The Future of Public Education

Educate Texas and the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium proudly sponsored the Texas Tribune's The Future of Public Education event April 1-2, 2019 in Austin, Texas. During the The Texas Tribun's two-day conversation on education policy in Texas, panels addressed an array of topics, including the future of school finance, the importance of early childhood education, accountability, teacher preparation, social and emotional learning, demographic inevitability, the high school-to-college pipeline and the demand for a workforce that can meet the challenges of our booming economy.

Speakers included: Mike Morath, Texas education commissioner; state Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, chair of the House Public Education Committee; state Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, vice chair of the House Public Education Committee; Raymund Paredes, Texas commissioner of higher education; state Rep. Ken King, R-Canadian; Betsy Price, mayor of Fort Worth; Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education; Ruth Huggero Hughs, chair of the Texas Workforce Commission; Robert Kaplan, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Superintendents Michael Hinojosa of Dallas ISD, LaTonya Goffney of Aldine ISD, Art Cavazos of Harlingen Consolidated ISD and Kim Alexander of Roscoe ISD; Libby Doggett, former deputy assistant secretary for policy and early learning at the U.S. Department of Education; Todd Williams, chairman and CEO of The Commit Partnership; Tom Torkelson, founder and CEO of IDEA Public Schools; Miguel Solis, former Dallas ISD trustee and candidate for Dallas mayor; John Fitzpatrick, executive director of Educate Texas; Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds, vice president of policy for ExcelinEd; and Cody Huie, vice president of programs for Raise Your Hand Texas.