What is a special session in Texas?
In Texas, the legislature meets every other year for a regular session. If an issue does not get resolved during a regular session, the Governor can order a 30-day special session to address specific issues that require immediate attention.
What topics can be addressed during a special session?
The topics of the special session are determined by the Governor. The Legislature can pass new bills during a special session; however, every bill must relate to the topics outlined by the Governor.
What are the topics for this current special session?
The special session includes bills related to immigration, education and COVID-19. Unfortunately, there is just one education item on the call -- "Legislation providing education savings accounts (ESAs) for all Texas children." You may have heard these ESAs referred to as “school vouchers.” The most recently proposed version of an ESA program this session creates an $8000 Education Savings Account for families to use toward private school tuition and other educational expenses. The program could fund up to 62,500 students, and 90% of those students must be low- to middle-income or a student with disabilities.
Wait! So there’s nothing in the proclamation related to school finance? Even though the legislature didn’t pass a school finance package during the regular session?
That's right. There is $5 billion set aside for K-12 education in the most recently passed Texas budget, but the Governor wants to see the Texas House take concrete action towards an ESA before he will allow the school finance dollars to be appropriated. That could take a while, because the House has already voted against voucher proposals this year.
How will the $5 billion be spent?
It's early in the process, so we do not yet know how the money will be spent. (Again, what we do know that the amount is set aside for K-12 education and that the Governor would like to see ESAs pass first.)
It is likely that the funding will go toward teacher pay, a basic allotment increase, and a few other allotment adjustments (i.e. special education, transportation, and school safety). The Senate is proposing a bill that focuses mostly on teacher pay increases, but we can anticipate many negotiated iterations before anything is finally passed. In fact, it’s entirely possible that we see multiple special sessions before a deal is struck between the two chambers.
Is the legislature considering anything that affects public charter schools?
Charter schools are public schools, so any change related to public education will affect our schools alongside ISDs. There is a charter-specific finance issue that could be addressed in a school finance bill: charter schools receive significantly less facilities funding. (You can read about that here.) The charter community has been advocating for a change in the formula to address this inequity.