Teach the Vote's Week in Review: Sept. 10, 2021
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School Finance Texas Legislature Congress | Federal COVID-19 Elections Curriculum | Instruction TEA | Commissioner | SBOE School Safety
Date Posted: 9/10/2021
The ATPE Governmental Relations team recaps this week’s education news, legislative updates, and regulatory developments.
- Today is World Suicide Prevention Day
- Date set for third special session to include redistricting and familiar education items
- Education bills signed into law by Gov. Abbott
- TEA shares guidance for accessing virtual instruction funding under new law
- Biden establishes grant to backfill funding for districts penalized over COVID-19 measures
- AG Paxton files lawsuits against Texas school districts
- Potential changes to primary dates and two upcoming elections
- ATPE member concerns cited in article on COVID-19's impact on school staffing and morale
SUICIDE PREVENTION: Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, aimed at raising awareness of suicide and how to prevent it. ATPE’s member-adopted Legislative Program has long supported suicide prevention efforts in schools, including training for educators. Additionally, one of ATPE’s legislative priorities for 2021
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SPECIAL SESSION: Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week that the Legislature will convene for a third special session Sept. 20, 2021. In addition to redrawing the state’s legislative, congressional, and State Board of Education districts, Abbott’s agenda for the next special session features three items that relate to public education. These include a revival of legislation dictating how transgender students can compete in University Interscholastic League (UIL) events and whether state or local governmental entities, such as school districts, can mandate COVID-19 vaccination. Abbott also called on legislators to provide appropriations from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which sent $12.4 billion to Texas public schools.
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VIRTUAL: Thursday, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released correspondence to school districts outlining how virtual learning under SB 15 will be implemented, pending formal rulemaking. Though no district is required to offer virtual learning, those that do must meet certain requirements, including having an overall rating of C or above in the 2018-19 school year or the latest year for which a rating was given. Additionally, districts offering virtual learning must have an on-campus option and allow their virtual students to participate in UIL activities. Districts must also provide professional development on virtual instruction and cannot coerce a teacher to teach remotely or to teach both virtual and on-campus classes during the same class period.
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SB 15 expires Sept. 1, 2023, making it likely the Legislature will revisit virtual schooling during the 2023 regular session following the report of the Texas Commission on Virtual Education, which is due to legislators by Dec. 31, 2022. TEA also announced it will offer a Sept. 17 webinar to help school officials learn more about SB 15.
FEDERAL: Thursday evening, President Joe Biden gave remarks detailing his six-part plan to address the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan seeks to support safe school reopening by requiring staff in Head Start programs and schools operated by the Department of Defense or Bureau of Indian Education to be vaccinated; encouraging schools to adopt vaccine mandates for employees; investigating potential discrimination against students with disabilities in states with prohibitions on mask mandates; testing students and staff regularly for COVID-19; and supporting the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) work to approve a vaccine for children under 12.
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ELECTIONS: The timing of the 2022 Texas primary elections will depend on when legislators finish the redistricting process. Under legislation passed this summer, the party primaries will be held March 1, April 5, May 24, or a date to be determined by the Texas Secretary of State, depending upon when the redistricting legislation is signed by the governor. Read more about how the process may play out and the history of redistricting and its impact on Texas primaries in this post by ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins.
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In other news, Gov. Abbott has set September 28 for a special election in House District (HD) 118, recently vacated by former State Representative Leo Pacheco (D-San Antonio). Early voting will begin September 20. The governor has yet to set a date for the special runoff election in HD 10, where former State Representative John Wray (R-Waxahachie) advanced to a runoff against fellow Republican Brian Harrison. View profiles of the candidates here on Teach the Vote.
COVID-19: This week the Texas Tribune’s Brian Lopez wrote about the impact of COVID-19 on teacher staffing. In the article, ATPE Lobbyist Andrea Chevalier shared our concerns about the pandemic’s toll on teachers’ mental health, noting “teachers have been put through tough situations, such as being responsible for the health and safety of kids, the politics around mask-wearing and then dealing with parents who harass teachers for policies out of their control.”
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