Governmental Relations and Special Projects Home

The Mission of the United ISD Governmental Relations and Special Projects Department is to educate and engage our stakeholders about how the local, state, and federal legislative process impacts our school district and taxpayers. When the community understands and helps influence policy, we can better serve our students.

The Texas legislature meets in Austin from January through May during each odd-numbered year. Throughout each session, the United ISD Governmental Relations Department tracks all proposed legislation dealing with public education.

The overview includes all legislation related to public education that passed during the 89th session.

Click on the link for the list of the Texas House and Senate Bills that impact Public Education from the 89th Legislative Session. (Some Texas school districts subscribe and purchase Quorum software, in order to keep up to date with how the bills are proceeding through the legislative process).

State Education Laws

Article 7 (https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.7.htm) of the Texas Constitution requires the state “to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools.” The Texas Education Agency (https://tea.texas.gov/), which is overseen by the State Board of Education (https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/leadership), carries out this mandate by setting academic standards, administering the distribution of state and federal funding, and administering the statewide assessment program for all Texas public schools.

The TEA adopts rules to implement the Texas Education Code (https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/?link=ED), which includes statutes passed by the state legislature. The Texas Education Code and TEA rules apply to most educational institutions that are supported in whole or part by state tax funds, which includes United ISD and over 1,200 other public school districts in the State of Texas. While Independent School Districts set their own budgets, the State decides, based on a number of formulas, how much funding each school district is entitled to use.

Federal Education Laws

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), aimed to close the achievement gap between groups of students through greater accountability and increased flexibility and choice. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/laws-preschool-grade-12-education/every-student-succeeds-act) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, and aimed to grant flexibility to states regarding specific requirements of NCLB in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive state-developed plans designed to close achievement gaps, increase equity, improve the quality of instruction, and increase outcomes for all students.

Special Education is subject to a specific set of state and federal rules and regulations

(https://tea.texas.gov/Academics/Special_Student_Populations/Special_Education_SPED/Programs_and_Services/ includingthe Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA (https://sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/#ADA)), which is the collection of federal regulations for special education that ensures a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities who attend public schools and requires that each public school provide services to eligible special education students in the least restrictive environment (LRE) and in accordance with each student’s individualized education program (IEP).

The United ISD Legislative Leadership Committee brings together educators, parents, students and community leaders from across the district. They meet regularly to help shape legislative priorities and stay informed throughout the legislative session.

Texas Elections

It is important to vote in local and state elections, as many of the important issues that impact our community are decided at this level. Visit the Vote Texas website (https://www.votetexas.gov/) to register to vote.