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Protecting HB 3

January 15, 2021
The landmark reforms (House Bill 3, 86th Regular Session) that passed the Texas Legislature in 2019 demonstrated the power of Philanthropy Advocates’ members and the larger advocacy community to generate broad-based, bipartisan support for consequential, critical, historic reforms of our state’s public education system.

Now, two years later, Texas’ 87th legislative session will require our lawmakers to make difficult decisions, including the unenviable task of crafting a budget during an economic recession.

While the Comptroller’s Biennial Revenue Estimate (BRE) suggests the state’s budget outlook is not as grim as anticipated last year as the pandemic began, the pandemic has shined a light on a number of issues related to equity and access across education, health care and other areas. There’s a clear need to prioritize kids and families in discussions regarding public education funding and policy this Session, especially for low income students and students of color, those constituencies hit hardest by COVID.
 
That’s why Philanthropy Advocates is standing alongside a coalition of educators, public education advocates, businesses and allies in hopes that lawmakers will decide to maintain funding for all of House Bill 3's transformational reforms.

The letter signed by 36 individuals and organizations across the state shines a light on the progress and promise of House Bill 3 from improving student outcomes to ensuring greater equity for Texas schools and the students they serve.

It’s the same sort of broad-based advocacy that Philanthropy Advocates constructed, convened and mobilized in 2018 in support of school finance reform leading up to and during the 86th Texas Legislature. That “big tent” effort united philanthropy, the business community, public education advocates and other partners, driving home the message, grounded in data and research, that money matters in public education.
 
Philanthropy Advocates continues to empower Texas’ philanthropic community to invest and engage in public and higher education policy and advocacy. Our work protects, promotes, and improves public and higher education so that all Texas students can achieve their educational goals from cradle to career.

With work underway at the State Capitol, students, parents, teachers, and school districts are relying on legislators to maintain the funding for critical education investments. Our state will not fully recover until our public schools recover.

Read the coalition letter here.

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