Legislative Priorities 2023

Round Rock ISD
Legislative Priorities 2023

SCHOOL FINANCE

The Issue:
School districts are dealing with rising costs at every turn, yet the state has not raised the Basic Allotment per student in three years. Students’ needs post-pandemic — academic, emotional and behavioral — have never been greater and recruiting and retaining educators has never been more challenging, but resources for public schools remain flat.

We Support:

  • Increasing the Basic Allotment to provide more funding for public schools across the state.
  • Basing funding on a district’s enrollment rather than Average Daily Attendance.
  • Indexing the Basic Allotment to keep up with inflation.

STATE TESTING & ACCOUNTABILITY

The Issue:
The state’s accountability system focuses almost exclusively on one factor — the STAAR test. Texas needs and deserves an accountability system that incorporates diverse factors that parents care about and that truly reflect school performance. Assessments should be used as a diagnostic tool to inform instructional decisions that support individual students.

We Support:

  • Revamping the state’s A-F rating system and accelerated instruction requirements to better measure true school success and reflect parent priorities.
  • Modernizing the A-F accountability system to include non test-based factors and more career readiness indicators.
  • Amending HB 4545 to empower parents to opt out of the 30-hour requirement, allowing the school district to distribute resources appropriately for students most in need of intervention and acceleration.

SENATE BILL 1

The Issue:
Private schools do not provide the same level of academic and financial transparency as public schools, nor are they held accountable to the state for student outcomes. Funding private-school vouchers with taxpayer money drains resources from local public school districts which stand ready to serve every student and are charged with meeting each child’s individual academic needs.

We Support:

  • Protecting taxpayer dollars by ensuring the state only funds public schools.

TEACHER RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

The Issue:
Texas is nearing a crisis due to a shortage of educators. The pressure on teachers has never been greater as they manage the fallout of the pandemic. Educators are dealing with learning loss, mounting mental and behavioral needs of students, crushing inflation, and historically low pay for these dedicated professionals who hold advanced degrees. Many are leaving the profession for more lucrative — and often easier — jobs and not enough are entering the profession.

We Support:

  • Focusing on recruiting and retaining highly qualified educators.
  • Valuing educators as the highly skilled professionals they are.
  • Increasing the Basic Allotment, providing districts with the financial flexibility to address urgent needs, and creating incentives for joining the profession.

SCHOOL SAFETY

The Issue:
School safety is understandably top of mind for parents, teachers, campus staff members and district
leaders, but districts are under-resourced when it comes to this crucial issue.

We Support:

  • Prioritizing student safety by giving districts adequate funding and flexibility to address local needs.
  • Increasing the School Safety Allotment (currently $9.37 per ADA) to at least $200 per enrolled student.
  • Giving districts also need the flexibility to leverage those resources to meet the unique needs of
    their community.

>> Download PDF version of Round Rock ISD Legislative Priorities 2023

Contact Your Legislators

Round Rock ISD is represented by four State Representatives and two State Senators.

Legislative Links

To learn more about ballot issues, please refer to the following web sites for information: