ATPE Executive Director Shannon Holmes has the following statement on Gov. Greg Abbott’s expanded call for the third special session of the 88th Legislature:

“Despite the governor’s assurance that he has had ‘productive conversations’ with Lt. Gov. Patrick and Speaker Phelan, the viewpoint of the Texas public education community remains unchanged. There is no place for a private school voucher in our Texas education system.

“We are disappointed that House leadership will bow to political pressure and compromise the Texas public schools that are the very backbone of Texas communities. We very much need to address issues such as teacher pay and school safety, and they should not be held hostage by this needless attempt to create a government entitlement program.

“We also caution the public about the promise to phase out the STAAR test. We saw voucher proponents run this play in the regular session—tempt lawmakers with a popular idea that’s short on details. Any change to the accountability system must be thoroughly vetted, not rushed through to score political points.

“House members have the opportunity to take a stand. They need to vote against vouchers and only support a standalone school finance and teacher pay bill. The Senate has sent one to them in SB 2. Pass it and send it to the governor.”

About the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE)
Founded in 1980, ATPE is the leading educators’ association in Texas with approximately 90,000 members statewide. With its strong collaborative philosophy, ATPE speaks for classroom teachers, administrators, and future, retired, and para-educators and works to create better opportunities for Texas’ more than five million public school students. | atpe.org