Texas Leaders Adopt Spending Cap for Next Budget The Legislative Budget Board voted unanimously Monday to set the state’s growth rate at 11.68 percent for its next two-year budget, about 1 percent higher than the spending cap for the current budget. The decision comes as state officials ... Keep Reading
Educational Highlights
Arnold Public Affairs Educational Highlights – November 21
This week the State Board of Education (SBOE) identified Legislative Priorities. These are items that the members of the SBOE will advocate for during the upcoming legislative session that begins January 13, 2015. Set aside 100% of annual distribution made by PSF to ASF funding and ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights – November 17
This week is a busy one. On Monday the Senate Education Committee, chaired by Senator and Lt. Gov.-elect Dan Patrick, will meet to consider vouchers and other school choice options. Later in the week the State Board of Education (SBOE) will meet. Upcoming November 18-21 State Board ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights – November 7
Statewide Races Tuesday was election day and, for the first time since 1906, all statewide offices in Texas will be held by newly elected officials. All statewide offices will continue to be held by Republicans. Governor: Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) defeated Sen. Wendy Davis ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights – October 29
TEA Applies to Feds for Pre-K Grant; Commissioner Includes Voucher Model in Grant TEA has submitted an application for a federal preschool expansion grant and is calling the proposal the Texas Prekindergarten Expansion Grant (PEG). The grant will be jointly administered by the U.S. Department of ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights – October 24
Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff noted the agency has taken a number of steps in the last several months to facilitate the implementation of HB5. Two new courses, statistics and algebraic reasoning, will be available for math credit in time for the 2015-16 school year. The Texas Virtual ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights – October 10
This was a busy week at the Texas Capitol. More than a dozen committees held hearings to consider interim charges. Interim charges offer policymakers an opportunity to study items of importance prior to the start of the Texas Legislative Session, a five month session that begins in January 2015. ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights September 26
The State Board of Education (SBOE) met last week for four days. As you will see below, they spent quite a bit of time on textbook issues. The board will attend an October workshop to further discuss. The SBOE approved the TEKS four years ago, but is just now adopting instructional materials. In ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights September 12
Agenda Posted for the September State Board of Education Meeting The majority of the agenda for the State Board of Education's September 16-19 meeting has been posted. The four-day meeting will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday with a public hearing on instructional materials submitted for ... Keep Reading
Arnold Public Affairs Education Highlights August 29
August 29, 2014 Judge Dietz has released his decision of the constitutionality of the Texas system of school finance. The Dietz ruling declares the funding system unconstitutional on multiple counts: “The Court finds that the Texas school finance system effectively imposes a state property tax ... Keep Reading