Matt Mitchell is joined by Dax Gonzalez and Whitney Broughton from TASB Governmental Relations to recap the latest from the Texas Legislature, including recent SBOE discussions.

Matt Mitchell and Dax Gonzalez recap a busy txEDCON24, including the SBAN luncheon and Delegate Assembly. Then, they discuss what other advocacy events are around the corner.

TASB Talks returns from hiatus, as host Matt Mitchell is joined by Dax Gonzalez, Division Director of TASB Governmental Relations. Dax provides an update on what’s been going on in the legislative interim, and what trustees can be doing in the last few months leading up to the session. He also discusses recent meetings held by the Senate Finance Committee and the State Board of Education. Finally, Dax looks ahead to what’s coming up in the next few weeks.

Get TASB's Legislative Report for regular updates on the legislative session. Sign up at gr.tasb.org.

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© 2024 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

In this episode, Kay is joined by Tiffany Dunne-Oldfield, TASB deputy executive director and Esperanza Orosco, TASB board development consultant and Hays CISD board member, to discuss building strong relationships between trustees and parents. Get practical advice and strategies to effectively engage with parents, leading to improved collaboration, trust, and educational outcomes.

We also discuss TASB's new resource on the subject, "A Toolkit for Strong Parent Conversations." The toolkit provides practical tips that board members can use to implement parent-friendly strategies in their districts.

Don't miss the TASA | TASB Convention pre-conference focused on building parent relationships. Registration opens July 25.

The Legislature has adjourned, but a special session is already underway. We're here to recap some of the public-education-related bills that passed during the regular session.

• First, we note that despite a $33 billion budget surplus, there was no increase in the basic allotment.
• HB 3, school safety, includes several new requirements for school districts. It does include a small per-student allotment increase and some new per-campus money.
• SB 10 gives retired educators a cost-of-living raise and a 13th check.
• HB 1707 requires municipalities to treat charters as they would ISDs for the purposes of permitting and zoning. It includes increased transparency that will help provide more information to communities when a new charter school is opening.

Thank you to all the public school advocates who took the time to write letters, call their lawmakers, and support public education this session!

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© 2023 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

"The last train out of Dodge" for vouchers this session is House Bill 100. The bill was passed in the House as a school finance bill. Earlier this week though, the Senate added a voucher program to the bill and made other changes. In its current form in the Senate, HB 100:

• Includes a $1.8 billion voucher/education savings account program.
• Increases the basic allotment by $50.
• Includes additional funding for charter facilities.
• Eradicates school district attendance zones.

We discuss more on HB 100, property tax relief, and the budget as the days left in the session dwindle.

Get TASB's Legislative Report for regular updates on the legislative session. Sign up at gr.tasb.org.

Get advocacy action alerts in your inbox by signing up for Texans for Strong Public Schools.

© 2023 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Kay and Dax discuss the House Public Education Committee's discussion and vote on Senate Bill 8 (vouchers and testing.)

Get TASB's Legislative Report for regular updates on the legislative session. Sign up at gr.tasb.org.

Get advocacy action alerts in your inbox by signing up for Texans for Strong Public Schools.

© 2023 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.