Priority #1 – Expand Funding for Safety & Security, Including Student Mental Health & Wellness

• Substantially increase school safety allotment with greater local control
• Provide a new allotment for mental health and wellness for students for prevention and early intervention
• Provide grant or state funding for infrastructure and capital projects based on local needs and local control to further harden school facilities 

Priority #3 – Adequately Fund Schools

• Modify formulas to ensure greater equity in funding across districts, including:
  • Increase the basic allotment, adjusted annually for inflation
  • Base funding on student enrollment instead of percentage of attendance 
  • Reincorporate the Cost of Education Index to account for the cost-of-living differences between regions in the state 
  • Fully fund the Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMA) that was recently reduced by approximately 60%
• Provide sufficient resources to attract and retain teachers including affordable healthcare and benefits 
• Provide funding to promote growth in Texas’ teaching workforce, including alternative teacher certification programs to address the growing teacher shortage in Texas.
• Provide full funding and expanded opportunities for virtual education in traditional public schools that choose to offer it
• Adjust the weights from the State to better align with actual expenses 
• Oppose any and all efforts to divert public funds into private uses
• Limit the expansion process of for-profit entities in public education and require transparency and standardization in charter school operations
• Fully fund all unfunded mandates
• Convert two copper (Tier II Level II) pennies to two golden (Tier II Level I) pennies 
• Allow local discretion rather than state-mandated program percentages 
• Fully fund the Teacher Retirement System with adjustments for inflation 
• Ensure alignment between Advanced Placement (AP)  and two-year college courses and four-year universities to ensure students can transfer credits 

Priority #4 – Create Meaningful and Fair Assessments and Accountability Standards

• Advocate for an accountability system that does not lower a district’s overall rating  for a single underperforming campus
• Support an accountability system that offers a fair assessment of school district performance and an accurate accounting of holistic school quality where periodic system changes do not have an immediate impact on a district’s accountability rating without a phase-in or hold harmless period and do not use accountability metrics for students no longer in the district.
• Expand indicators of achievement in the school accountability system to include recognition for advanced coursework, credit by examination, single and full-grade acceleration, and project-based learning opportunities
• Make modifications to HB 4545 to preserve intent but better apply necessary flexibility by:
  • Districts should have the ability to monitor student progress and adjust instructional plans accordingly
  • Students opting out of STAAR testing should have the opportunity to be reassessed at the beginning of the year to determine HB 4545 needs
• Advocate that the state student assessment program be limited to only those assessments required to meet ESSA (federal) requirements
• Oppose A – F campus and district ratings that oversimplify the complex work of schools and incentivize teaching to the test

Priority #5 – Preserve Local Control to Face Unique Needs of the Community 

• Continue to encourage parental involvement in their children’s education 
• Preserve the accountability and governance structure of locally elected school boards and administrations 
• Continue to allow local control over local elections 
• Preserve and expand District of Innovation flexibilities