Texas Education CAFE™ Advocacy Network
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Texas Policy Weekly Update
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Each week, we are sharing the latest news about what's happening in Texas education policy and how you can make your voice heard.
In this issue
- Coming Up: Week of April 26
- IDRA Office Hours Assistance – Submit your Comments this Week
- Bill threatens Texas Top Ten Percent Plan
- Highlights from Last Week
- Video Advocacy Campaign: Digitally Divided, Community United
- Tools & Resources
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Coming Up: Week of April 26
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Hearings this week will address:
- School counselor capacity to serve students directly
- Student mental and behavioral health resources
- Charter school accountability
- Educator preparation for teaching emergent bilingual students, dyslexic students and students receiving mental health support
You can watch the hearings live online. Each hearing covers multiple bills (click the links below to see the agendas). For hearings in the Texas House, you can submit comments about any of the bills being discussed during the hearing using an online portal (even if they've moved on to a different bill).
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Tuesday, April 27
Public Education Committee
Thursday, April 29
Higher Education Committee
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Tuesday, April 27
Senate Education Committee
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Submit Your Comments this Week
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IDRA holds virtual office hours to walk you through the process of submitting public comments online
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Every Monday afternoon, IDRA helps students, families, educators and community members submit their own comments on education bills being debated by Texas lawmakers that week. #ShareYourStory
What happens during IDRA’s virtual office hours?
- Get information on bills that will be heard by lawmakers that week.
- Summarize your own story and how a proposed bill would impact schools in your community.
- See how to use Texas’ online public comment portal so you can share your thoughts and ideas with lawmakers. Submit your comments!
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Mondays • 4:30-5:30 pm cst
Bilingual event in English & Spanish
Register once to get the link and come back any time.
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Note: IDRA will assist with bill information and the comment process, not on influencing a participant’s position.
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Bill threatens Texas Top Ten Percent Plan
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The Texas Top Ten Percent Plan has opened the doors of Texas’ public universities to hard-working students from families with limited incomes, communities of color and rural communities who graduate in the top 10% of their high school class. Before the Top Ten Percent Plan, many of these students were denied access to Texas' public universities, limiting opportunities for them, their families and their communities.
This Wednesday, the Senate Higher Education Committee will hold a public hearing on SB 1091, which seeks to drastically limit the number of deserving students who can be automatically admitted to nearly all Texas public universities.
This bill would make attending college more difficult for high school students across the state who have worked hard, done their best with the opportunities they have and achieved at a high level. It also will limit the racial, socioeconomic and geographic diversity that is so important in schools.
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Highlights from Last Week
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IDRA submitted the following testimony last week.
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Dr. Chloe Latham Sikes testified before the Texas House Public Education Committee to help address the teacher shortage by providing critical financial assistance to prospective bilingual educators.
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Dr. Chloe Latham Sikes testified for HB 2258 to set measurable goals to increase the number of certified bilingual educators, expand dual language immersion programs, and implement clear data
collection and monitoring for emergent bilingual student success.
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The Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition sent a letter to Governor Abbott, Texas
Commissioner of Education Morath and Commissioner of Higher Education Keller urging them to ensure that federal COVID-19 relief monies are used to advance those goals and address the inequities in our educational systems that have been worsened by the pandemic.
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Texas Plan Must Address Digital Divide in Education
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Texas Schools Need Federal Relief Funds Now!
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To address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government allocated billions of dollars for K-12 schools and colleges. Unfortunately, Texas leaders are choosing not to accept those funds, leaving schools without critical relief monies. IDRA published a statement this week calling for Texas to stop waiting to access funds and not to use federal monies to supplant state funding for public schools.
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Digitally Divided, Community United
Students, Parents, Educators:
How has the digital divide impacted you?
We need your voice! Record a 15-second testimony
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A new digital equity video campaign will uplift the voices of Texas community members impacted by the digital divide.
The Texas Legislature is considering measures to support broadband access. Using a virtual platform, we are inviting students, families, community members and educators to share their stories about how the digital divide has impacted their learning and their lives. Education equity is a key component of the digital divide.
We have set up a virtual platform for you to record a 15-second video in English or Spanish about how the digital divide has impacted you and what digital equity means to you.
It's a fun way to have an impact!
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5815 Callaghan Road, Suite 101
San Antonio, TX 78228
Phone: 210-444-1710
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