Texas School Voucher Update, Texas Dems Unveil $40 Billion Budget While Gov. Abbott Plans to Fight It Tooth and Nail With Special Sessions Galore
Hello SAISD Parents and San Antonio Community Members,
This week has been long and overwhelming as we try to stop the school voucher system again. The Texas House Democratic Caucus unveiled a $40 billion dollar bill this week to fully fund our public schools. The bill would give teachers a $15,000 raise and all staff a $5,000 raise. It would also raise the basic allotment per student to $8,947 bringing us closer to matching the national average.
The House Bill is excellent, but the bill will only be heard if our Governor puts this on the special session calendar or agenda. If our state passes a school voucher system, we know that only some students would qualify because the system would start with 25,000 students and add 25,000 more each year until 2027. The voucher bill that the Governor wants includes $1,000 per student for home-schoolers and $8,000 for private school students. So, once again, we were faced with another long week of trying to stop the voucher bill that would defund public schools.
Parents, you already know that private and online schools don’t have to meet the exact requirements and accountability as our public schools. We are living in a scary time because as our children struggled through COVID-19 and our Governor wants them to struggle once again. We need to fix the public school system we have now, and if we do, our children will receive a better education because the schools will have more resources. I know that these past few months, there’s been an endless amount of news about school vouchers and many other educational issues which has been hard on all of us. But know that I will not leave your side because it’s my job to be your voice and to help everyone.
In this upcoming November 7th Election, there are 14 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, so we should go over these for an informed vote. All these are important, but the ones that will affect retired teachers, colleges, and property taxes are below:
Proposition 5 – HJR 3 “The constitutional amendment relating to the Texas University Fund, which provides funding to certain institutions of higher education to achieve national prominence as major research universities and drive the state economy.”
Proposition 8 – HJR 125 “The constitutional amendment creating the broadband infrastructure fund to expand high-speed broadband access and assist in the financing of connectivity projects.”
Proposition 9 – HJR 2, regular session “The constitutional amendment authorizing the 88th Legislature to provide a cost-of-living adjustment to certain annuitants of the Teacher Retirement System.
Proposition 4 – HJR 2 from the second special session “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to establish a temporary limit on the maximum appraised value of real property other than a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes; to increase the amount of the exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district applicable to residence homesteads from $40,000 to $100,000; to adjust the amount of the limitation on school district ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect increases in certain exemption amounts; to except certain appropriations to pay for ad valorem tax relief from the constitutional limitation on the rate of growth of appropriations; and to authorize the legislature to provide for a four-year term of office for a member of the board of directors of certain appraisal districts.”
Proposition 4 is about changing our property taxes and Proposition 9 is the one that would help our retired teachers and, if passed, would give them a cost of living raise. So, please remember that November 7th to vote on these amendments. All of these are important; if you want to read about them, you can go to VoteTexas.gov or see page 4 for what these propositions mean to you.
Lastly, please email me at lena.lopez@saobserver.com if you have any questions or concerns. Parents, know that at this point we need a miracle because our Governor will not negotiate unless the House passes the school voucher bill. He has threatened to keep calling special sessions until he gets what he wants. At this point our Governor needs to stop throwing a fit and grow up and learn to work with others.
Have a Blessed Week,
Lena Lopez
