Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation praised the release of the Texas House Select Committee for Education Opportunity and Enrichment’s report, focused on ensuring all Texas children have equal educational opportunity and the freedom to obtain a quality education.
“I applaud Chairman Buckley, and the members of the committee, for this excellent start as we expand educational opportunities for kids across the state of Texas,” said Mandy Drogin, campaign director for TPPF’s Next Generation Texas campaign. “I look forward to working with the Legislature to empower parents and teachers in the upcoming special session.”
Based on the report, we expect to see the following reforms included in the upcoming special session:
Key Reforms for Parents:
- Transparency & Quality: Promote early childhood literacy by offering transparency to parents about their child’s reading progress and resources that they can use to support their child at home.
- Respect: An efficient public school grievance process lasting no longer than 120 days.
- Choice: Reform school district transfer policies so that children can transfer and not be charged tuition for a public school.
- Choice: Establish Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which provide education opportunity, quality, and freedom.
Key Reforms for Teachers:
- Preparation: Fund a Teacher Residency Program to increase the pipeline of high-quality teachers who are ready to start strong on their first day in the classroom.
- Compensation: Increase funding to increase teacher salaries, including by expanding the Teacher Incentive Allotment, which offers 6-figure salaries to great teachers.
- Classroom Discipline: Reform policies to allow teachers to remove from the classroom students with especially problematic behavior.
To view the full report, please click here.