School leaders provide testimony over House Bill 1 during Texas House hearing

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Representative Brad Buckley, of Killeen, has introduced a new bill, House Bill 1, that he says is likely 40 bills in one and would bring massive change to the public education system.

A hearing was held Thursday as part of the fourth special legislative session to explain the changes that House Bill 1 would make and to listen to testimony from school leaders across the state.

Some of the prominent topics included school funding, the accountability system, special education and the governor’s plan concerning education saving accounts.

At the beginning of this meeting Buckley described the bills components.

After hearing the description, school leaders shared their testimony over the bill.

Parts of the bill suggest the state offer certain educational grants to support public school students looking to pay for private school.

Tracy Henderson, the founder of Education Connection in Killeen a private school that caters to students with special needs, spoke at the hearing about how she has parents who work multiple jobs to be able to afford to give their students the education they need.

The school has hosted fundraisers for scholarships because grants are much harder to come by.

Our Making the Grade team will continue to follow and monitor this conversation surrounding House Bill 1.

Also, the Texas Senate has passed SB 2, which deals with teacher pay and school funding increases.

It will give rural teachers a $10,000 raise and urban educators $3,000.

It also bumps the basic allotment up by $75 per student, and doubled the per-student school safety allotment from $10,000 to $20,000.

Lieutenant Governor, Dan Patrick, released a statement that says in part, “Protecting our children, teachers, and staff in our schools is of paramount importance.”

The Senate also passed SB 1, approving the education saving account.

Both bills now head to the House.

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