This summer, dozens of education-related laws were signed into law, with goals as diverse as improving school safety to giving parents more control over their children’s education. One of Texas’s new legislation shaping education. The largest line item in the state budget each biennium is spending for education. Over the next two years, Texas plans to spend around $59 billion of its general revenue on education, including school districts, community colleges, and universities. The state allocated $64 billion for 2022–2023.
The installation of panic alarm systems in every classroom and the presence of at least one armed security officer on each campus are now mandated for school districts. The state has increased safety money for schools to help with the expenditures. Parents will be able to choose whether their child needs to retake a grade from grades four through eight or a high school course, and “sexually explicit material” cannot be kept in school libraries. Additionally, districts must instruct pupils on fentanyl usage prevention and drug poisoning. Texas’s new legislation tied to higher education include a millions of funding for community colleges.
Texas’s New Legislation, Here’s the latest
Zoom in: House Bill 1605 will increase the accessibility of some educational resources for teachers, students, and parents, including those that were tested in Dallas ISD. “We believe that this will enhance instruction for all kids and free teachers to be as innovative and dynamic as they have always desired. Shannon Trejo, the chief academic officer for Dallas ISD, tells Axios, “Gotta celebrate good news where you find it.
Zooming out A $683 million budget increase for community colleges, a ban on diversity, equality, and inclusion offices at public universities, and limitations on transgender collegiate athletes are just a few of the Texas’s new legislation related to higher education.
Separately, according to a recent Annie E. Casey Foundation survey, Texas ranks 27th in education while placing 44th out of all states in terms of the general well-being of its students.
“State leaders have prioritised short-sighted public policies that benefit wealthy corporations at the expense of our kids,” Marisa Bono, CEO of the progressive think group Every Texan, said in a statement. “Rather than making adequate investments to prepare our children to lead Texas into the future.”
