The HB 1 voucher would give wealthy parents currently sending their 3 kids to St. Mark's $31,500/yr of OUR tax dollars.
That's the median annual income of a blue-collar working Texan.
That's $$$ out of YOUR wallet at the expense of OUR students in public schools.
#txlege
#txed
The People’s House has spoken.
Texas stands united against vouchers.
No tricks. No hostages. No bribes.
And no amount of special sessions gonna change that.
#txlege
#txed
By 84-63, House adopts Raney’s amendment striking
#ESAs
from big school choice/teacher pay bill. Now discussing a
@FourPriceTX
motion that would prevent reconsideration. txlege
#txed
#SchoolChoice
Defunding our neighborhood schools to create a welfare entitlement for rich folks who send their kids to private schools.
Sounds conservative… right?
#txlege
#txed
Since we're talking about administrative spending, let's take a look at what private schools are paying superintendents (who taxpayers would subsidize under SB 8):
St. Mark's (Dallas): $696,144
St. John's (Houston): $1.1 million
Greenhill (Dallas): $666,804
#txlege
#txed
For journos:
#txlege
did not “fail” to pass vouchers. They CHOSE not to for the millionth straight time.
And it’s not just a matter of getting the bill text right. Never has been.
They know vouchers will destroy
#txed
for 5.5 million kids.
No # of specials will change that.
We all hate STAAR but TX requires public schools to use an apples-to-apples metric to gauge performance.
If voucher students don't take the same test, there's no way to compare if our taxes are being spent effectively.
Why don't voucher folks want that..?
#txed
#txlege
🚨 Texans!
While you were sleeping:
In the dark of night, the Texas Senate set a hearing this am with less than 10 hours notice to pass a VOUCHER bill that:
🙈 No one has seen
📚 Is 133 pages long
👩🏫 Kills one of the last chances for a teacher raise
Sound off!
#txlege
#txed
Sometimes it’s easy to forget why we’re here.
@DrewDarbyTX
gets it. Thank you for your heartfelt and rock solid defense of our great public schools!
#txed
#txlege
Rep.
@DrewDarbyTX
is one of those rural Republicans who have so-far blocked
@GovAbbott
's push for private education subsidies. He tells us this is an "Alamo" moment. He's not retreating.
"If I'm here in November, December, January, February, March... nothing changes."
Schools facing budget shortfalls despite a $32 billion state surplus.
Why? Bc leaders wasted time trying to tie funding and teacher pay to unpopular vouchers that would defund public school students. They still are.
Elections matter.
📺
#txlege
#txed
READ 🔎
655 pages of electronic comments from Texans who were banned from public testimony against the SB 8 voucher bill.
No surprise it's almost entirely OPPOSED🚫 to SB 8.
Link:
#txed
#txlege
#hate8
#vOUCHersHurt
🚨 To make it crystal clear, educators DO NOT want HB 100 if it contains ANY VOUCHER.
✋ We will NOT be held hostage to a voucher that will defund our neighborhood public schools and the students they serve.
❌ We will not be threatened.
❌ We will not be bribed.
#txlege
#txed
Texas House getting ready for a historic vote on whether to spend our public tax dollars on private school voucher subsidies.
Thank you to all of our
#txlege
champions for public schools. Our 5.4 million students thank you and we are grateful for your support!
#txed
“Is there a middle ground” on vouchers?
@TexasTribune
that’s a perfect example of the harmful “both sides” journalistic trope. Sometimes one side is just plain wrong. Vouchers are just plain wrong.
#txlege
#txed
#ttevents
Senator Hughes just said teachers worked on HB 3979.
Let me help: Teachers were not consulted and have made their opposition clear every step of the way through every professional organization. That's a fact.
#txlege
#txed
Vouchers are not about an individual choosing where their taxes go.
📌 The average ISD tax bill is $4k.
📌 The average voucher is $6-8k.
Vouchers are about an individual choosing where OUR taxes go.
❌ Texans don't want to pay for welfare for the elite.
#txed
#txlege
Here’s my dispatch from West Texas for
@NBCNews
on the rural resistance to the GOP’s signature policy goal this legislative session: Giving parents state money to pay for private school tuition and homeschooling.
There is not, and will never be, a deal on vouchers.
Educators will not mortgage the future of 5.4 million students for any price.
Nothing to see here.
#NoVouchers
🚫
#txlege
#txed
Public school boards are the ultimate accountability. We can review budgets and curriculum, and if we don't like what we see, we can choose different leaders.
Vouchers force parents to surrender ALL our rights to have input into our kids' education. Buyer beware.
#txlege
#txed
Thank you to all the House members who voted in support of keeping public dollars in public schools. We look forward to continuing to work together to serve all 5.4 million students.
#txlege
#txed
And for our The
#19thRepresents
closing conversation — Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, interviews
@eramshaw
about our mission to create a transformative newsroom centered on gender equity.
Register:
To be clear, there is no “middle ground” for any proposal to take resources from 5.5 million Texas school children, predominantly poor or rural, to subsidize private and for-profit schools for the elite.
#txlege
#txed
At the
#txlege
today, where the Texas Senate will vote on:
❌ SB 8 school vouchers
❌ SB 9 fake teacher raise
We urge ALL Senators who support our public schools to vote NO ✌️ on SB 8 & SB 9.
#txed
Several members pointing out the need for TEA to inform parents that TEA changes, not school performance, are the reason A-F ratings are expected to plummet this fall (just in time for a special session on vouchers).
#txlege
#txed
Commissioner Morath tells
@TXSBOE
that "large" changes to STAAR cut scores will (negatively) affect September school A-F ratings. Will also revise previous year's ratings downward to reflect new cut scores. More:
#txlege
#txed
Tip for
#txlege
journos covering today’s astroturf voucher rally:
Ask whether supporters’ kids are currently enrolled in public, private, or homeschool. (Bet I can guess the answer)
#txed
🚨 BREAKING:
@TXSBOE
confirms bipartisan opposition to vouchers.
Majority Republican SBOE urges
#txlege
to 🛑REJECT VOUCHERS🛑 in all forms.
Formal vote today 11-2. Livestream:
#txed
The commissioner’s argument for keeping STAAR this year rests solely on the need to assess student progress.
Agree 100%. Absent from this argument is acknowledgment that teachers have scores of available diagnostic instruments that aren’t STAAR.
#txlege
#txed
#ttevents
Y'all need to be listening to the
#SpEd
Funding Commission. Pro-voucher witness is testifying voucher schools don't want tax dollars if they're going to have to comply with state laws and take the STAAR. In other words...
We want your money, but not your rules.
#txed
#txlege
By telling teachers what and how to teach and ordering TEA to play police, HB 3979 may be one of the most disrespectful bills to teachers I've seen the
#txlege
dignify with debate.
Teachers will remember come November.
#txed
And, uh, it goes without saying…
our kids are NOT going to be allowed into St. Mark’s.
Even if we could find the other $28k, the school still gets to choose who it lets in.
The vouchers ain’t meant for us, fam.
#txlege
#txed
Said Bernal: If every professional who comes in here is telling us the same thing — namely that schools are underfunded — why don’t we who are not professionals listen to them? 🤔
#txed
Good morning from the Senate Education Committee where we’re supporting giving teachers more classroom management tools and opposing a special education voucher. Another busy day!
#txlege
#txed
Let me make this real clear.
Homeschool students under HB 547 will NOT
repeat
NOT
be required to abide by the same guidelines as public school students in order to compete.
No class, no STAAR, no verification of academic eligibility. NONE of it.
#txlege
#txed
Everyone in
#txed
should read.
Thank you
@KingForTexas
for fighting for educator raises and standing strong for public education with no ifs, ands, or buts! We know this fight isn’t over and we appreciate your work!
#txlege
HB 100 was my signature piece of legislation for the 88th Regular Legislative Session. I'm very sad to say that it ultimately did not pass! Below is my statement.
It's the role of
@TXSBOE
& educators,
🛑 not the
#txlege
, 🛑
to write
#txed
curriculum.
Anyway here are the curriculum changes the Senate is proposing under SB 3.
"Government schools"
You mean constitutional schools, established by our founding fathers and enshrined in our Constitution for the health and defense of our democracy?
#SOTU
#TXLege
#TXEd
Get out of the way. Stop micromanaging teachers, stop politicizing their jobs, and treat them like the professionals they are.
Thank you
@maggie_glynn1
@kxan
for having me on to talk about improving teacher retention! 📺
#txed
#txlege
Senate Education Committee votes on party lines, 9-3, to advance HB 100 to full Senate with poison voucher.
Thank you
@lamantia4texas
@Menendez4Texas
@SenRoyceWest
for once again standing with the 5.4 million students in our public schools and opposing vouchers!
#txed
#txlege
THANK YOU
@Bailesfortx
for standing up for doing the right thing and following a process meant to ensure public transparency and participation. We greatly appreciate you! 👏👏👏
#txlege
#txed
🛑 The voucher promoters know they can’t pass a voucher on its own because Texans don’t want it.
🏴☠️ That’s why they continue to tie vouchers to other critical
#txed
issues they otherwise refuse to address.
❌ That’s also how you know helping kids was never the point.
#txlege
“Where we have inadequate support for teachers we will see inadequate outcomes for students,” TEA Commissioner Morath tells legislators.
True on so many levels. Take heed,
#txlege
.
#txed
Chair
@BradBuckleyDVM
attempting to push through a voucher today.
Pub Ed Cmte to vote on 80-page sub to SB 8 with no public hearing and less than 24 hours' notice for members and public to read the bill.
Looking forward to seeing who stands with public schools.
#txlege
#txed
Texas Senate honoring Sergeant-at-Arms Rick DeLeon. Rick busted me for leaning on the rail the first time we met and man I was scared! But I came to know he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and he always makes us feel safe! Congrats on your retirement!!!
#txlege
#txed
Several people scrambled in time to testify, almost all of them against the Senate version of HB 100.
By adding a poison voucher, the Senate has killed:
☠️ Teacher pay raises
☠️ Funding for special education
☠️ Increase to school funding
👀 Texas is watching.
#txed
#txlege
No pass, no play was put in place to ensure students' extracurricular activities don't take precendence over their actual learning.
HB 547 would allow homeschooled students not subject to no pass, no play requirements to compete against regular students who are.
#txed
#txlege
Bipartisan votes in the House and the Senate today to keep public dollars in public schools.
When Rs and Ds can agree on something, it’s probably because it’s the right thing.
Won one, lost the other. Thank you and keep fighting,
#txed
champions!
#txlege
You know what happens when thousands of educators all over Texas speak up, speak out, and vote for pro-public education candidates?
You become the primary focus on inauguration day.
KEEP IT UP! 🍎💪🗳
#txlege
#txinauguration
#txed
🚨 Listen up Texas. 🚨
The TX Senate is about to blow up high school sports forever.
Not an overstatement.
Contact your state senator NOW and tell them to vote NO on HB 547, which would gut no pass, no play and allow homeschool students to participate in UIL.
#txlege
#txed
The millionaires and billionaires behind the voucher push are spending gobsmacking amounts of money to purchase elections at both the state and local level. Great article by
@HoustonPubMedia
#txlege
#txed
Texans for Educational Freedom, a conservative political action committee, has donated tens of thousands of dollars to several local school board candidates on the ballot May 6.
It's a big week in the push for private school vouchers in Texas. Tomorrow the Texas Public Policy Foundation is busing in supporters to rally with the governor in Austin. On Wednesday, the Senate education committee is holding a public hearing on the GOP's primary voucher plan.
There's no such thing as a "small" voucher. Just ask Arizona, where a "limited" voucher is now wreaking havoc on the state budget and robbing students of needed resources. Thanks
@PhilPrazan
@NBCDFW
for covering this important issue! 📺
#txlege
#txed
Thank you
@TrentAshbyTX
for supporting our public schools. Our schools are the backbone of our community and we are grateful for you standing up for all 5.4 million Texas students!
Back on Twitter since adding “Dad” to my resume. Tune in for the usual
#txlege
programming, then stick around for the jokes. DM your tips on removing poo stains
Great point in House Public Education Cmte right now about the significance of the political toxicity directed against schools & specifically teachers on the educator shortage. Handful of wacko politicos spreading falsehoods are adding to the
#txed
hiring challenges.
#txlege
High school tuition to St. Mark's is over $38k per year. St. Mark's pays its headmaster $1.1 million per year.
HB 1 would subsidize the folks sending their kids here and to schools like this at the expense of mostly rural public schools.
#txlege
#txed
For reference:
It’s 10:30 p.m., Texas. Do you know where your legislators are?
They’re in Pub Ed tackling tough school finance issues and
#HB3
. Thank you for taking the time to listen to so much testimony! 🌛😵
#txlege
#txed
Think parents will have rights in private schools?
Hate to break it to you, but there are no public elections, open records, or laws protecting parental rights in private schools.
But let's entitle them to our tax dollars that fund our neighborhood schools. 🤔
#txed
#txlege
Commissioner Morath tells
@TXSBOE
that "large" changes to STAAR cut scores will (negatively) affect September school A-F ratings. Will also revise previous year's ratings downward to reflect new cut scores. More:
#txlege
#txed
Wow! Just happened to sit next to legendary
@WBCBoxing
Champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales, whom the Texas Senate honored today. Ready to knock out some bills now! 💪🥊🥊🥊🥊🏆
#txlege
Why are voucher promoters continuing to try and link vouchers to school funding and teacher pay?
Because this is what it looked like when they *paid* people to show up in support of vouchers during the regular session.
It ain't gonna work.
#txlege
#txed
I urge you to reconsider.
This is defunding STAFF.
This is defunding the hundreds of people who have been working 24/7 for both R & D offices this session.
When
#txlege
goes home, they don't. This is their livelihood.
Please do not take that away.
I will veto Article 10 of the budget passed by the legislature.
Article 10 funds the legislative branch.
No pay for those who abandon their responsibilities.
Stay tuned.
Hard facts: State spending per student (in blue) is roughly the same today as it was in 2008. Adjusted for inflation, the state is spending less. This as your property tax share (in orange) has steadily gone up.
#txed
#txlege
⚖️📚❌ It is not the job of
#txlege
to write curriculum.
👩🏫📚✅ That is the job of
@TXSBOE
in collaboration with educators.
Tell your senator to oppose HB3979 and leave curriculum to the experts.
#txed
Vouchers won't help with parental rights.
But they will help drive up property taxes as local districts struggle to make up the lost revenue.
Math, y'all. 🤠
#txlege
#txed
The funding in SB 9 is a one-time $2k stipend. It’s insulting and will do nothing to improve teacher recruitment and retention.
The Texas Senate should say NO ✌️ to anything less than a permanent across-the-board $10k raise.
#txed
#txlege
At the
#txlege
today, where the Texas Senate will vote on:
❌ SB 8 school vouchers
❌ SB 9 fake teacher raise
We urge ALL Senators who support our public schools to vote NO ✌️ on SB 8 & SB 9.
#txed
Thank you
@KingForTexas
for supporting our public schools. Our schools are the backbone of our community and we are grateful for you standing up for all 5.4 million Texas students!
Happening this am: The Texas Senate is back at it trying to legislate curriculum through SB 3.
State law is pretty clear that curriculum is not under the purview of
#txlege
, and for good reason.
Please leave it to the SBOE and educators.
#txed
To my friends headed back into battle this morning:
Remember that what matters isn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
Godspeed! 💪
#txlege
#txed