Speaking Up for Public Education
As the 89th legislative session kicked off back in Texas, more than 50 of the state’s public school leaders took their advocacy efforts on the road to the nation’s capital for the 2025 Texas Federal Advocacy Conference.
The annual TASB-hosted conference convened once again in Washington, D.C., for two days of panel discussions with public education policy experts and meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. This was the association’s third consecutive year hosting the conference in Washington, a tradition TASB Executive Director Dan Troxell hopes will continue for many years.
“The advocacy component of a board member’s role is so critical to the success of the children in their district,” Troxell said. “This conference allows us to discuss key federal issues that board members can then take to the Capitol to talk with members of the House and Senate in their offices. I’d like to see that continue so we can keep advocating effectively on behalf of all schoolchildren at the highest level.”
Preparing Trustees for the Future
This year’s agenda featured a range of timely topics for trustees, including school funding, changing technologies in classrooms, and federal education policy updates. The conference kicked off with Sasha Pudelski, director of Advocacy for AASA, The School Superintendents Association. She gave school board members a rundown on what to expect for public education under the new presidential administration. Additionally, she outlined key priorities to watch before giving trustees advice on how to communicate their concerns about those issues to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“Being here today has been very informative and has helped get me back into the idea of advocacy,” said John Green, a retired firefighter, former TASB board member, and current Nordheim ISD trustee. He said the sessions helped give him a broader perspective of the issues to consider and where he might be able to make a difference.
Later, trustees engaged in a lively panel discussion with policy experts centered on technology in education, with artificial intelligence (AI) as a point of emphasis. They asked panelists about how to address AI as a disruptive technology and best practices for creating and implementing AI policy in their districts.
“We need to set the framework,” said Alex Kotara, Karnes City ISD trustee and the School Board Advocacy Network’s 2024 advocate of the year, during the open mic Q&A. “Our policies need to focus on teaching our students the right and ethical way to use AI in the classroom.”
The first day of the conference concluded with afternoon discussions about school law and the federal courts, school finance and funding, chronic absenteeism, and the new political expectations for public education.
Heading to Capitol Hill
Ruben Longoria, assistant director for TASB Governmental Relations, stressed the importance of these discussions in preparing trustees for their meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“There is an intimidation factor when we are here at the seat of power,” Longoria said. “But all these members of Congress and the Senate are, like school board members, elected locally — so they have that commonality. I want our members to use their expertise about public education to talk with their lawmakers in Washington about their priorities for our schoolchildren. They need to be able to walk into their meetings with staff members and direct the conversation.”
Trustees did just that on the second the day of the conference, making their way as a group over to the office of Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn. There, they sat down with Alaura Ervin, Cornyn’s legislative aide for education. The group delivered a letter thanking Sen. Cornyn for supporting the recently passed Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), a huge win for retired teachers, firefighters, and law enforcement. They then discussed other key public education concerns, such as funding, special education, technology, and continued support of the federal E-Rate program.
“We’re a very large state and we have a lot of diverse needs among our students,” said TASB President and Kerrville ISD Trustee Rolinda Schmidt. “There are some key issues that affect all of us, so it’s important for them to hear from us collectively.”
Matt Mitchell
Matt Mitchell serves as senior communications specialist for the Communications, Marketing, and Events team. He contributes to TASB.org and Texas Lone Star magazine, hosts the TABS Talks podcast, and creates and manages content for TASB social media.
Mitchell previously served as a communications specialist at The University of Texas at Austin, where he focused on internal communications and staff-focused content for the web. He also previously worked for KXAN-TV as social media manager, where he managed the station’s daily social media content and long-form marketing campaigns.
Mitchell is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, where he received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
