Texas Leading the Nation on Educational Reform
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas Senator Florence (R-Plano) is again serving as Chair of the Finance Committees Education Subcommittee to work on the Education portion of the states budget. This means that for the next three weeks Shapiro will be leading efforts to examine how education dollars are being spent evaluate the effectiveness of spending & working diligently to come up with a strategy for funding education.
Currently Education and Health & Human Services funding constitutes 86 of the states budget which makes it essential that spending priorities in these sections of the budget be accurately assessed before any other of Texas financial obligations can be reviewed.
1ST TRANSPORTATION & HOMELAND SECURITY HEARING of 82nd LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The Senate Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security held its first hearing of the 82nd Legislative Session to hear testimony on transportation funding comprehensive development agreements (CDAs) and regional mobility authorities (RMAs). Of particular interest to Senator Shapiro was a discussion of the use of Proposition 12 bond funds.
In 2007 Texas voters approved Proposition 12 giving the state $5B in bond authority for use on transportation projects and of that total bond amount $1B
has been approved and is being spent on projects to relieve congestion.
Senator Shapiro shared her concerns and strongly questioned TxDOT about the decision to skip over the Metroplex in its allocation of Proposition 12 project dollars and instead make the allocations to other parts of the state despite their own acknowledgment that the Metroplex hosts more than 30 of the states top 100 most congested roadways.
In fact of the top 10 congested roadways four are in the counties of Dallas or Tarrant (for instance #3 on this list is LBJ between I-35E& U.S. Highway 75).
During her time in public service Senator Shapiro has been a strong advocate for transportation funding and she remains committed to seeing to it that the citizens of the DFW region get the funding they need to ensure safe and reliable roads.
FLORENCE SHAPIROS EDUCATION CORNER -- Review of the Sessions First Education Committee Hearing
Hundreds of District superintendents school board members and teacher organizations provided testimony. Their testimony along with a video archive of the hearing can be found here.
The Senator wants to reduce the numerous restrictions and directives that are currently hamstringing school districts so that learning environments can be improved for Texas students.
As a first step
Senator Shapiro filed Senate Bill 468 a school mandate relief bill which will return control over personnel matters operations and resource allocation to school districts. The filed version of SB 468 is just a
starting point and will be further developed with the input of those in the field. Ultimately this legislation will aim to remove barriers in order to improve operations at schools across the state.
Recognizing that the states economic future is very closely tied to a strong education system Shapiro has often said Every session is an education session--and this session is certainly no exception.
SHAPIRO SPEAKS TO THE TEXAS CENTER FOR EDUCATION POLICY
Senator Shapiro was featured on a panel titled Leading the Nation: A Texas Retrospective on Educational Reform along with the Chairman of the House Public Education Committee Representative Rob Eissler and former House Public Education Chairman Representative Paul Sadler.
The panel discussed contemporary issues in education reform and took questions from the audience made up of business community and educational association members.
Before the panel discussion commenced Senator Shapiro was recognized with the Texas Center for Education Policys Award for Leadership in Education. Established to honor leadership in education this award is given to Legislators who have made notable contributions to education reform in Texas.
SHAPIRO MEETS WITH THE IRVING CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Senator discusses Texas current budget situation and what it means for the future of education On Tues. Feb. 8 as part of Irving Day at the Capitol Senator Shapiro presented Chris Wallace President and Chief Executive Officer of the
Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce a resolution honoring Irvings many outstanding contributions to Texas.
The Senator then spoke to the group at length about Texas current budget outlook and what it means for the future of education in Texas. She also fielded a number of good questions from the audience.
The Chamber like many other business-oriented groups across the state is keenly focused on public education in Texas and funding shortfalls.
SENATOR SHAPIRO ASKS DID YOU KNOW?
Ever wondered how inclement weather affects a schools schedule? Heres information regarding weather-related school closures make-up days and waivers All districts have two bad weather days embedded in their calendar and must use up those days before being eligible for a waiver. Districts can apply for a waiver on/after day three of school being canceled.
What is a waiver for weather-related school cancellations? This waiver if approved exempts districts from making up three or more school days while still allowing districts to be paid for those missed days.
You might be wondering do districts have to file a waiver if they missed three or more days?
The answer is no; however districts will not be paid for any missed days. It is preferable for districts to make up missed days.
This naturally leads to another question--what is the process for making up missed days? Options include: extending the length of the school day school on Saturday adding additional days at the end of the school year or using staff development days (which requires a waiver).
