Do you have a child in public school? Is your child receiving the best education possible? How is your child’s school campus? Are there enough qualified teachers, paraprofessionals, and therapists? What are your thoughts about tying school funds to STAR test results?
Now is the time to call, not email, your state senators and representatives and tell them your thoughts and concerns about your child’s education.
I had an opportunity at a Civil Association meeting January 15th to see SBISD Superindendent Muri and Minda Caesar, Trustee. At the meeting, we learned that the Bond passed November 2017 by voters provided $898.4 million to replace or improve schools in Spring Branch. Work towards new buildings, increased safety and security, and acquiring upgraded classroom equipment has already begun. For more details, click https://www.springbranchisd.com/about/bond-2017
What is going on in Austin regarding our 5.4 million Texas students? The 86th Texas Legislature begun this month and will continue until May 27th. The Houston Chronicle’s January 10th article “Texas House Speaker Bonnen makes the case to conservatives to beef up education funding” describes why we as Texans need to focus on our children’s educational needs. Although Texas has more high school seniors graduating, our fourth graders have difficulty in certain subjects, and dropped to No. 46 in national rankings for reading. Voice your opinion as to how this problem can be addressed.
We have a Texas Commission on Public School Finance who submitted a report in December last year with about thirty recommended improvements. Both the House and Senate have their proposals, including a pay raise for teachers. I encourage parents to read about the proposals and call your representatives. As of January 16, 2019, the Texas House and Senate are about $3 billion apart on proposals for public education spending.
Contact John Cornyn’s DC office at 202-224-2934; Ted Cruz’s DC office at 202-224-5922 and look at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/TX#representatives
for more information to find your Representative and their phone number.