Make it Matter Monday 4/14
- ACPTA Advocacy
- Apr 14
- 7 min read
 Buckle up, y'all. We need you more than ever! |
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LearnThe Texas House and Senate have both approved their budget proposals. They are similar but not exactly the same so they'll go to reconciliation, which means representatives from both chambers will get together behind closed doors to try to reach a compromise on those differences. Learn more about what the budgets include and how they're different. |
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DoMake a plan to join us at the Capitol on Wednesday, April 16th, whenever you can. We need folks early in the morning to fill up the Gallery, folks in the afternoon to fill up all levels of the Rotunda, and families after school or work to fill up the Capitol. This will be a family-friendly, peaceful gathering of public school supporters. Wear your school t-shirt or a NO VOUCHERS t-shirt. Signs without sticks are welcome in the Capitol but not in the Gallery. No sticks. But t-shirts can carry your message, if you have one. Join us! Whenever you can! Join our Band group for real-time updates throughout the day, if you plan on joining us. https://band.us/@acptaadvocacy |
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ShareTexas PTA has a call to action that's important to all of us. Please share the link below with your communities. The Texas House is preparing to vote on two bills that will shape the future of public education. Lawmakers need to hear from YOU—right now. 🚫 Oppose SB 2 (Vouchers) & Let Texans Decide at the Ballot Box Texans have been loud and clear: fully fund public schools first and put vouchers on the ballot in November. ✅ Support HB 2: Fund Our Classrooms HB 2 proposes a $395 increase to the Basic Allotment: Push for amendments that increase school funding Students and teachers can't wait. Real investment is needed now. 👉 Tell your Representative: Vote NO on SB 2 and YES on HB 2. |
SPILLING THE CAPITOL TEA Monday they'll be discussing requiring ID to access adult sections of public libraries (HB 3225) in State Affairs and gun safety (so many bad bills) in TX House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans Affairs Committees. I'm including calls to action from other advocacy groups, with scripts and background, to help you take action on these.
Comment on State Affairs bills here: https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c450
Comment on Guns Safety bills here: https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c308 Tuesday is the House Pub Ed hearing but we're going to skip it and gather in the morning to make No Voucher t-shirts. Swing by my house (12206 West Cow Path) between 10 and noon on Tuesday am with a blank purple shirt (or several, if you want to donate to folks who can't make it). We will use a cricut machine to add NO VOUCHERS to the front of it. We'll make the extras available on Wednesday to folks who join us because ... Wednesday is the big showdown on the House floor about funding and vouchers. We need everyone there for that. It'll go late into the evening as they discuss amendments so join us early in the day to help fill up the Gallery, any time during the day to help us fill up the Rotunda, and pick up the kids after school or work and help us fill up the Capitol. It'll be a fun, peaceful celebration of public education and we need everyone to show up. Whether you can show up or not, please call or visit the squishy reps and gently and kindly share your story or perspective and ask them to add amendments to HB 2 that would increase the amount of money actually going to our schools and SAY NO to SB 2, suggesting they open it to a public vote in November, instead. |
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Join the Pastors for Texas Children at Noon on Wednesday The Pastors for Texas Children, one of the strongest non-partisan pub ed advocacy voices in the Capitol, is hosting an event starting at noon on Wednesday at the First United Methodist Church (just west of the Capitol) then marching at 1pm to the Capitol building for a gathering in the Rotunda before the voucher debate. Some of us will join them. They're a powerful group in this discussion so I encourage anyone who can make it, to try to support them. |
Look for a Blitz of Information about Vouchers this Week Everyone, especially our state leaders, know this vote on Wednesday will decide the fate of vouchers in Texas. So expect everyone to throw everything at the fight this week. In particular, look for a special on KXAN on Monday (today) at 4:30. It's a half-hour show that will spend 15 minutes on the Governor and his pro-voucher parents, and 15 minutes with Rep. James Talarico and his anti-voucher parents. We've heard it'll help our cause and we'll be looking to everyone to share it with their representatives and communities when it comes out. |
ACPTA Advocacy Adventures |
Visiting the Squishies There wasn't a lot going on that we are engaged with in the House last week so a group of us took some information about how vouchers are impacting other state budgets around the country to the squishies. Most were out of the office after a very long budget meeting the night before but we were able to talk to 9 folks in Squishy offices, including one representative. And left copies of recent articles about vouchers in another 11. We also stopped by Rep. Buckley's office and thanked him for the addition of the Arts allotment to the budget and spent quite a bit of time getting advice from Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons, an angry Houston ISD mom who won a House seat after famously tussling with Mike Miles during a Houston school board meeting. |
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We shared this graphic and talked about our fiscal concerns with the bill. I was grateful that we had folks who hail from all over the state so we were able to make small town appeals, as well as reiterate our common concerns about the impacts of this bill on our public schools. It was very effective and I continue to feel comfortable that vouchers don't have the votes. I guess we'll find out for sure on Wednesday but we still have time to continue to try to help them make their best decisions. You can find pdfs of this image and the other handouts in the Call to Action folder. |
Advocacy at Oak Hill Spring Carnival A small group of ACPTA board members and advocates set up our School Funding corn hole game (thanks to Trustee Lynn Boswell) at the Oak Hill Spring Carnival and had a blast. Our game sets up two corn hole games with a series of signs representing states from high per-pupil funding (close to the hole) to lowest (farthest from the hole). It represents the disadvantage of Texas students are at by being one of the states that's farthest from the goal of a fully funded school. It's incredibly effective and gives us a chance to chat with community members about the impacts of school funding. We are so grateful to the Oak Hill PTA and community for the invite. We gathered dozens of postcards, which we'll deliver on Wednesday, and gave out dozens of stickers and bumper stickers. We had a great time and loved meeting the community. Please keep us in mind as your PTA plans your fall carnivals and events for next year. We'd love to do more of this. |
AISD Advocacy Advisory Committee AISD has an Advocacy Advisory Committee that meets once a month to discuss advocacy efforts and updates. The purpose of the Advocacy Advisory Committee is to assist the district in advancing its legislative priorities at the local, state and federal level. They need more members, including students, parents, community and business members from each of our AISD districts. It's a great place to stay on top of what's happening and also have some input on what can be done about it. I highly encourage y'all to join. Edna Butts, AISD Director, Intergovernmental Relations & Policy Oversight, runs the committee and keeps a bill tracker to help everyone understand district legislative priorities and you can get advocacy updates from the district by reaching out to her at edna.butts@austinisd.org and asking to be included on her email list. |
Local Advocacy Budget cuts are a painful reality for our district and there are a lot of moving parts. If you are not able to watch the AISD board meetings or join one of the discussions happening in various places and ways, please read our weekly Board Recap, written by engaged parent, Sharyn Vane. You can find them on our homepage at https://www.austincouncilpta.org/. And consider getting involved in our district. There are a number of advisory committees you can join to get more insight into district-wide initiatives. And please join your Campus Advisory Committee. Fill out this membership application form or reach out to your Principal. Both of these are great ways to stay connected and informed about the issues facing our schools and district right now. |
Don't Let UP! Thanks for all your engagement! Don't stop! The session is winding down and we're almost there. Don't let up the pressure - it's as important as ever to keep making those phone calls. This is going to be a big week. I hope y'all are ready to help us fight for our schools. It's our time to shine. Please join us wherever and however you can! Daphne Hoffacker ACPTA Advocacy Chair advocacy@austincouncilpta.orgaustincouncilpta.org/advocacy |
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