Transcript Highlights:

• </c> education quality standards. education quality standards.
• education.
• </c> and formal education level. and formal education level.
• </c> the uh education finance team at JFO. the uh education finance team at JFO.
• </c> to phase in education tax changes. to phase in education tax changes.

Keywords: 926, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• The Senate Education Committee will come to order.
• It's education, so we've got to use an acronym.
• Classical education and the CLT are based on the belief that education should be about producing well-rounded
• In higher education, it is self-disclosed.
• The Josie School of Vocational Education...

Summary: The committee heard and discussed several higher education and public school bills. Senator Burwell presented SB 1242 to remove an outdated Coordinating Board approval requirement for Texas State Technical College land and facility acquisitions, and SJR 59 to create a constitutionally dedicated endowment for TSTC capital needs; both drew strong support from industry and workforce groups and were left pending. SB 757, by Senator Middleton, would create a debt-to-earnings accountability system for public college programs, with supporters saying it would protect students from low-value degrees and opponents warning it could unfairly penalize programs with long-term value, especially graduate, medical, and public service fields; it was also left pending. SB 1241, by Senator Millington, would expand acceptable college entrance exams beyond the SAT and ACT, including the Classic Learning Test, and was left pending after testimony from CLT, homeschool, and student groups in support. SB 1085, by Senator Blanco, would let Sul Ross State University offer lower-division courses at its satellite campuses in the Middle Rio Grande region; it too was left pending. The committee then took up a series of public school and higher education measures, voting several out favorably. SB 605, as substituted, limits commissioner approval of charter school expansion amendments for schools under conservatorship or a management team and was reported favorably 9-0. SB 1871 and SB 1873, both by Senator Perry, were revised to narrow teacher immunity, clarify removal and suspension procedures, require periodic review of in-school suspension placements, and align discipline rules; both substitutes were adopted and reported favorably. SB 1872, SB 1874, SB 762, SB 1962, SB 1750, SB 2252, SB 2253, SB 2365, SB 1924, and SB 37 were also considered, with most reported favorably on party-line or near-unanimous votes. SB 1750 would replace a flat charter school facilities funding cap with an attendance-based formula; SB 2252 and SB 2253 address kindergarten readiness, early literacy/numeracy, and educator preparation; SB 2365 concerns student phone use during instructional time; SB 1924 restores local citation authority for certain school offenses and adds reporting, notice, and completion requirements; and SB 37 would expand state oversight of higher education curriculum, governance, faculty senates, and compliance with state law. Other measures heard included SB 769, which would require a Coordinating Board report on barriers faced by students with disabilities in higher education; supporters emphasized the need for better data and accessibility, while witnesses suggested broader reporting on race, disability types, and K-12-to-college transitions. SB 2231 would designate a Free College Application Week in October and was left pending. SB 1878 would modernize the Josie School statute and provide formula funding and aid eligibility for Polytechnic College. SB 1409 would authorize universities to offer self-funded student health benefit plans, with Rice University and Texas 2036 supporting the measure as a way to lower costs and expand coverage. SB 2431 would require universities to give foreign language credit for study abroad programs, SB 2314 would require schools to inform students about opting in or out of record sharing for direct admissions through My Texas Future, and SB 2138 would extend the state’s anti-ESG contracting restrictions to public higher education endowments and governing boards; these later bills were introduced and left pending.

Transcript Highlights:

• retain special education teachers, giving these teachers financial incentive to stay in special education
• special education teachers.
• This bill builds educator capacity and will strengthen Florida's education system.
• This bill builds educator capacity and will strengthen Florida's education system.
• Educators. Educators. Educators that are well trained, well resourced, and properly compensated.

Keywords: 999, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Or essential educational services.
• educators need to deliver it.
• Demonstrating what excellent public education looks like, including rural education, allows our students
• Transportation costs can be broken down into three major categories: regular education, special education
• We're providing this amazing education.

Keywords: 995, all

Summary: The hearing focused primarily on H. 517/S. 314, a bill to provide a sustainable future for rural schools, and H. 697, a bill to require full funding of regional school transportation. Witnesses from rural districts, school committees, superintendents, students, and local officials described chronic underfunding, declining enrollment, high fixed costs, special education and transportation burdens, and the loss of programs, staff, and extracurriculars. Several speakers argued that rural aid should be funded at $60 million annually and made non-discretionary, while others emphasized that transportation reimbursement for regional districts has repeatedly fallen short of the state’s promise and is driving budget crises and overrides. A number of students testified in support of rural aid, describing cuts to classes, counselors, and activities, and the impact on their schools and communities. Committee members also discussed whether transportation policy should be revisited to address underlying cost drivers, including bus bidding practices and whether regional districts should have more flexibility in transportation requirements. The committee also heard H. 515, concerning Hancock Elementary School and a school choice-related exemption from a state requirement that has created a large financial burden for the district. Hancock’s superintendent and Rep. John Barrett explained that a decades-old regulation, recently enforced by DESE, would require Hancock to pay tuition for choice-in students through high school graduation even though the district only serves pre-K through grade 6 and sends its own students elsewhere for middle and high school. They said the rule creates a significant per-student shortfall and has forced Hancock to opt out of school choice. Committee members asked for clarification about how the arrangement works and how the costs fall on Hancock. Additional testimony supported related transportation bills for non-regional districts, especially Plymouth/Carver and North Middlesex, describing high and rising bus costs, special education and McKinney-Vento transportation expenses, and the strain on local budgets. Speakers repeatedly said that state reimbursement has not matched actual costs and that communities are being forced to choose between transportation and classroom services. No votes or final actions were taken in the hearing; the committee simply received testimony and closed the hearing on the bills discussed.

Transcript Highlights:

• received by Austin IEC educators.
• funding, structural... changes and funding for the educator preparation system and comprehensive education
• Seventy percent of special education students are for 80 percent. or more of their day in general education
• There are specific bilingual education.
• special education.

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• College Bound is education.
• College Bound is education.
• College Bound is education.
• College Bound is education.
• College Bound is education.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> education outcomes. education outcomes.
• </c> educational barriers. educational barriers.
• educator workforce.
• educators.
• </c> arts education. arts education.

Keywords: 1183, house

Transcript Highlights:

• , not special education.
• Are there any talks about general education programming possibly being targeted if special education
• Again, I think what I relate this to in both the general education and the special education is looking
• , not special education.
• Are there any talks about general education programming possibly being targeted if special education

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> educator pensions. educator pensions.
• There is an investment that educators make work of educating our future.
• </c> educators should retire with dignity. educators should retire with dignity.
• </c> Minnesota Rural Education Association. Minnesota Rural Education Association.
• I am representing Education Minnesota and our 84,000 educators across the state.

Keywords: 1187, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Higher Education Committee.
• We think that making sure that a UC education or a CSU undergraduate education is attainable and not
• I truly believe that higher education and education as a whole transforms communities.
• So nursing education is in my bones.
• Our education is our education. Our educators deserve more.

Summary: The Assembly Higher Education Committee heard a series of bills focused on expanding access to higher education, addressing workforce shortages, student housing, and labor standards on campus projects. AB 662 would create a South County Higher Education Task Force to explore a mixed-use, intersegmental institution in Chula Vista; supporters said South San Diego County is a “college desert,” while the bill passed on a due pass as amended motion to Appropriations. AB 885 would establish a College Access for All Fund to help make CSU and UC attendance more affordable; supporters cited student debt and affordability concerns, and it also passed to Appropriations. AB 730 would provide $15 million to help establish a medical school in the Central Valley to address physician shortages, and it advanced on a due pass motion. AB 1400 would let up to 15 community college districts pilot bachelor’s degrees in nursing; supporters argued it would expand affordable BSN access and keep students local, while CSU, UC, and other higher education groups opposed it as unnecessary and inconsistent with the master plan. The bill passed to Appropriations, with members raising questions about clinical placements, faculty shortages, and possible effects on associate-degree programs. The committee also considered AB 1235, which would require CSU design-build projects to use a skilled and trained workforce, aligning CSU with other public higher education construction standards. Supporters said it would improve safety, training, and local job opportunities, and the bill passed to Appropriations. AB 1247 would restrict contracting out of classified school and community college jobs unless workers meet training and qualification standards and would address pension and training concerns; supporters said it would protect students and classified employees, while school and college groups warned it would disrupt services and add unfunded mandates. The bill passed to Appropriations with one no vote. AB 1470, presented on behalf of Assemblymember Haney, would allow a portion of student housing revolving loan funds to be used for affordable student, faculty, and staff housing in downtown and commercial districts; it was discussed as a housing and downtown revitalization measure, but the committee held off on a motion pending more members. ACA 3, also on behalf of Haney, would require UC to offer limited down payment loans to eligible long-term support staff first-time homebuyers; it drew extensive support from UC workers and unions, while UC and business groups opposed it as costly and outside UC’s mission, and the measure was still under discussion at the end of the transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• Jacob Oliva, Department of Education. Stacey Smith, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Education.
• an adequate education.
• and Technical Education, and the Division of Higher Education are required to provide assistance and
• Then we have educators.
• the components of an adequate education, and evaluating the costs of an adequate education.

Summary: The meeting began with approval of the previous minutes and then focused on an update from the Department of Education on early childhood programs, especially the state-funded Arkansas Better Chance (ABC) program. Secretary Jacob Oliva and Deputy Commissioner Stacey Smith said Arkansas had received a federal Preschool Development Grant and described ongoing work to review ABC slots, which have been flat for years at about 23,800 slots and roughly $114 million. They said about 1,000 slots statewide are currently unfilled despite a waiting list of more than 2,000 families, and the department is shifting toward paying based on enrollment rather than guaranteed slots. Members asked about school choice, income eligibility, year-round access, curriculum flexibility, transportation, and whether funding should be increased or rebalanced; the department said it is collecting data, may survey providers more formally, and is considering whether to modernize income thresholds, daily rates, and other program rules. The committee agreed to form an early childhood subcommittee and asked the Bureau of Legislative Research to help gather historical information on income limits and other program details. The second major portion of the meeting was a legal presentation on the framework for Arkansas school adequacy by BLR education attorney Taylor Lloyd. She reviewed the constitutional basis for a “general, suitable, and efficient” public school system, the Dupree and Lake View cases, and the principle that adequacy and equity are different but related: adequacy asks what resources are needed, while equity asks whether those resources are distributed fairly. She explained that the General Assembly must define adequacy, study it, and react to evidence over time, and that the current adequacy definition includes curriculum and career/technical frameworks, the 38 mandatory Carnegie units, state testing standards, and sufficient funding. She also described the matrix as a funding tool, not a spending mandate, and noted that categorical funds are separate from the matrix. BLR’s Elizabeth Bynum then gave the historical framework, tracing legislative responses from Dupree through Lake View and into the present. She highlighted major changes such as the creation of equalization funding, fiscal distress and academic distress laws, the adequacy study process, the Educational Adequacy Fund, facilities and transportation changes, declining enrollment and student growth funding, and later adjustments to teacher salaries, isolated funding, and categorical programs. She explained that the adequacy study has evolved through committee hearings, surveys, site visits, and outside consultants, and that recent changes include updates to accountability references and the addition or removal of certain funding categories. Members asked follow-up questions about how the matrix is used, whether homeschool or private-school funding raises comparable issues, whether stakeholders include private and homeschool participants, whether school board members should be surveyed, and whether the state should revisit average daily membership versus attendance-based funding. No votes were taken on the adequacy presentations, but the committee did agree to continue the early childhood discussion in a future subcommittee meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• George Washington once advised that the primary object of public education should be the education of
• , Then incorporating input from the State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and
• And again, we worked with the Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the AG's office
• I'm a special educator, a health educator.
• I'm a special educator, a health educator.

Keywords: 989, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Of state education choice policies, starting with the broader considerations relating to state education
• As a reminder, education savings accounts cover a wider range of approved educational expenses, though
• education agencies.
• Though state education choice programs provide options for different forms of education, such that charter
• Getting a quality education, right?

Transcript Highlights:

• General for Education to the creation of a division for the Inspector General for the Education and the
• State Board of Education to investigate.
• Public Education and the authority of the Commissioner of Education to conduct special investigations
• Rights and Education and training requirements on parental rights and education for a member of the Board
• Cunningham relating to the creation of a temporary educators certificate for educators certified by other

Keywords: 1184, house, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> department of education does. And um Mr. department of education does. And um Mr.
• or department of education.
• or department of education.
• or department of education.
• or department of education.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> current issues that home education current issues that home education educators<00:17:38.960><c>
• home education.
• </c> and families who were home educating. and families who were home educating.
• in educational science.
• </c> Education. Thank you. Education. Thank you. &gt;&gt; Thank<00:50:16.720><c> you.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• So all these kids who are in special education who qualify for special education who are in private schools
• I forget the Education service provider? Education... no, that's the private school. Yeah.
• Educational assistance organization? Educational assistance... educational assistance organization.
• else would be regular education.
• , we want to support public education, and this is not going to hurt public education.

Bills: HB 3

Keywords: emergency communication, public safety, interoperability, Texas Interoperability Council, grant program, emergency communications, public safety radio, first responders, radio system, dispatch, 911, emergency management, Texas Division of Emergency Management, public safety infrastructure, Project 25, P25, broadband emergency alerting, outdoor warning sirens, homeland security, disaster response

Transcript Highlights:

• Good evening and welcome to the Higher Education Conference Committee.
• CREATING THE NEW YORK WE INVEST IN STUDENT EDUCATIONAL SUPPORTS.
• AS IT RELATES TO EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
• Higher education is always critical, and the affordability of higher education for the students and their
• talking about the investment in higher education.

Keywords: 993, senate, all

Summary: The Higher Education Conference Committee met to discuss budget priorities for SUNY, CUNY, community colleges, TAP, student aid, and capital funding. Chair Toby Ann Stavisky emphasized the need for increased operating and capital support, protection against enrollment-based funding losses, no tuition increases, a review of TAP because it has not kept pace with living costs, and action on student loan access and research funding cuts. Assembly Chair Alicia Hyndman outlined the Assembly’s higher education proposal, including $475.7 million to expand TAP eligibility, raising income thresholds for TAP and the Excelsior Scholarship, creating a graduate tuition assistance program, adding community college operating aid, expanding the Opportunity Promise Scholarship, forgiving SUNY hospital debt service, increasing CUNY operating support, restoring opportunity program funding, creating a $110 million student loan support program called New York Rises, and funding five-year capital plans for SUNY and CUNY plus additional ECAP grants. Members broadly supported making higher education more affordable and accessible, while highlighting district-specific needs. Senator May praised SUNY Reconnect, community college workforce programs, hospital debt service relief, and a five-year SUNY capital plan. Senator Gonzalez framed the budget as an investment in economic mobility. Senator Griffo supported affordability, operating and capital aid, and additional support for medical schools and hospitals. Assembly Members Walker, Colton, and Fall backed TAP expansion, opportunity programs, disability supports, SUNY Downstate’s transformation, and capital needs at CUNY and SUNY campuses. Assembly Member Smullen, speaking for the minority conference, urged a five-way budget process, said TAP has not kept pace with inflation, and called for a more stable long-term funding model for community colleges. He also stressed aligning higher education with workforce needs. Assembly Member Pirozzolo pointed to the College of Staten Island as an example of the benefits of investment and warned that employers recruiting students directly from high school could weaken higher education unless colleges continue strengthening trade and career training. The meeting ended with no vote on the budget items, and the chairs adjourned the conference committee after concluding remarks.

Transcript Highlights:

• Um, I've worked in education.
• Um, I've been on the Board of Education. I am not a teacher or an educator.
• Um, I've been on the Board of Education. I am not a teacher or an educator.
• By education, you're talking about education background, background.
• </c> board of education? board of education?

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• > special education of which special education of which differentiated<00:04:51.520><c> aid</c><00:04
• </c> IDA, the individual disability education IDA, the individual disability education act<00:04:57.680
• </c> and then you know the special education and then you know the special education aid<00:05:03.040
• And if you cost of special education.
• </c> receiving that education. receiving that education.

Keywords: 1191, senate, all