Legislative Priorities

Increase per-student funding for public schools to meet the needs of students and index it to inflation.

• The historic and sweeping House Bill 3 passed by the 86th Texas Legislature provides percentile threshold requirements for any increase to the basic allotment. The basic allotment is the primary mechanism used to fund Texas public schools. Texas public schools need a $1,340 increase to the basic allotment to make up for inflation since 2020. Every increase in the basic allotment, triggers additional funding for key programs and state priorities. In MISD, an increase of $1,340 would mean an:
  • Average Teacher Pay Raise of $5,372.
  • Increase in Special Education Funding of $11.7 Million.
  • Increase in School Safety Funding of $860,000.

Fully Fund programs and requirements enacted by the state legislature.

The ‘Deficits’ below reflect the dollars spent by school districts statewide, and MISD specifically, above what is provided by the state.

• Fully Fund required police officers and physical security measures for each campus.
  • Texas: $747 Million Deficit
  • MISD: $10.4 Million Deficit

• Fully Fund special education services.
  • Texas: $2.2 Billion Deficit
  • MISD: $21.8 Million Deficit
     
• Fully Fund transportation costs.
  • Texas: $1.6 Billion Deficit
  • MISD: $17 Million Deficit
     
• Fully Fund required full-day Pre-K programs.
   
• Fully Fund schools based on enrollment instead of attendance.

Provide meaningful assessment and accountability that holistically measures school performance.

• Establish a comprehensive accountability system that includes meaningful, diversified data points, as well as flexible measures that parents and local communities value.
• Revamp the accountability system to reduce an over-reliance on STAAR and restore legislative intent emphasizing work force development by restoring the proportion of A-F Accountability weighted to CCMR. Limit STAAR test scores to 50% of any domain or the overall score for districts and schools in the state’s accountability ratings system.
• Implementation of a minimum one-year grace period in the assignment of campus and district rating following significant changes to STAAR/End of Course exams and/or the state accountability system.
• Advocate for an accountability system that does not automatically lower a district’s overall or domain performance rating of A to a rating of B if the district has even one campus with an overall or domain performance rating of D or F.
• Advocate for extensive review and stakeholder input, including potential impact on the A-F rating system, prior to any statutory changes to the state assessment system such as through-year-testing or a new version of the current STAAR system.
• Advocate that the state student assessment program be limited to only those assessments required to meet ESSA (federal) requirements.
• Remove all high-stakes testing consequences for high school students.
• Advocate for local discretion in instructional planning to support struggling students and the repeal of inflexible state-level requirements.

Demand public accountability for public dollars.

• We oppose the transfer of public education funds to nonpublic education entities, such as vouchers and education savings accounts (ESAs).
• Any school or educational entity that receives public funds should be held to the same standards for student outcomes, fiscal performance, open records and meetings, student services, and other forms of transparency.
• We oppose the further expansion of publicly funded charter schools, including increases in the number of campuses under existing charters. We support increased transparency and accountability with checks and balances for new and expanding charter schools in high-performing school districts.