Every two years, Texas Legislators meet in Austin to pass legislation and set the biennial state budget. The 88th Legislative Session began on January 10th and ends on May 29th. The session is sure to be historic since the state has an unprecedented $32.7 billion surplus. The governor has already verbally stated he wants $12.5 billion of the surplus funds used to lower property taxes across the state. Several educational issues should be championed by legislators during this legislative session.
Educational Funding
Currently, each child attending a public school district in Texas is funded $10,000 per student per year on average; however, the base allotment per child, which is provided by the state, is a mere $6,160. Comparatively, Texas ranks 38th nationally in average funding per child per year. As a state, it is difficult to be an industry leader in education if resources are not allocated to meet the growing needs of students. An increase in the basic allotment is necessary during this legislative session.
Funding is provided to schools based on the average attendance of each child. If the attendance rate falls to 95% for a school, then 5% of the overall funding remains with the state under the current system. The school faces the uphill challenge of reteaching repetitively absent students with fewer dollars under this unfair system. Instead of funding schools partially, the legislators should pass legislation that makes funding more equitable to lower-socioeconomic schools. Funding for schools should be based on enrollment in the school and not tied to student attendance.
School Safety
Safety must always be reevaluated, and if necessary, it must be adjusted to meet the current needs of our schools. Unfortunately, all the preparations and individualized plans do not help when they are ignored by emergency responders. This was the case in Uvalde last year. The administrators failed to adequately address issues like broken door latches and classroom doors that could not lock. Meanwhile, the local police failed to follow their active-shooter training and protocols.
The legislators will, undoubtedly, increase school safety mandates during this legislative session. Any new safety mandates must be accompanied by funding to implement the measures fully. Additionally, school funding allocated for facility improvements should not be universally mandated. Each school campus has safety improvement needs that are unique to its buildings. Any blanket, one size fits all approach must be avoided. Immediately after the tragedy in Uvalde, the state purchased $50 million worth of bulletproof shields. When discussing the shields at a local all-hazards meeting in Nacogdoches, law enforcement said breaching tools would have been a better investment for their department. Legislators need to provide local discretion for any safety initiatives to ensure the measures meet local needs.
