The ATPE Governmental Relations team recaps the past week’s education news, legislative and election updates, and regulatory developments. ATPE members: Share your thoughts and ask our lobby team questions in The Rotunda on the ATPE Online Community.  

• Senate, as scripted, passes voucher legislation on to House 
• ATPE hosts its first member Capitol Expedition 
• Abbott declares three education-related emergency items in State of the State 
• Trump administration rescinds memo pausing federal grants and loans 
• See where your region stands in the Regional Advocacy Challenge (RAC) 
• Join fellow public education advocates at the 2025 ATPE Summit! Registration now open 
• Test your knowledge of Texas current events 

VOUCHERS: On Wednesday, the Texas Senate (as expected) passed its priority voucher bill, Senate Bill (SB) 2, on a 19-12 vote (as expected). Although the Senate passage of SB 2—authored by Senate Education K-16 Committee Chair Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe)—is gaining lots of attention due to the current push from Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) to pass a voucher, this is actually the sixth time the Senate has passed voucher legislation. The bill now goes to the House, where it must be assigned to the as-yet-unnamed House Public Education Committee for consideration—and where it is expected to face stiffer opposition. (House committee assignments are expected next week.) ATPE Senior Lobbyist Mark Wiggins recaps the floor discussion on SB 2 in this blog post, and ATPE Governmental Relations Director Monty Exter has outlined next steps for Texas educators in this video shared on social media and in the ATPE Online Community. Ready to take action? Contact your lawmakers using ATPE Advocacy Central. 

CAPITOL EXPEDITIONS: The ATPE state officers and a newly certified educator participated in the first ATPE Capitol Expedition of the legislative session Tuesday. ATPE is hosting a series of targeted member visits to the Capitol this session instead of holding an all-in-one ATPE at the Capitol/Lobby Day event. During the Capitol Expedition, the members—who were all eligible to participate as holders of the new ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP) State-Level Microcredential—met with their own elected officials, as well as with new Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock). Learn more about their Capitol Expedition experience in this blog post by ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave. Whether you’d like to attend a Capitol Expedition or not, ATPE-MAP is a highly rated professional learning experience and will help you more effectively advocate from home. 

ABBOTT: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) named three education-related emergency items in his State of the State Address Sunday: teacher pay, vouchers, and expansion of career and technical education (CTE). Emergency items are significant because the Legislature’s rules prevent lawmakers from considering non-emergency items in the first 60 days of the session. ATPE Executive Director Shannon Holmes issued a statement in response: “What Gov. Abbott says, at face value, sounds right. Every Texas student should have the opportunity to receive the best education for their needs. But the problem lies in the governor’s approach. Does it make sense to create an entirely separate system to fund private schools, one that will cost up to $8 billion each year, when we haven’t updated our public school funding formulas to account for inflation since 2019? Won’t the new system just reduce the amount of funding available for the public schools the state is constitutionally obligated to provide? Or the funding available to attract, retain, and support dedicated educators with higher salaries, which the governor rightfully identifies as an emergency?” ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave has a full report here. 

FEDERAL FUNDING: Last week the Trump administration rescinded an earlier memo that had paused all federal grants and loans. The memo had caused widespread confusion, including within the education community regarding the memo’s impact on federal programs such as Title I funding for low-income schools and the Head Start program. The reversal came shortly after a federal judge had temporarily blocked the funding freeze amid uncertainty over the Trump administration’s legal authority.  

REGIONAL ADVOCACY CHALLENGE: ATPE members across the state are “RACking” up points in the Regional Advocacy Challenge. Members earn points by completing the ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP) State-Level Microcredential, taking action in Advocacy Central, posting in The Rotunda in the ATPE Online Community, and special pop-up events. Log in to the ATPE Online Community to see if your region is in the lead! We will be drawing our first $50 gift card for those participating in the first challenge, completing the State-Level Microcredential, on Feb. 17. Be sure you finish earning your ATPE MAP State-Level Microcredential before the drawing for a chance to win!  

2025 ATPE SUMMIT: Registration and housing are now open for the 2025 ATPE Summit, July 7–9 at the JW Marriott Austin Downtown! Don’t miss the 45th annual meeting of the ATPE House of Delegates, where members will adopt the 2025-26 ATPE Legislative Program, the document that guides all ATPE advocacy activities, as well as the ATPE Lobby Team’s post-session legislative update. Find more details and register at atpesummit.org. 

NEWS QUIZ: Test your smarts in this week’s Texas Tribune news quiz! See how well you’ve kept up with the headlines in Texas and maybe earn some bragging points along the way—especially when you share your results in the ATPE Online Community.