Legislators cast doubt on final special session, school districts eye funding discussions

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – State leaders say they expect to see Gov. Greg Abbott request a fourth special session as the outlook for passing school legislation in the next five days appears bleak.

Abbott expanded the agenda for the current legislative session with expectations of passing a school voucher program and public school funding. And with just days left until the end of the session, he’s confident it will get done.

“We are on track to ensure there will not be another special session,” Abbott said in a press conference Wednesday. “There is enough time to get everything done that we want to get done that needs to get done to avoid a special session.”

But, that sentiment is not being echoed by state representatives.

“The governor did release another Proclamation last night, but you know with the time and the short clock, there’s no way we could get it done,” District 12 Rep. Kyle Kacal said.

Included in the expanded agenda plan were ideas for $10,400 universal vouchers, “billions” more for teacher pay and school safety, plus a plan to phase out the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STARR) testing.

Kacal said at this point in the session, getting this passed is a big ask from the governor, especially, with the House dismissed until Monday or Tuesday without a bill draft ready.

“We have come to a stalemate on the education issue and I look forward to seeing if we tackle that in November or in January because I think it’s obvious the governor has drawn a line in saying that he wants to get something done, but we are not going to get anything done between now and next week,” Kacal said.

Beyond disagreements in the current voucher and school funding discussions, Kacal says there has been one consistency, and that is eliminating the current statewide assessment.

“The one thing we all agree on is that STAAR test needs to be eliminated. We’ll just say it this way, I don’t think Texas schools, moms and dads, no one has confidence in the STAAR test from what I hear and would love to see that test be eliminated,” he said.

Kacal has spent a lot of the last few months on the phone with district leaders about things just like this. Bryan ISD Superintendent Ginger Carrabine says she’s glad to have the representation and voice for local students in Austin and said this shows they are listening.

“It’s no secret. We’ve expressed our frustration with the current STAAR test. It was a complete redesign and a complete refresh of the accountability system. And we still don’t know our ratings, by the way, from last school year’s results because now there’s litigation and there’s been an injunction they’re holding on the ratings,” Carrabine said. “We’ve been in constant communication, our School Board of Trustees adopted legislative priorities. We worked with our Chamber of Commerce. We’ve been very vocal about how we feel about things and I’m appreciative of Representatives Kyle Kacal and John Rainey, they have been in lockstep with us and they’ve been very responsive. We drove to the Capitol, we met with them in person and they’ve been very supportive. So we’re very appreciative of them.”

It’s been 10 months since the start of the 88th Legislative Session, and there have been many conversations about school funding and vouchers in the legislative process. Carrabine says while they are dependent on some of those decisions, they are staying focused on the school year.

“We need the funding source to provide adequate compensation for our staff and we need to wrap this up again. We started school back in August so they’re leaving us hanging right now. But I can tell everyone, I want everyone to know that we’re not distracted by this,” she said. “We have a plan to meet the needs of our students and we are up and running and we are moving forward and we’re doing everything we can to meet the needs of our students despite not having an outcome from the legislative session.”

The last day of this special session is Nov. 7.