Mesquite ISD

MISD Priorities 
89th Legislative Session

Support raising and indexing the basic allotment and support funding based on student enrollment. 

• To facilitate efficient and effective budgeting, bond planning, and programmatic investment, the state must distribute funding based on a combination of attendance and enrollment, not just attendance, to give school districts stable and predictable funding. 
• Create an automatic annual adjustment to the basic allotment to address inflation.
• Fund district initiatives to “Grow Your Own” teacher programs to help combat the nationwide teacher shortage.
   

Fully fund School Safety, Special Education, Early Education, and Career and Technology Education mandates (currently $31 million underfunded).

• School Safety (Underfunded)
  • For Mesquite ISD - $5.7 million
  • For Texas -  $850 million
• SPED (Underfunded)
  • For Mesquite ISD - $18 million
  • For Texas -  $1.7 billion
• Early Education (Underfunded)
  • For Mesquite ISD - $5 million
  • For Texas - $460 million
• CTE (Underfunded)
  • For Mesquite ISD - $2.1 million
• Prevent the transfer of public funds to private entities through vouchers (e.g. education savings accounts, tuition tax credits, etc.). 
• Since 1995, privatization efforts in the form of vouchers have been introduced into each session of the Texas Legislature. Vouchers would transfer public tax money to private for-profit and nonprofit religious entities with much less accountability than public schools.

Mesquite ISD's 2023 Legislative Priorities

Support increases to the teacher’s minimum salary schedule to recruit and retain teachers, and loosen restrictions on allowable hours to work in a school district for certain retirees.

• Increases to the minimum salary schedule will signal that the state is more serious about how teachers are paid for their important work. 
• We advocate loosening the restriction, so that more retirees can return to work. 

Support funding based on student enrollment. 

• To facilitate efficient and effective budgeting, bond planning, and programmatic investment, the state must distribute funding based on a combination of attendance and enrollment, not just attendance.

Support efforts to reform the requirements in HB 4545 to better reflect the needs of students and the constraints of the school day.

• Requiring 30 hours per subject with the potential to require upwards of 90 hours per student, is not always the best solution to help students in their academic growth. School districts, along with the student’s family, must have better discretion to develop an intervention path.

Oppose the transfer of public funds to private entities through vouchers or voucher schemes.

• Vouchers would transfer public tax money to private for-profit and nonprofit religious entities with much less accountability than public schools.

Oppose restrictions to local taxing entities related to bond elections including the requirement of a supermajority to pass a bond and the requirement to inaccurately state “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE” on ballots. 

• Efforts to curtail local bond issues have been introduced in several legislative sessions. Currently, ballots must indicate the words, “THIS IS A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE” in block letters. Since not all bond issues indicate a property tax increase, these words are often misleading.