Bob Popinski is the director of policy for Raise Your Hand Texas, an Austin-based organization committed to improving public education. He spoke with Community Impact Newspaper in late December about the 87th legislative session, which began Jan. 12. 
What are some of Raise Your Hand’s legislative priorities?
Our first and foremost [priority] is to make sure public education is funded fully, especially during the time of COVID. I lived through the 2011 budget cuts with public education when [the state] cut $5.4 billion from school districts. ... It really took about 10 years to recover from the Great Recession and what occurred in 2011, so we’re hoping that we can get through this session without cutting public education at all and hopefully actually investing more in programs that are making a difference. ... First and foremost, we’re going to protect and be vocal about protecting some of the programs that are near and dear to Raise Your Hand’s heart, which is full-day prekindergarten. That was passed during House Bill 3 [in 2019]. ... A fairly big issue this session is, ‘What does virtual learning and remote learning look like moving forward?’ ... Broadband access is going to be another issue.
Are you seeing school districts across the state fall short of enrollment projections?
