The ATPE Governmental Relations team recaps the past week’s education news, legislative and election updates, and regulatory developments.

• Special session expected to begin Oct. 9, per media reports
• Prepare for the fight against vouchers with The ATPE Podcast
• SBEC considers changes to language governing Educator Preparation Programs
• Public ed stakeholders express united opposition to vouchers at press conference

SPECIAL SESSION: Per media reports, Gov. Greg Abbott will soon call a special session on border security and “school choice,” aka private school vouchers, that’s expected to begin Oct. 9. As reported on Teach the Vote, Abbott has amped up his rhetoric on this issue considerably in the past few weeks, urging faith leaders to “go to the pulpit” Oct. 15 to push for private school vouchers, a tactic that may have backfired as a number of pastors from around the state have been featured in op-eds supportive of public schools and separation of church and state over the past week. The governor also suggested legislators can either pass a voucher scheme the “easy way” (during the first special session) or the “hard way” (after being primaried following multiple special sessions in which vouchers do not pass). It is critical that the public school community continue expressing opposition to private school vouchers, explaining why such programs would be harmful to Texas kids, and demonstrating our support for legislators who stand strong against this immense pressure, particularly at the polls next March. ATPE members may log in to Advocacy Central to send messages to their legislators. In addition, the grassroots organization Texans for Public Education (T4PE) is holding a Boot Vouchers 2023 rally from 12–2 p.m. Oct. 7 at the State Capitol. ATPE members who plan to attend are asked to log in to Advocacy Central to RSVP for the event so we can help T4PE plan accordingly.  

ATPE PODCAST: In the latest episode of The ATPE Podcast, ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave previews the upcoming special session and fight against private school vouchers. Cave explains why educators’ involvement is critical to protecting the future of Texas public schools.

SBEC: The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) met Friday to discuss plans to move forward with the redesign and implementation of the Effective Preparation Framework (EPF), which is being developed in order to measure growth and areas of improvement for Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs). TEA will work over the next several months to design a continuous review process and determine how much it will cost EPPs to implement. The board also approved amendments to 19 TAC Chapter 232 regarding continuing professional education (CPE) hours, fixing an unintended consequence of legislation that limited the amount of hours educators could complete, as well as updating hardship exemption language. The board also discussed the repeal and replacement of 19 TAC Chapter 228, which contains requirements for educator preparation programs, in order to improve readability and implement new legislation. ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave recaps the meeting in this blog post. SBEC will next meet Dec. 8.

ANTI-VOUCHER PRESS CONFERENCE: A large group of superintendents and public education stakeholders, including ATPE, attending the TASA/TASB Convention Friday in Dallas held a press conference expressing their united opposition to a private school voucher program. "We are in a position of no compromise," said Dr. Christopher Moran, superintendent of Whitehouse ISD. "We're not interested in compromising for vouchers to gain school funding. This is a hill that we're willing to die on. We believe so strongly in public schools that we are not willing to compromise for the governor's agenda."