The countdown to School Year 20-21
With the start of the school year rapidly approaching, there are still so many unknowns and the possibility that things could change (again). Commissioner Morath covered the topic of Operation Connectivity on his Tuesday afternoon call, but there were no changes announced or provided to the guidance previously given regarding the reopening of school.

Following that call, Governor Greg Abbott spoke to KTRK in Houston and said " I think Mike Morath, the commissioner of education, is expected to announce a longer period of time for online learning at the beginning of the school year, up to the flexibility at the local level," Abbott said to KTRK. "This is going to have to be a local-level decision, but there will be great latitude and flexibility provided at the local level."

Then, today, the Texas Tribune reported that TEA officials "confirmed they would continue to fund school districts if local health officials order them to stay closed, as long as they offer remote instruction for all students."

It is unclear at this point whether the "local level" Governor Abbott referred to was the local school districts or local public health officials, and when the increased flexibility to make decisions in the best interests of local students and staff will be announced to districts.
This was certainly an election like no other before it. More than a million Texans showed up at the polls (with masks and hand sanitizer) to cast their ballots, while an unknown number chose to put their ballot in the mail. Mail-in ballots are not all counted and included in the election day totals, so it is possible that the outcome of a few races may still be subject to change. Even so, for the most part, we know which names will appear on the ballot in November. Knowing who will show up to vote and who will receive the most votes in November is an entirely different matter.

No incumbent member of the Texas Legislature lost their seat in March, but of the six incumbents facing challenges in this runoff election, only two survived. Even so, four is still a lower turnover rate than we have seen in previous election cycles. That coupled with fewer retirements could mean less turnover in the Texas Legislature overall…unless voters have something different to say about that in November.


You can also get more details on the results in each of these races from the Secretary of State or the Texas Tribune.

State Revenue Update
Another month has come and gone, and the state revenue indicators from June 2020 were better than May 2020, but still not great. We have updated our talking points on the fiscal downturn's likely impact on public education funding with all the latest information.

The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) will conduct a hearing on Monday, July 20 , and hear n update from Comptroller Glenn Hegar. The update provided at this meeting will give us the best idea of what to expect during the 2021 legislative session, given what is known at this time. We'll send you an update with this information, but you can also tune in at https://senate.texas.gov/av-live.php or https://house.texas.gov/video-audio/.
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