We are sure you have heard by now that we are in a fight for funding. Our children's education livelihood is on the edge of a cliff. Governor Abbott has stated that one of his priorities this session will be for the legislature to put vouchers into place. The vouchers will be a set amount of money given to parents who desire to use the funds for a private school education. Other states who have a voucher system have shown that the traditional education systems are no longer priority and stats have proven that the majority of parents who use vouchers are already enrolled in private schools. The amount of the voucher being thrown around will be between $5,000 and $10,000 with no private schools in Bexar County being less than $10,000, who would this help but those already choosing private schools. It would not be the economically disadvantaged, who the private school association is claiming they want to assist. On top of funding for vouchers being an issue, accountability is also on the table. Texas has a robust accountability system for the traditional and charter education systems using results from the STAAR test. Will private schools be held accountable if they were to receive money from the state through the voucher system?

So, if Texas passes legislation on vouchers, the state will then be siphoning education funds for the traditional education system, the charter school system and a private school voucher system. Texas does not have the funds to provide for 3 education systems as we are already struggling to fund the constitutionally mandated traditional education system where we are currently ranked 47th in per-capita student funding.

Instead of taking funds out of an already vulnerable system to benefit just a few, we are asking legislators this session to increase the basic allotment per student at least $1,000 and we are asking all legislators to say NO to vouchers to continue to fight for ALL students in Texas.

Our Call to Action for you is to contact your legislators and the House and Senate education and appropriation committees and express your feelings on the basic allotment and vouchers. Our request is for you to end the emails with a story about your schools. Tell them one thing that makes your school amazing. We know it will be hard to choose one.

Go to: Who Represents Me? (texas.gov)

Click on both your state representative and senator to find their email address.

For education committee members:

Texas House of Representatives : House Committee on Public Education

The Texas State Senate – Senate Committee on Education

For appropriation committee members:

Texas House of Representatives : House Committee on Appropriations - S/C on Article III

RootEd wants all parents to know the facts about private school vouchers and how they will hurt an already fragile public education system. Last week on TPR, The Source focused on public education and the Governor’s request for a private school voucher system. We recommend listening. Thanks to Michelle Smith Exec Dir of Raise Your Hand Texas for her insight during the show. Shout out to RootEd Rep Anna for calling in to the show!

#txEd #txlege #RootEd

Vouchers are going to be a big topic of conversation this session with the Governor and Lt. Governor adding it to their priorities. Help us make sure our local senators know that our community is a NO on vouchers and keep funding our public schools!! #vOUCHersHurt

Southwest ISD has presented bond information to the public to vote on at the May election. Video with information listed below.

Stories from RootEd schools that we think are AMAZING! #RootEd

If you'd like to donate to ease the financial burden of an outstanding high school senior, you can donate here: https://proudlyrooted.com/support.

What would you do with $1,000 for life after high school??

High School Counselors and Principals: Our scholarship application is OPEN! Please share with your seniors: RootEd Scholarship – RootEd (proudlyrooted.com)

We are so excited about our Social happening tonight, March 3rd at Chuy's on I-10 in San Antonio after work! All are welcome to gather with us and chat neighborhood schools. Any donations we receive at the Social this month will go to our scholarship fund! We have a lot of talk about...join us!

Ready to dive into some podcasts that may get you fired up about public education? Or want to be in the know about our legislative priorities and what's going on in public education in Texas?

Check us out. Click on the graphic below for links.

We are very lucky to have a partnership with Go Public. Click on their logo to find out more about what all they do for public education!!

Go Public Night with the San Antonio Spurs! –THIS Saturday, March 4th 7PM vs Houston Rockets

Celebrating San Antonio-area’s Independent School Districts. Show your support for your school district and win a chance at fan experiences! All tickets sold through the Go Public link below will receive a 50th Anniversary Tim Duncan Bobblehead!

The night also serves as a fundraiser for the area ISDs’ education foundations.

Tickets: https://bit.ly/RootEdSpurs

Advocacy Day in Austin was a huge success! Raise Your Hand Texas Advocate - San Antonio Sophie Torres hosted RootEd and Northside Advocacy Network in Austin where we brought parents to learn about hot topics in Ed this session and to learn the ins and outs of being advocates. Thanks to RYHT Bob Popinski and Just Fund It TX Laura Yeager for speaking! Our RootEd Reps are ready to fight for all kids and our neighborhood schools! #txlege #txEd

Our RootEd Rep Spotlight of the Month is Anna Ramsey. She is the Rep at Hidden Forest Elementary in NEISD. Anna jumped into being a part of RootEd with open arms and has learned so much about being an advocate for all the kids. We are so glad she is part of our community.

"I love that RootEd meets the Volunteer Rep where they are, supporting the Rep however needed. RootEd is great at providing educational opportunities and resources on how to best support our public school system at large all the way down to our neighborhood school.

I appreciate RootEd's efforts to continually build community engagement.

My grandparents and mother taught me to be engaged in my community and to advocate for ideas that I find important. Being a Rooted Rep has given me the opportunity to make an impact on topics I value. It has been a nice bonus that I have met some amazing passionate people through RootEd.

And of course I love to brag and share the fun, unique stories that are happening daily at our schools.

Hidden Forest is more than just my local public school, it is my community. On top of my children receiving a great education, I have witnessed my children’s interests sparked in amazing ways due to the FREE after school clubs offered by our dedicated teachers. Shout out to Ukulele and Choir clubs, Robotics and Book Clubs, and Chess club. My family has made life long memories and friendships at Hidden Forest that I will forever be grateful for."

#RootEdHiddenForest

RootEd is a parent-led, grassroots organization that promotes neighborhood public schools through storytelling, advocacy, and education. We believe a strong public school system for all children creates a robust economy and well-connected community. RootEd is a 501(c)3 non profit organization.

For past newsletters: https://www.smore.com/u/rooted

Email: info@proudlyrooted.com
Website: www.proudlyrooted.com
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Phone: (210) 617-0824
Facebook: facebook.com/RootEdTexas
Twitter: @RootEdSA

Instagram: @rootedtexas