The 89th Texas Legislature meeting is set for Jan. 14, 2025. While the event’s agenda includes a broad range of topics, many of the points fall under the education system and children’s safety. However, the majority of the adolescent demographic is unaware of how this legislature meeting could impact their lives and schooling.
In order to understand the current effect of the 89th session, some contextualization is needed. Regular sessions commence every two years, which then run on a 60 day calendar, unless the governor calls for a special session. House committee meetings are generally required to be public hearings considering the topics of discussion affect the general public. During this time, state level bills are introduced leading to the decision on whether they should be sent to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Considering legislative sessions only occur every two years, there is a stack list of topics to be discussed. For the sake of relevance, let’s only look into agenda items relating to children’s safety and education.
One part of the agenda is to ensure transparency in Texas school finances, an ongoing issue at LTHS and Frisco ISD (FISD). Parents, students, and even some staff members have made comments and complaints on the usage of our limited finances. It is common to find various community members wondering how money is used when their school district can afford one priority, but not another one.
During the Oct. 15 FISD board of trustees meeting, FISD’s director of government affairs and community engagement, Megan DeWolfe, shared a list of priorities which related to the upcoming state session.
As already mentioned, a major issue with multiple school districts, including FISD, is regulation and transparency of funding. At the meeting, DeWolfe stated there is a hope for the creation of an ongoing inflationary adjustment in terms of the school’s funding formula. This also includes dealing with the changing costs of services and programs.
Such a priority arguably most directly affects the student population. Without these formulas, all special programs, field trips, and guest speakers would go away. Now, these examples are some of the bigger educational privileges. But, a lack of a funding formula hurts even simpler areas such as the ability to print paper tests for each and every student.
Another aspect of the agenda was to improve mental health services and define “the best interest of the child.” Currently, most schools do not offer many mental health resources, and the few resources given rarely prioritize a student’s well-being. The idea of improving these services is highly connected to the discussion on the “best interest of the child” because after COVID there has been a growing epidemic in children’s mental health.
One suggested solution to this from the FISD community was the creation of an advisory board to study and build recommendations on the effectiveness of supporting mental health in students and comprehensive school counseling programs.
The creation of a board with such focuses and goals would greatly take a step in prioritizing the well-being of students and children.
Overall, as the 89th Texas Legislature Session approaches, students should be made aware of how this meeting impacts them. Older community members who have resources and a voice for change should do their best to aid and educate their children/students.
- Resources
- Texas House of Representatives Website: https://house.texas.gov/
Official Legislative Process in Texas https://www.tlc.texas.gov/docs/legref/legislativeprocess.pd
