TASB Advocacy Agenda 

Change is one constant: the evolving needs of school districts and the availability of state funding for public education.

And there are others: resistance to taxation, underfunding of public education, erosion of local control, and the need for continuing educational improvement.

Meeting those challenges is the focus of the TASB Advocacy Agenda, which includes Cornerstone Principles, Priorities, and Resolutions.

Cornerstone Principles

The Cornerstone Principles establish an organizational imperative and overarching structure under which exist the Advocacy Priorities and Resolutions. TASB bylaws require that the TASB Board review and evaluate the principles each even-numbered year. Principles require adoption by a two-thirds majority of the attending delegates at Delegate Assembly.

Priorities

In even numbered years, TASB hosts grassroots meetings in each of the 20 Education Service Center Regions. These meetings involve hundreds of board members and yield regional priorities that eventually become a statewide legislative program for the upcoming biennium. The meetings also result in the designation of regional representatives to the TASB Legislative Advisory Council. This 108-member group meets after the grassroots meetings to meld these regional agendas into specific Advocacy Priorities for which the Association will pledge resources and energy. 

The Council also elects from its members four local trustees to serve as voting ex officio members of the TASB Board's Legislative Committee. This Committee closely monitors progress of the Advocacy Agenda; these four trustees serve as a bridge between the Council and the Committee.

After the Texas legislative session, the Council reconvenes to review the Advocacy Agenda in light of legislative actions and recommend refinements to the adopted priorities. 

Priorities require a two-thirds majority approval by the TASB Delegate Assembly for adoption.

Resolutions

Between March and June of every year, school boards may submit proposals for Resolutions to the TASB Board for recommendation to the TASB Delegate Assembly.

Resolutions subsequently adopted by the Delegate Assembly will guide TASB’s responses on other issues that might arise before the Legislature and other governmental entities during the two-year period for which the Advocacy Agenda is adopted.

Resolution proposals submitted after the June 15 bylaws deadline can be considered only on an emergency basis. Emergencies are defined not by the seriousness of the subject, but whether the proposal is triggered by an event occurring after the deadline for submission. Each proposed resolution submitted after the deadline must be accompanied by a statement describing the nature of the emergency.

Proposed resolutions are first reviewed by the TASB Resolutions Committee and thereafter by the TASB Board. As a result of this review, proposed resolutions submitted before the deadline (or granted emergency status if submitted after June 15) are presented to the Delegate Assembly for consideration. Resolutions require a two-thirds vote of the Delegate Assembly for approval.