Round Rock ISD trustees discussed the district's legislative priorities for a special legislative session focused on education Oct. 19, calling on lawmakers to provide adequate funding for public schools.
What happened?
In response to bills under consideration at the state Legislature, trustees discussed some updated legislative priorities regarding school funding and accountability brought forth by board President Amber Landrum and Place 4 trustee Alicia Markum. Markum said the updated priorities are intended to break down some of the issues trustees are advocating for on behalf of the district for community members.
The legislative priorities focus on the funding of public education, accompanied by a resolution calling on state officials to fully fund public education and refrain from allowing public funds to be used to fund private education. Trustees approved the resolution that night.
What they're saying
"Any attempt to defund education has a direct impact on your community," Landrum said. "It has a direct impact on businesses moving to your area. Economic development is very important, and one of the big factors when companies decide to invest in a community is to look at the quality of the schools."
The specifics
The new legislative priorities are listed in district documents available here.
They include the following:
- Invest in public education to address pandemic learning loss, and allow districts to increase teacher salaries to recruit and retain high-quality educators.
- Increase the school safety allotment from $9.37 per average daily attendance to $200 per student.
- Adjust the Texas Education Agency's A-F rating system to include nontest-based factors and create flexibility in accelerated learning requirements mandated by House Bill 4545 to allow districts to allocate resources according to student needs.
- Focus on retention and recruitment of teachers.
- Prevent the use of state funds for private education.
Language for the resolution is available here.
