Big Changes in Public Education

TXPOST CEO Jenna Courtney testified in favor of Representative Trent Ashby’s HB 3672 on Tuesday morning in front of the House Public Education Committee alongside Creative Action Executive Director Patrick Torres. 

House Bill 3672 creates an Extracurricular Community Education Grant Program to expand access to these learning opportunities across Texas.

This grant program supports a range of afterschool and summer learning opportunities, including: art and music, community engagement and leadership, literacy and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), physical and mental health, and recreation. By supporting community-based OST through the Extracurricular Community Education Grant Program, we will see a positive impact on our young people in: 

• Academic Improvement: Expanding access to afterschool and summer learning to support student achievement.
• Truancy Reduction: Encouraging student engagement with schools and communities to decrease absenteeism.
• Supportive Relationships and Skill-Building: Providing mentorship, early intervention, and other support to promote healthy behaviors.
• Workforce Preparedness: Helping students develop skills necessary for career readiness and productive adulthood.
• Community Partnerships: Fostering collaboration between schools, local organizations, and families to enhance student success.

TXPOST’s CEO shared her feedback on this legislation, saying, “OST does so much. It’s not a silver bullet for any one thing, but it makes real improvements in the lives of so many. It reduces truancy, it increases school-day attendance, it can help to improve academic outcomes, it provides space for young people to explore their interests and passions, and it helps to develop employability skills for future success. 

As a mom, I want all of these things for my kids. As the CEO at TXPOST, I want this opportunity for every Texas kid.”

The bill was left pending, as is the Committee’s policy for legislation that is brought up for the first time. TXPOST hopes to see the bill reported favorably in an upcoming committee hearing, at which point it will be sent to the full House for consideration. 

Also this week, the House spent approximately five hours debating Chairman Buckley’s HB 2, which will add nearly $8 billion to the school finance system in Texas. The bill increases the basic allotment—the primary driver of funding for school finance in public schools, by nearly $400. The legislation also makes other important changes to school finance system, a notoriously complex and complicated system of formulas used to finance public education in Texas. Among them, the House included an escalator for the basic allotment for the first time, tying automatic increases to property growth in the state. The bill also changes how special education funding is calculated, driving more cost according to the individual needs of a student. 

House members then moved on to the voucher debate, which went on well into the night. Historically, rural Republicans have sided with Democrats to oppose such proposals, but for the first time last night a measure sending public dollars to private schools passed out of the House. The vote was 85-63: every present Democrat and two Republicans ultimately opposed the measure. 

Attempts by Democrats to limit the impact of the legislation were largely thwarted along party lines, including an attempt to send the proposal to votes for approval in November, spearheaded by James Talarico, D-Austin.