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Recap: Senate Education Committee Interim Hearing

May 27, 2022

• COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Educator Talent Pipelines
• Monitoring:
  • HB 3 (86^th Legislature), relating to public school finance and public education;
  • HB 1525 (87^th Legislature), relating to the public school finance system and public education;
  • HB 4545 (87^th Legislature), relating to the assessment of public school students, the establishment of a strong foundations grant program, and providing accelerated instruction for students who fail to achieve satisfactory performance on certain assessment instruments;
• Bond Efficiency
• Homestead Exemption

• More teachers are currently being employed than in past years.
• Student enrollment has stopped growing, a trend expected to continue as birth rates are down. Although there has been a noted increase in recent weeks, enrollment has not returned to pre-pandemic numbers.
• Interest in becoming a teacher has been declining over the years compared to interest in other professions.
• Recruiting teachers tends to become more challenging when there is a strong economy.
• Teacher attrition rates increased between the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, with a significant jump in retirements in 2021.
• Commissioner Morath shared several slides related to teacher pay, noting that teacher pay overall has increased. He specifically highlighted the Teacher Incentive Allotment, the requirement included in HB 3 (2019) to increase teacher wages and examples of school district methods for changing compensation.  
• See Commissioner Morath’s slides.

• Dr. Muri encouraged legislators to maintain flexibility permitted through Districts of Innovation and to provide sustainable funding for proven models to educator recruitment and retention, noting that most programs are grant funded, therefore not incentivized.  
• Dean Tanabe provided an overview of UTEP’s residency program (which is in its third year), noting that UTEP is tracking teacher retention data to determine if this strategy will result in increased teacher retention.
• Senator Creighton asked the panelists about classroom conduct and the challenges teachers face. Dr. Muri responded that an established counselor pipeline would help and would also help students have better access to mental health professionals. He stated that teachers and coaches are currently impromptu counselors but having more support would lead to better access. Watch the exchange.

• HB 1525 (87^th Legislative Session, 2021), the “cleanup” bill companion to HB 3 (86^th Legislative Session, 2019).   
• HB 4545 (87^th Legislative Session, 2021), which was passed to help improve school districts ability to accelerate student learning. He shared updates on appropriations the Legislature made to implement HB 4545, including providing an update on the Vetted Texas Tutor Corps and vetted vendor lists TEA has published. Commissioner Morath noted that despite efforts to accelerate learning, ultimately only 7 percent of students are catching up.
• See Commissioner Morath’s presentations on HB 1525 and HB 4545.

• Senator West asked Commissioner Morath what options the state has used in the past to address learning loss along with reading academies. Commissioner Morath spoke to the efficacy of preparation programs for teachers. Senator West expressed a desire for more information and more to be done regarding reliable models for measuring teacher preparation.
• Senator Schwertner asked about 60X30 Texas (now Building a Talent Strong Texas) issues and what legislators could expect regarding accelerating students that are far behind. Morath answered that recovery will be a multi-year process. 
• Senator Powell discussed ESSER funds, noting the state has spent $74 million of $3.977 billion available. Commissioner Morath agreed the usage of funds was light, but reassured the Committee that there is more spending to come. Some members of the Committee suggested that there may be administrative barriers delaying the use of these funds.

• TIA's value in teacher retention,
• The role of advising in supporting students to transition from secondary to postsecondary education, and
• The impact of additional time in the year for student achievement and support for teachers. Watch Mackey’s testimony here.

• Dr. Horton-Williams spoke on the positive effects of high impact tutoring. She offered suggestions on how to achieve the most success through tutoring with flexibility of scheduling, a narrowed scope of grades to serve, and focusing on math and reading.
• Superintendent Chambers spoke to how schools are currently spending federal funds. He stated that although schools may be trying to hire tutors, sometimes there is not an abundance of tutors. He said there is work to be done to continue to fix staffing to allow schools to have the supports they need.

• Stating that no trustee wants to raise taxes, but they are necessary for classroom facility maintenance, operations, and safety.
• Advocating for more information to be shared to promote greater transparency with voters making decisions regarding school district bond elections.  

• Dell Kramer with the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association; Leo Lopez, TEA Chief School Finance Officer; Abilene ISD Superintendent, Dr. David Young; and Andrew Kim with Comal ISD spoke on the Homestead Exemption and recapture.
• The Senate Finance Committee met on property taxes on May 23, which included, in part, a discussion on the Homestead Exemption. Watch the Senate Finance archived video here.