Texas Schools: Big Changes on the Horizon

Texas is buzzing with education talks. Lawmakers are looking to shake things up with a bunch of new bills. One big issue is money. Schools are feeling the pinch with budgets that haven't changed since 2019. Inflation is making things tough, and some districts are even talking about closing schools. Fort Worth ISD might shut down up to two dozen campuses. The plan? Boost the base funding per student by $220. But is that enough? School leaders want more to cover rising costs and improve teacher pay and safety. The state is also looking at how teachers are hired. More than 1 in 10 teachers in Texas don't have the right certification. This can be a problem because it's hard to know if they've had the right training. A new bill wants to limit what uncertified teachers can teach and offer districts money to get their teachers certified. Why? Because students with uncertified teachers might fall behind by as much as four months in learning. Another big change is coming to testing. The STAAR tests might be getting a makeover. Lawmakers want to make them shorter and maybe even replace them with something else. Why the change? Because high-stakes tests can be really stressful for kids. Plus, federal law only requires annual testing, not the current system. There's also talk about a new program that would let families use public money for private schools. This program, called an Education Savings Account (ESA), would give families 85% of what public schools get per student. But not everyone is on board. Democrats are against it, and it's been a tough sell in the past. So, what's next? Lawmakers are working on these issues, but it's a complex puzzle. They need to balance what's best for kids, what's fair for teachers, and what's possible with the state's budget. It's a big task, but Texas schools need some big changes.