IDRA’s weekly email alert will include legislative updates, opportunities for action to make your voice heard, bills to watch and other information through the session until it closes in early June.
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In this edition…
- Call to Action: Senate Bill 2, the Senate’s voucher bill
- Governor Abbott’s State of the State on Education
Coming Up: Week of Feb 3, 2025
Call to Action: Call Your Senator!
This Wednesday, February 5, the Texas Senate will debate Senate Bill 2, their version of a school voucher bill that takes public dollars away from public schools. Last week, the bill was passed out of committee on a 9-2 party line vote.
We urge you to call your state Senator today and tell them to vote no on vouchers! Need help on finding your state senator? Go to who represents me, type in your address and your senator will be listed!
Governor Abbott’s State of the State
Sunday night, Governor Gregg Abbott delivered his bi-annual State of the State address. Each legislative year, he delivers his address to unveil his emergency items. When the governor marks a topic as an emergency item, this means per the Texas Constitution, that bill can be brought up within the first 60 days of the legislative session. Regarding education, he released four emergency items:
- School vouchers
- Raising teacher pay
- Expanding career training
- Property tax changes
The soundbites don’t tell the full story.
School vouchers are school vouchers, and they take public dollars away from students to send them to private schools with little or no accountability to families or the public.
Raising teacher pay sounds great but would not be done through the basic allotment. Increasing the basic allotment, rather, would raise pay for all teachers and increase funds going directly to public schools.
Expanding career training has misleading proposals, like vocational schooling that tends to track Black and Latino students into those systems and away from college.
Lastly, property tax changes would continue to be used as a defunding tool that shrinks school budgets over the years.
Powerful Testimony from Felicita
Last week, daughter of IDRA Education Associate Dr. Lizdelia Piñón, sixth-grader Felicita Piñón, who uses a power wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, patiently waited for hours to testify against Senate Bill 2 at the Texas Capitol. Felicita’s dedication to speaking up for public education and for kids like her is nothing short of inspiring.
Felicita shared how private schools turned away her and her siblings because of their disabilities, while public schools provide the support and inclusion they need to succeed.
Watch her inspirational testimony below.
Cost of Vouchers Data Map Infographic
Click to see how much money your district will lose!
Testimony Presented Last Week
Education Savings Accounts are Inefficient and Ineffective for General Diffusion of Knowledge, Student Achievement and School Investments – IDRA Testimony against SB 2, Submitted by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., to the Texas Senate Committee on Education K-16, January 28, 2025
Don’t Prioritize Politics and Profits Over the Families Policymakers Should Be Representing – Testimony Against Senate Bill 2, Presented by Lizdelia Piñón to the Texas Senate Committee on Education (PK-16), January 28, 2025 (Plus testimony by Sixth Grader, Felicita Piñón)
Education Saving Accounts Harm Texas Students’ Access to an Equitable Education – TLEEC Testimony Against Senate Bill 2, Submitted by Kaci Wright to the Texas Senate Committee on K-16 Education, January 28, 2025
Tools & Resources
Learn more about IDRA’s policy recommendations for Texas
See our Infographic: 5 Data Snacks on IDRA’s Policy Priorities
How to Testify before the Texas Legislature, Infographic
