TASB Talks

Kay and Dax journey through last week's happenings and talk about what's to come this week. Learn more about:

• Senate Bill 175 on "taxpayer funded lobbying" a.k.a. community censorship was discussed last week
• Conversations on property tax reduction continue
• Legislation related to teachers, including an across-the-board pay raise, will be heard in Senate Ed this week
• Senate Ed will also be focused on vouchers Wednesday, hearing SB 8 and other voucher bills. SB 8 would create education savings accounts that would give out up to $8,000 in taxpayer money, per student, to pay for private school. 

Sign up for TASB's Texans for Strong Public Schools to get advocacy action alerts in your email inbox at StrongTexasSchools.org.  

©2023 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Things are starting to pick up in the Legislature with House and Senate committees meeting regularly. Kay and Dax discuss:

• Enrollment vs. attendance-based school funding
• House priority bills
• School safety
• The legislative process
• Accountability of voucher (education savings account) programs

Sign up for TASB's Texans for Strong Public Schools to get advocacy action alerts in your email inbox at StrongTexasSchools.org.  

©2023 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This week we’ve seen Gov. Abbott travel around the state to promote education savings accounts. Kay and Dax discuss:

• What is an education savings account and is it any different from a voucher?
• Can public schools really be fully funded if vouchers are implemented?
• House and Senate education committee meetings 
• The Teacher Vacancy Taskforce recommendations

©2023 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Get all the info you need on public ed and the 88th Texas Legislature with our weekly Lege Update episodes! Our first weekly update covers:

• House and Senate Education Committees
• Gov. Abbott's emergency items (and what that means)
• Texas school leaders at the Capitol

Sign up for TASB's Texans for Strong Public Schools to get advocacy action alerts in your email inbox! https://bit.ly/3cxTKME 

We discuss the happenings from the first few days of the 88th Texas Legislature, how trustees can stay informed, and upcoming TASB advocacy conferences. 

Register for the Texas Federal Advocacy Conference and the TASA/TASB Legislative Conference: https://events.tasb.org/?type=GOVR&view=list 

Sign up for Texans for Strong Public Schools: https://www.texansforstrongpublicschools.org/subscribe.aspx 

The next legislative session begins Jan. 10. Here's what school board members, administrators, and public school advocates need to know before it begins. 

Sign up for Texans for Strong Public Schools action alerts: https://bit.ly/39g1qS0 

Register to attend the Texas Federal Advocacy Conference, Feb. 6-7 in Washington, D.C., and the TASA/TASB Legislative Conference, Feb. 21 in Austin: https://bit.ly/3V5sSXn 

Political family to rock star to pilot to cultural diplomat isn't your typical career trajectory. But Ravi Hutheesing, whose great uncle was the first prime minister of India, knows the importance of being able to pivot in life. On this episode, he shares some of his experiences with us, and talks about how we can nurture talent and curiosity in students, giving them the skills to become lifelong learners.  Ravi will be a general session speaker at Summer Leadership Institute, taking place June 15-18 in San Antonio and June 29-July 2 in Fort Worth. Register now at tasb.org/sli. 

"What if you just listen to each other?" J. Michael Hall is the founder of Strong Fathers Strong Families and facilitates workshops between schools and parents across the state and country. He talks with Kay about the importance of transparency and communication.

Mike will be the preconference speaker at Summer Leadership Institute, taking place June 15-18 in San Antonio and June 29-July 2 in Fort Worth. Register now at tasb.org/sli. 

Dax Gonzalez, TASB Governmental Relations division director, joins us to discuss the issues public schools are facing right now and headed into the next legislative session. 

TASB just wrapped up its Grassroots Meetings, one of the first steps in determing the Association's Advocacy Agenda. The meetings are held across the state and all public school leaders have a chance to participate and let their voices be heard. 

Sign up for advocacy action alerts at StrongTexasSchools.org. 

Lizzie Velasquez was born with a rare congenital disease—very rare, in fact. She's now a global motivational speaker, anti-bullying activist, and author. 

Lizzie joins Kay to talk about being bullied in school, overcoming obstacles, and her advice to educators about dealing with bullying (it may surprise you).

She'll be a general session speaker at TASB’s Governance Camp, happening March 2-5 in Galveston. Registration is open: https://bit.ly/33d2nqD 

©2022 Texas Association of School Boards, Inc. All Rights Reserved.