Raise Your Hand Texas: Public school finance needs to be added to special session call

Published: Oct. 24, 2023, 2 p.m.

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AUSTIN, Texas - Raise Your Hand Texas is a non-partisan nonprofit organization supporting public policy solutions that invest in Texas\\u2019 5.4 million public school students.\\xa0

On its website the group says it envisions a world-class public school system that fuels a brighter public future for all Texans.\\xa0

\\u201cOur statewide advocacy team works in communities throughout the state to raise the voices of parents, teachers, community leaders, business owners, and students who care about the future of public education,\\u201d the website states.

\\u201cOur advocacy work and your voices, alongside current research, inform the policy recommendations we make to Texas lawmakers.\\u201d

Michelle Smith, executive director of RYHT, wishes Gov. Greg Abbott would take on board some of the group\\u2019s policy recommendations. Specifically, adding public school finance to the call of the current special session.

Abbott has said he will not add public school finance to the call unless and until the Legislature has passed education savings accounts, which are otherwise known as vouchers. RYHT opposes vouchers.


In an audio interview, the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service asked Smith about her group\\u2019s wishes for the special session and to analyze the current situation at the state Capitol. The Senate has passed a school voucher bill. The House has not and wants school finance added to the call.


To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

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