top of page
Search

Make it Matter Monday 2/10

lesliehall9
Feb 107 min read

Updated: Feb 10



Learn

We've hosted two education sessions to prepare y'all for Rally Day and the 89th Legislative session. Watch the videos about school funding with Josh Sanderson, Equity Center, and Mario Piña, Raise Your Hand Texas. And register for Tuesday's event with Ash Hall, ACLU, "Speaking Truth to Power."

View the Videos (scroll down to the Education Series section, or watch them on our youtube page)

Do

Rally Day on Feb. 24th, is right around the corner. Count heads and give us an estimate. 

RSVPing gives you an opportunity to purchase a t-shirt so we can represent as a cohesive group, and lunch. 

RSVP for Rally Day

Share

Raise Your Hand Texas is one of our favorite advocacy partners. They are a deep well of information about teachers, funding, vouchers, and more. Their videos are only a few minutes each and explain these complicated subjects in a simple manner that is easy to share with friends and family across the state. 

Link to Raise Your Hand Texas videos

SPILLING THE CAPITOL TEA

Senate

On Wednesday, February 5th, the held a floor debate and vote on SB 2, authored by Senate K-12 Education committee chair Senator Creighton. The bill passed. Don't be bummed, we expected this. The Senate's gonna Senate. This is how they do. 

You can catch the action in the Senate archived video site. The debate is divided between two video links and there are a few things that stand out to me:

  • There were some really good amendments that were either voted down or not even considered. One that I heard about this weekend was an amendment that ensured the private vendor institutions who took our public money couldn't hire teachers convicted of sex or drug offenses. I don't remember exactly the amendment wording, but that was the gist of it. Creighton wouldn't even consider it. 

  • Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, was the only Senate R to not vote for SB 2. 

  • When Creighton gave his final speech, one of the deliberately misleading statements was that our districts had mismanaged all the rounds of covid funds. We only received two out of the four rounds of covid funding, and only because Congressman Lloyd Doggett worked at the federal level on our behalf to get the language changed in the last two packages so Texas couldn't steal the money from our kids anymore. When I hear such obvious misinformation, I often wonder if our elected official responsibly for the policy that affects the welfare of our children and their schools doesn't know, or if he thinks we don't. 

The Senate Finance committee is meeting at 10am today, Monday, Feb. 10, to discuss SB 1, the general appropriations bill. On the agenda is Texas Education Agency, Permanent School Fund Corporation, Teacher Retirement System, Optional Retirement Program, and funding for select schools, like School for the Blind. We'll be sending out a Call To Action about this as soon as we can pull the info together. Look for our Calls to Action by date in the Advocacy Resource folder. 

House

We will probably hear who gets chosen for the House K-12 Education committee this week. There are no hearings on the calendar for the House. 

The Goss'

“As a fiscal conservative and a believer in the value of public schools, I cannot in good conscience vote for this bill. It is not fair to the children and parents of Texas, has little oversight of how the public funds are spent, creates Constitutional questions about separation of church and state, hurts public schools, leads to class segregation, and is not fiscally conservative,” Senator Robert Nichols (R) Jacksonville, TX, on SB 2.

Also this week Burrows publicly announced he had the votes for vouchers in the House. I hear he's saying that to give cover to the new House members he brought in who are wavering. Politics - don't take it at face value. Abbott must know it and be nervous because he's launched media campaign, including a full-page ad in the Statesman yesterday, to try to convince voters he has the votes. 

The Sages Spoke

I went to (and was a speaker at) an advocacy event hosted by Senator Sarah Eckhardt and Rep. Vikki Goodwin Saturday morning. It was so good, y'all. Near the end, Congressman Lloyd Doggett made a surprise visit and talked about federal issues. I also was on a panel discussion Sunday afternoon with Rep. Goodwin, Robert Norris, from Grandparents for Public Schools, Rep. Bucy's chief of staff, and the superintendent from Georgetown ISD. There was a lot of really fantastic information shared about vouchers from a lot of different perspectives. 

Here are some highlights from all those discussions:

  • Eckhardt's chief told us a story about trying to understand the Senate rules and taking the rule book to the Dan Patrick's staffer for some clarity. The guy took the rule book, drew a mark through the text, and wrote "Whatever Dan Patrick says," on the top. So ... rules, shmules, say the Law and Order folk.

  • Eckhardt suggested we definitely call and write the Senators so they hear our perspective but that they'll do whatever Patricks says. Still do it and, in this case, emails are better than phone calls. 

  • If you visit Senate offices, go in a group. They get very nervous when they think large numbers of people are against them. And they're bullies and used to having power in a power dynamic. The power is diffused and even reversed when you come in as a group. The larger the better. Don't go in alone. 

  • Be relentlessly decent, relentlessly honest, and relentless in your engagement. Keep lighting up their phones but be nice. Share your personal stories, if you can. It helps. 

  • Changing public perception is our best hope for defeating vouchers. Using our personal channels for communicating the truth, is vital. And record anything you see that can shine a light on the impacts of bad policy. Sharing videos has shown to be effective at changing public perception. 

  • There are more ways to kill a bill than pass it. There is concern that Abbott will play hard ball again and continue to withhold funding from our schools but he's up for re-election after this session so focusing on sharing information that illuminates his poor choices will be helpful in pushing him to cooperate. 

  • Keep speaking out about what's happening at the federal level. The goal of our opposition leaders is litigate (bringing in lawyers), legislate (changing laws - harder because of the numbers), and motivate (like coming to meetings and riling people up). We can be part of the Motivate effort.

  • Doggett said Texas is worse than what's happening at the Federal level. There, the president is trying to become a tyrant, Dan Patrick already is .... ... ... mic drop.

OUR HOUSE Open House

We need a few more volunteers for the OUR HOUSE Open House on Monday, February 17th, 1-4pm. Sign up in shifts and bring your families - it's a school holiday. I've been talking to our reps and they're all going to try to stop by the event and say hi to us. 

Volunteer signup: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4CA4AB2EA2FBC52-54602779-ourhouse


How ya doin'?

Being a caring person in a world that seems be overwhelmed by callous leaders and disconnected policy can be a lot. And Texas is Extra. So if you're feeling hopeless, it's understandable. Here is my theme song during the long days of a Texas legislative session. It helps to know that we make our own joy/love/connection. If they didn't give it to us, they can't take it away. 

Take care of yourself. Make that a priority. 

UPCOMING EVENTS


ACPTA EVENTS

Education Series - Feb. 11, 7pm via Zoom

Speaking Truth to Power, with Ash Hall of the ACLU is our last in our Rally Day Education Series. Ash has worked tirelessly in advocacy for over a decade, playing a role in the defeat of more than 260 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills in the Texas legislature. Join to learn how to effectively tell our stories in a way that people making decisions will listen (register here).


OUR HOUSE Open House - Monday, Feb. 17th, Texas Capitol, Rm E2.1006

This is a school holiday/teacher PD day. We're asking principals to allow teachers to leave before or between PD sessions to join us for a bit and parents to bring their children. Drop in anytime between 1 and 4pm to have fun while getting more comfortable with the State Capitol and our funding issues. We'll share tips for how to advocate and where to learn more about the issues, and give everyone an opportunity to visit state representative offices and share what they've learned. We'll have snacks and activities for all ages, which will rotate continuously throughout the afternoon so you'll get something out of it no matter when you come or how long you're able to stay. 

Register to volunteer (students and families welcome).


PTA Rally Day - Monday, Feb. 24th, 9 am - 3 pm, South Steps of the Capitol

Rally Day is a bi-annual gathering of PTAs and their communities from across the state at the Texas Capitol to show their support for their schools. There is a student caucus in the morning from 9:30-11, with student panels and student discussions. There will be an opportunity to ask questions. The Rally is at 11:30, which is where we need to see a lot of faces, and then we have meetings with all eight of our area representatives from 1-3 pm. 


NON-ACPTA OPPORTUNITIES 


Save Our Schools Rally - February 22, 11-1pm, South Steps of the Capitol

Thousands of Texans from around the state gather at the Texas State Capitol to rally for school funding. 


You inspire me. Let's go save public education, my friends.


Daphne Hoffacker

ACPTA Advocacy Chair

advocacy@austincouncilpta.org

 
 
 

Comments

Commenting has been turned off.
bottom of page