Date: 11/10/2023
Subject: LWVTX Capitol Action Report - 11/10/23
From: Elisabeth MacNamara
Dear ~~first_name~~,
And the beat goes on. Having failed to pass the educational savings accounts or immigration legislation, the Legislature is back in session for the fourth time since the regular session. The Governor’s call includes teacher pay this time. Whether the House and the Senate can reconcile their differences to pass any legislation this session will depend a lot on the ability of advocates to keep up the pressure.
For the League of Women Voters, as much as we support federalism and humane treatment of migrants, our focus will be on stopping vouchers. While the immigration legislation is far more likely to be resolved between the two houses, it is nevertheless unconstitutional on its face, which will allow a legal challenge as soon as the legislation is signed into law.
In League,
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The League of Women Voters of Texas continues to work tirelessly to advocate for all Texans. Donate today to support our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy!
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| Public Funds Should Stay in Public Schools!
The Governor and House Leadership are stalemated on educational savings accounts. It is important that House members continue to oppose educational savings and support increased school funding. Use our Action Center to write a letter to your legislators and ask them to oppose educational savings accounts.
| Educational Savings Accounts SB 1 Advocacy Toolkit
LWV Texas is against school vouchers in any form, including taxpayer-funded educational savings accounts to subsidize private schools. Numerous independent studies show they do not produce greater academic gains than public schools and do not provide a way out of poverty for poor students. The vast majority of our students (more than 90%) still need high-quality, fully funded public schools.
The LWVTX Advocacy Committee and volunteers put together a toolkit for community partners to use to talk about and advocate against Educational Savings Accounts. Use this toolkit to write a letter to your editor, submit an op-ed, or contact your legislators. View the toolkit here.
| Announcement from the Coalition for Public Schools
Taxpayer-funded private school vouchers have continued to fail in Texas because they're bad policy and bad politics. The state of play is no different today than it was during the regular session or subsequent special sessions when a bipartisan coalition stopped multiple attempts to force vouchers through the legislative process.
After reviewing HB 1, filed in the 4th special session, our coalition remains in agreement–no bargain on any form of vouchers is worth diverting Texans’ hard-earned tax dollars to unaccountable private schools and risk hurting children in public schools, which are the foundation of our Texas workforce.
Read the full announcement here.
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League of Women Voters of Texas
1212 Guadalupe St. #107
Austin Texas, 78701
(512) 472-1100
lwvtexas@lwvtexas.org
lwvtexas.org
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