Thanks to all who were able to attend our Legislative Planning Workshop last week. We all learned a lot. It was good to gather districts from so many diverse locations and circumstances and learn how many common challenges we all share.

But the workshop didn't stop with the challenges. We worked collectively on solutions that could be proposed to address the challenges our communities face. The Coalition's goals and priorities will be drafted based on that work and those conversations.

Whether you were able to attend in person or not, the presentation slides are available for your review and use. They provide a "lay of the land" regarding the current outlook for state appropriations and funding, issues of school finance, and legislative context of the 88th Legislative Session.

And if you were in attendance at the workshop, would you do us a favor and take a moment to provide some feedback? It would be greatly appreciated!

Here is latest information on upcoming legislative committees, commissions and a task force that we are tracking.

Speaker Dade Phelan formed a special Investigative Committee on the Robb Elementary Shooting, made up of Chairman Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock), Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman. The Committee conducted its first hearing on June 9, and will meet again June 16 and June 17 in Uvalde, Texas. Due to the nature of this Committee's work, all witness testimony is received in executive session, so no summaries of these hearings will be available at this time.

This Commission will meet again on June 27, July 25, and August 22.

The Senate Finance Committee will take up the topic of federal funds (including ESSER) on June 28. See the hearing notice.

The next meeting is scheduled for June 29, from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

The House Committee on Public Education will meet again on July 25 to make up the hearing topics that were not covered when the committee adjourned early in May.

The Senate Education Committee does not have any future hearings scheduled at this time.

The Task Force met on June 2 and broke into four workgroups: Educator Preparation, Strategic Staffing Models, Compensation Models, and Teacher Experience. The date of their next meeting has not yet been announced.