Here's your weekly wrap-up of education news from ATPE Governmental Relations:

• Early voting begins Oct. 22!
• House Appropriations committee discuses school safety, corrective action plan

The deadline to register to vote for the upcoming general election was on Tuesday, October 9. Texas saw a record breaking surge in registered voters with 15.6 million people registering to vote by Tuesday's deadline. Now that the deadline to register has passed, it's time to get down to the heart of the matter: the candidates and the issues. Texans, educators especially, owe it to themselves to walk into polling stations fully informed on where candidates stand on issues like teacher pay, school finance, health care, and retirement. Use the "Candidates" section of TeachtheVote.org to learn more about the candidates in your district. You can also use Vote411.org to generate a personalized sample ballot ahead of election day. Knowing is half the battle.

The House Appropriations committee met on Tuesday to discuss school safety measures and the progress of TEA's corrective action plan for students with special needs. Hearing testimony from Santa Fe ISD administrators on how they've implemented improved school safety measures following the tragic shooting there earlier this year. TEA Commissioner Mike Morath testified to the committee that the agency had requested a $54 million exceptional item as part of it's legislative appropriations request (LAR) but members questioned how far that amount would go when spread statewide. With regards to the corrective action plan aimed at providing children with special needs the access to the services they require staff testified that additional funding would be needed and that at this time there is not enough trained staff available to evaluate children for special needs services. Find out more in this blog post by ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins.