Allen ISD has its legislative priorities in order ahead of the 2027 Texas legislative session scheduled to start in January.
What’s happening?
The district board of trustees approved four priorities focused on teacher recruitment and retention, school funding, local decision-making, and accountability for all publicly funded education organizations. The Sept. 28 action comes about a week after Acting Superintendent Kim McLaughlin spoke about legislative priorities during the Allen Chamber of Commerce’s State of Education event.
Kyle Penn, the district's assistant superintendent of business and technology, said the district builds a list of legislative priorities that can be shared with elected officials before the next session. After board approval, district officials will develop informational materials that can be referred to when meeting with elected officials, Penn said.
Quote of note
Board president Polly Montgomery said they have multiple opportunities to meet with members of the Texas Legislature ahead of the 2027 session.
“We start now in reaching out, which is why it’s so important to get these priorities tightened up and we’re all on the same page,” she said.
Breaking it down
The board’s four approved priorities are listed below as they appear in the Sept. 28 agenda. At least one board member spoke about each priority before approval.
Support the recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers and support staff
The first priority mentions advocating to strengthen the state’s Teacher Retirement System and support attainable housing options for educators and staff. Board Vice President Bill Parker said the days when the district received 50-70 applications per open teacher position are over.
“Increasingly, the economics of teaching—the realities of teaching—make it hard for us to retain and support and recruit staff,” he said.
Adequately fund public schools and state mandates
The second priority mentions advocating for the state to fully fund school safety requirements, and increase and index the basic allotment. Board member Veronica Yost said the district receives $1.1 million from the Texas Education Agency for school safety requirements but it costs $5.4 million to meet the state mandates.
“If you’re going to hold us accountable and tell us we have to do these, then they need to be able to fund those mandates because we have to comply and do that and without the proper funding that hurts us as a district,” Yost said.
Preserve local decision-making to best support students
The third priority mentions advocating for the preservation of local governance and local decision-making. Board member Becca Kinnear said this priority is “less about advocating for something new and more about leaving things as they are.”
“What we’re really looking at is encouraging our lawmakers to understand that our independent school districts need to maintain independence,” she said.
Ensure accountability for all publicly funded education organizations
The fourth priority mentions advocating for academic accountability across all schools that receive “state-funded education dollars.” Parker said that includes private schools that receive vouchers through the Texas Education Freedom Accounts program.
“If you are a private entity and you are receiving state funds, then you should open the books,” Parker said. “You should play by the same rules as public schools.”
