By Ashley Bean Thornton Yesterday (October 19, 2023) Representative Gina Hinojosa (D), from Austin filed HB 177, which she and her supporters have dubbed the “Fully Fund our Future” act.   The email I received from the Texas Democrats this morning claims the bill… Raises teacher pay by $15,000 Reduces Classroom sizes Hires more school counselors…

By Ashley Bean Thornton I am not a fan of school voucher programs or Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), but our governor has said he will basically hold teacher pay raises and funds for other public school improvements hostage until a voucher bill is passed.  So, it feels like some kind of “voucher-like” program is inevitable.…

by Ashley Bean Thornton SB 1  was passed by the Texas Senate during special session 3 on October 12.  Next the Texas House will discuss it. The bill outlines an Education Savings Account (ESA) program for the state.  Here’s my summary of the gist of what’s in it…  Who would be eligible to receive an…

By Ashley Bean Thornton We all care about education in Texas.  Republicans and Democrats care.  I don’t have kids and I care. Employers care.  Parents have a direct and immediate reason to care. We all understand that we are better off, directly or indirectly, if children get the kind of education they need to have…

By Ashley Bean Thornton I attended the Texas Trib Fest a couple of weeks ago.  One of the most interesting sessions was a panel discussion with three members of the Texas House that was billed as “The War Over School Choice.”   The panel members were James Frank (R-Wichita Falls), James Talarico (D-Austin), and Barbara Gervin-Hawkins…

Doc Anderson was first elected as our District 56 Texas State Representative in 2004 and he has been serving ever since.  But, he has decided that this term will be his last. Pat Curry has declared to run for the vacant seat as a Republican.  Here’s the article in the Trib about his announcement: https://wacotrib.com/news/local/government-politics/charles-doc-anderson-56-texas-legislature-pat-curry/…

By Ashley Bean Thornton (This is Part 3 of a 3-part blog series about SB 763, a new law to allow Texas Public Schools to hire school chaplains.  Part 1 covers the nuts and bolts of what the new law says.  Part 2 talks about the role of the chaplain. In this post I explain…

By Ashley Bean Thornton (This is Part 2 of a 3-part blog series about SB 763, a new law to allow Texas Public Schools to hire school chaplains.  Part 1 covers the nuts and bolts of what the new law says.  This post talks about what it means to be a chaplain. – ABT) One…

By Ashley Bean Thornton (Part 1 of a 3-part blog series about a new law to allow Texas Public Schools to hire school chaplains.  This post just covers the nuts and bolts of what the bill says and doesn’t say.) What does SB 763 say?  One of the bills passed in the Texas Legislative session…

By Ashley Bean Thornton You know how you never notice silver Nissans until you buy a silver Nissan, then you start noticing all the silver Nissans out there?   I am having that experience with the idea of “enemy.” I wrote a blog post a little while back about my “enemy” and now I have started…