House Public Education Committee Meets To Discuss Vouchers, Legislation

The House Public Education Committee met on August 12^th to hear testimony on a series of interim charges, including updates on implementation of major education legislation from the previous legislative session and commentary on potential voucher legislation in the upcoming legislative session.

Monday's hearing began with a general education update from Commissioner of Education Mike Morath. He reviewed broader state trends in education to set the stage for further discussion of specific legislation and fielded a variety of questions from committee members. Among other things, Morath admitted that while teacher salaries have increased over the years, they have not kept up with inflation and he acknowledged that inflation has been a major source of difficulty for school district budgets.

Next, three new education laws were discussed: HB 2209, regarding R-PEP programs; SB 2124, regarding an accelerated math program for middle schoolers; and HB 1605, regarding high-quality instructional materials. The most substantive discussion was around HB 1605.

HB 1605 creates an incentive for school districts to adopt high-quality instructional materials, or HQIM. Most of the controversy surrounding the new law has involved specific instructional materials, and many teachers have expressed concerns about some administrators insisting on rigid adherence to specific way of presenting the materials in the classroom. There has also been some confusion about other provisions, including a TCTA-initiated amendment designed to protect teacher planning time. TCTA submitted testimony to the committee asking members to encourage districts and administrators to follow the language of the statute going forward.

The bulk of the testimony and discussion focused on inevitable voucher legislation to be proposed in the next legislative session. The invited testifiers were decidedly pro-voucher, but committee members peppered them with questions to make their own points about their stance on voucher programs and their perceived effectiveness. TCTA also submitted testimony warning against likely consequences of any future voucher legislation and urged committee members to focus on strengthening existing public schools instead.

Updates from the Capitol

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