  • Reduce the use of exclusionary discipline and keep students in school whenever possible instead of disciplinary placements in alternative programs or juvenile justice facilities.
  • Protect and support an equitable education environment that values diversity of race, national origin, culture, gender, religion, immigration status, learning ability and socioeconomic background in an environment that welcomes all students and provides a physically and mentally safe environment.
  • Oppose the ability of the state to restrict programs in school districts that promote acceptance and respect for all students.

Teachers

  • Oppose legislation that undermines the professionalism of teachers, such as eliminating the requirement that teachers have college degrees or mandating a statewide curriculum that narrows educators’ ability to adapt lessons in response to local needs.
  • Oppose onerous administrative requirements on teachers to post class materials and activities online and support measures that minimize the time teachers are out of the classroom with their students.

To receive weekly legislative summaries regarding issues affecting Austin ISD, please email Edna Ramon Butts at edna.butts@austinisd.org.

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