Helpful Notice on Vouchers & Other Problematic Bills that will get heard this Wednesday in the Texas Senate

Student, Friends and Colleagues:

Be duly warned. Wednesday morning, Vouchers (Senate Bill 8) and other

harmful bills are getting heard in the Texas Senate in two days as follows:

• 
  HB 900 by Patterson - This bill will ban books about LGBTQIA+ issues from school libraries.

• HB 1605 by Buckley - This bill will effectively require teachers to teach to a script, penalizing them for deviations from a standardized curriculum; it will provide a low threshold to trigger a curriculum review, which could be easily manipulated by conservative special interests.

These bills are anti-democratic and promise to be devastating to teachers' work and public education, as whole. There is no independent funding stream for vouchers. It all comes out of the same place, our hard-earned tax dollars. 

Great instructions below on what actions you can take whether you can—or cannot—make it to the Capitol this coming Wednesday morning.

Angela Valenzuela

Katie Naranjo

Chair, Travis County Democratic Party

Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are working overtime to push vouchers through the Legislature this session. Regardless of whether they call it "school choice," "parental rights," or any other euphemism, we know that giving our tax dollars to private schools that aren't required to meet the same standards and accommodate all the students our public schools do, would be a disaster.    The GOP's big voucher bill this session is Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), and it's set for a hearing on Wednesday. Not only does this bill seek to funnel public money to private schools, it also censors classroom discussions of LGBTQIA+ subjects, similar to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.   Pro-voucher special interests are planning to show up in droves to support this bill. We need to make sure our public school students, teachers, parents and supporters have a voice in that hearing.   Read on to find out which anti-public school bills are up for hearings this week, and how you can take action.

Hearing on Tuesday at 8 AM (House Public Education Committee): HB 900 by Patterson - This bill will ban books about LGBTQIA+ issues from school libraries. HB 1605 by Buckley - This bill will effectively require teachers to teach to a script, penalizing them for deviations from a standardized curriculum; it will provide a low threshold to trigger a curriculum review, which could be easily manipulated by conservative special interests. Hearing on Wednesday at 9 AM (Senate Education Committee): SB 8 by Creighton - This bill establishes an "education savings program" as a way to funnel money from public schools and create a voucher program; also includes provisions to censor discussion of LGBTQIA+ issues in classrooms, similar to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

CAN YOU GO TO THE CAPITOL? You can register your opposition and sign up to testify against these bills. You'll want to arrive before the hearings begin to make sure you can sign up in time. On Wednesday, expect a long day, as we are expecting a large number of people to sign up to testify at this hearing.   If you've got a some time...  Testify against these bills. This process can be long and may take hours, but testifying against a bill ensures that your voice and your opposition are heard by the members of the committee directly.   If you're on a tight schedule... You can register against these bills and indicate in the sign-up that you do not wish to speak. Your name will appear among the list of people who oppose the bill in the committee report. Check out this guide from our friends at Texas Freedom Network on how to register for/against bills.   CAN'T MAKE IT TO THE CAPITOL? 1. For hearings in the House only: You can submit a public comment online as long as you're a Texas resident and you submit your comment before the hearing adjourns. Click here to submit a public comment on HB 900 and HB 1605.   2. Call the offices of the Senate Education Committee and the House Public Education Committee members and ask them to vote against these bills in committee. Click HERE for the list of members on the House Public Education Committee, and click HERE for the list of members on the Senate Education Committee. Click through each member to find their office's phone number.   3. Call your state senator's and representative's offices and ask them to vote against these bills if/when they come to the Senate or House Floor. Click here to find out who your state senator and representative are.

Texas public schools need support — not privatization and censorship. Travis County Democrats will be at the Capitol on Tuesday and Wednesday to make that message loud and clear. We hope you'll join us.   In solidarity,

Katie Naranjo Chair, Travis County Democratic Party

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