2010 election results

With new officials come change

Another election cycle has come and gone. The results of the 2010 elections bring with them sweeping changes both at the state and federal level. Below is a rundown of how some of the key races panned out and what the results might mean for the future. More

ATPE’s Political Involvement Training and Lobby Day

Make a date with your legislator

The Legislature and state boards and agencies play a huge role in shaping the education profession and your day-to-day working environment. Curriculum, pay scales, class-size limits, retirement benefits, contract rights—just about every major aspect of the education profession is controlled by elected officials. Because of this, ATPE makes every effort to help members become advocates for public education and holds a Political Involvement Training and Lobby Day event at the onset of each legislative session. More

Agency News

SBEC adopts revisions to the Educators’ Code of Ethics sans educator referendum

At the Oct. 8 meeting of the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC), members of the board considered proposed revisions to the Educators’ Code of Ethics, a set of mandatory standards of behavior every educator must follow. ATPE appeared before the board to share our concerns; however, SBEC members approved the revisions during the meeting without letting individual educators vote on the sought-after changes. More

Texas v. the federal government

The state fights for education funding

The state of Texas recently filed a lawsuit against the federal government in order to protect more than $830 million in federal funding meant to provide aid to Texas public schools. The funding was part of a supplemental spending package passed by the U.S. Congress in August; the package was passed with a Texas-specific provision that required the state to promise not to use the funding to supplant public education funds in the state’s budget. Gov. Rick Perry believed the provision was unconstitutional and submitted an altered application for the funding. This altered application caused the U.S. Department of Education to deny Texas’ application. More

Make Education a Priority

ATPE joins education initiative

Fixing the shortcomings of the state’s public school financing system has been a lingering problem for Texas’ education community. In recent years, the Legislature has adopted several quick-fix solutions that have failed to adequately shore up the system; however, the issue was barely touched upon during the last legislative session. To make sure the issue isn’t ignored again during the 82nd legislative session, the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees created the Make Education a Priority initiative. More

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Essentials contains legislative advertising contracted for by Doug Rogers, Executive Director, Association of Texas Professional Educators, 305 E. Huntland Dr., Suite 300, Austin, TX 78752-3792, representing ATPE.