Teachers react to failed education legislation

AUSTIN, Texas — School may be out for the summer, but that doesn’t mean Tammy Conrad is done working for the year.  

“Not everybody has the time to go to the Capitol, and since I have the time, I feel like it’s my duty,” Conrad said. 

Conrad has been an educator for nearly 17 years. In May she attended a press conference at the steps of the Texas State Capitol speaking against Senate Bill 8, school vouchers.  

“To me, it doesn’t make sense. Why would we give our public money, money that we get from taxes, why would we give that money to private institutions? We need that money in public education. We are very under-funded,” she said.  

The regular 2023 legislative session is over. However, the governor may call several special sessions.  

SB8, for example, would have allowed families to use state funds to help pay for private school tuition, also known as vouchers.  

Conrad says lawmakers need to hear directly from teachers about what needs to change in public education, such as giving teachers raises, raising the student allotment and saying no to school vouchers.  

“I think it’s really important that legislatures hear from teachers, staff of public schools. We are here doing the job, we’re here every day working with students, we know what’s going on and they need to hear from us,” she said.

In neighboring Austin Independent School District, the district notes several legislative priorities hoping would take center stage during the legislative session.  

“Funding is our top priority,” Lynn Boswell, AISD school board trustee representing District 5, said. “That’s the case for people all over the state. I’m in touch with trustees in big cities, small towns throughout our region, throughout our state. Everyone knows that we need more funding, so that’s our biggest priority.” 

The district says school funding begins with an increase to the basic allotment.  

“Texas ranks about the bottom 10 in per-student funding,” she said. “We’re about $4,000 less than the national average.” 

HB 100, which failed to pass, would have given teachers raises while also creating education savings accounts also known as a school voucher program. 

“If we took that money that they are proposing to give to families for vouchers, if we took that and put that in public education we could have so much more,” Conrad said. “We could have more teachers, which would give us smaller class sizes. We could have more programs that would benefit students. I think it just makes sense to leave the money in public education.”