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The Texas Commission on Special Education Funding met on June 27, 2022, to hear invited and public testimony regarding special education funding formulas in the state of Texas. Specifically, the Commission explored funding pertaining to specialty schools, rural schools, and non-profit organizations. A copy of the Commission’s agenda can be found here. A recorded video of the hearing can be found here.

 

This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.

 

Opening Remarks:

  • Chair Combest calls meeting to order
    • Will hear from specialty schools, rural schools, and nonprofit organizations
    • Need comprehensive funding model to address the many issues with SPED funding
    • July hearing will need to be rescheduled due to conflict with House Public Education hearing

 

Panel I: Special Education – Specialty Schools

 

Claire Bugen and Justin Wedel, Texas School for the Deaf

  • Bugen – Presents overview of the Texas School for the Deaf, a state agency providing education to deaf children in Texas
  • 533 students enrolled on campus; 482 students served by statewide outreach programs
  • TSD is a line item on general revenue budget, large percentage of funding; small portion of budget consists of federal funds, interagency contracts, and appropriated receipts
  • Have a large number of students with other special needs, which can drive costs because other support services are needed
  • White and Sen. Eckhardt passed a bill last session prohibiting funding cuts to TSD, very grateful for this, but GR funding has been flat over the years
  • Training programs for deaf educators are closing around the nation, there is a severe shortage of these educators
  • Main issue is unfunded mandates, combined with burdensome requirements for staff; we are burning out SPED teachers
  • Another main issue is the high cost of living in Austin, staff are not able to actually live in Austin
  • Recommends Legislature to keep in mind the broad range of students TSD serves, not like formula funding for districts
  • Texas teacher certification is burdensome, hard to recruit teachers from out of state
  • Zaffirini – How do you deal with the need for trilingual services?
    • TSD employs two full time Hispanic liaison coordinators, they handle all IEP meetings with Spanish speaking families, have some trilingual staff on contract, counselors work with Hispanic liaison coordinators, do outreach for Spanish speaking families
  • Zaffirini – Do the students learn to sign in two languages?
    • If they have exposure to Spanish before ASL, they will have some background, but for the most part they rely on ASL due to the visual nature of it
  • Zaffirini – You have such a low enrollment for PreK and a high enrollment for high school, how do you deal with the different age groups?
    • We have different sections of the school, there is an elementary program; more older students due to predominant thinking in IDEA that children should be served closest to the home, also many families do not know about us
  • Zaffirini – Why don’t you have more counties represented?
    • A lot of parents don’t choose to send their children to a school where they have to board, most students are from Central Texas region
  • Zaffirini – Who is the chief coordinator for students with multiple disabilities? How do you collaborate?
    • We collaborate with School for the Blind, doing a lot of community partnering for mental health services
  • Zaffirini – You bring up the issue of unfunded mandates, how do you propose the Commission handles this?
    • Framework where unfunded mandates are split into groups: need to be funded, can be eliminated, can remain unfunded
  • Zaffirini – What are your recommendations on specific stipends that can be increased?
    • SPED teachers should be paid more, should not just be a stipend, we should look at actual pay scale
  • Zaffirini – Are you saying stipends should be eliminated and salaries raised?
    • No, both should be raised, specifically the SPED stipend and bilingual stipend for sure
  • Zaffirini – What areas do you need more reciprocity with other states?
    • Definitely need more reciprocity in basic SPED certifications, deaf and hard of hearing certification, more flexibility in time
  • Gonzalez – How do parents find out about TSD? Policy recommendations to address gap?
    • Texas Education Code requires parents of deaf and blind children to be made aware of the two schools available by school districts, not sure if we have quality control over this
  • Gonzalez – It would be helpful to see a map of students eligible to go to your school across the state, laid over a map with students that do go to your school
  • Gonzalez – You talk about the issue of having deaf educators, do other states have incentive programs you would point to?
    • Bugen – Texas salaries are not competitive with salaries across the nation, we need hiring bonuses and retention bonuses, stipends for working with high need students, establishing cohort and pipeline programs in high schools,
  • Gonzalez – You are training students through Lamar University, where does that money come from?
    • Bugen – From Lamar University, if they take away funding the program will be dead, could be good to codify funding
  • Paxton – Is there anything else you can elaborate on regarding teacher certification in other states?
    • Bugen – I am not familiar with other state’s programs enough to speak on, but more flexibility could be needed in Texas, other states have more flexible programs
  • Paxton – Anything specific you could recommend would be really helpful
    • Bugen – Will submit some recommendations after doing a deep review
  • Huberty – Based off what you are doing, that is about 60K per student?
    • Wedel – Yes
  • Huberty – How much of that is your budget?
    • Wedel – Comes out to about $4.2M a year annual reimbursement for $32M overall budget, incumbent on getting resources every year
  • Huberty – Formula based solution would not satisfy your needs, have you thought about a better way to get yourself funded? Where are you coming with LAR requests this year?
    • Wedel – Options are limited, going to request funding for Phase 3 of our master plan, transitionary program for students 18-22, there has been significant increase of services during COVID, need additional classroom space and residential lodging
  • Huberty – So you need facility funding?
    • Wedel – Yes, we have a special agreement with TEA funded by discretionary funding, has been flat since 79th legislative session
  • Huberty – What are your facility requirements are, what is that number?
    • Wedel – Challenge has been working in an inflationary environment, numbers have jumped off the charts in last 2 years
  • Huberty – When you make your request, what do you really need?
    • Wedel – From a facility standpoint, $17M, will look into more and get you a final number
  • Huberty – Is there a demand to help kids with medical devices for example, items not in your operating budget?
    • Bugen – Mental health services are a huge issue, trauma-based teaching, could definitely benefit from funding those support services, implants are covered
  • Huberty – You are not capped at enrollment, what is the total population of students in Texas for kids that would be considered eligible for your program?
    • Bugen – For students like TSD, I would guess about 6,000
  • Huberty – I am assuming the majority of these students are in regular ISDs? They are funded differently, drastically and significantly different
    • Bugen – Yes

 

Emily Coleman, Superintendent of Texas School for Blind and Visually Impaired

  • Provides overview of TSBVI and programs offered for students from Austin campus
  • Statewide technical assistance program assists students across the state, receives federal funding for program
  • Highest funding costs go to SPED students like ours
  • In January 2022, identified 10,600 students in the state with visual impairment, not just SPED students
  • Of our blind students on campus, only 1% have IEPs
  • Believe more students are out there, and child finding continues to be a need for our school
  • Appropriated $49.5M, state, federal, and “other” funding
  • Classroom instruction 25%, support services 25%, outreach 22%, residential 15%, administrative passthrough funding 13%, $1.2M passthrough funding for universities
  • Grants that are determined per student always hurt us, did not get enough COVID funding and had to use donations to upgrade infrastructure for COVID
  • Student specific funding that is formula based does not work for us
  • General revenue funding has not increase in 6 years, cost of living and operating has increased
  • Biggest priority is recruitment and retention, student identification and evaluation is apart of that, promoting student independence
  • Not a teacher shortage, but a service shortage, when there are not enough teachers, we cannot provide enough services to the students
  • Need $2-2.5M more a year to get properly staffed, nursing staff is a priority
  • Funding recommendations include a stipend for teachers of students that are deaf blind, increased coaching programs, increased college pipeline programs, extra pay to employees that speak another language
  • Zaffirini – You talk about recruitment and retention, what performance outcomes do you report for students you retain?
    • What we report to TEA is specific to their education programs, the ones we report to the LBB is based on amount of students we serve and number of people we impact, also report average stay on our campus – goal is for students to eventually be trained to leave
  • Zaffirini – How specifically do you deal with children that are blind, to ensure they enjoy a higher quality of life?
    • We have an expanded core curriculum, professional skills, social skills, how to socially engage in the community, basic survival skills
  • Zaffirini – What is your pipeline for teachers? Who is educating teachers for visually impaired students?
    • Texas Tech University and Stephen F. Austin University, money we get serves as a passthrough for those two programs, Texas has done an excellent job in supporting those programs, but they are still not putting out enough teachers, teacher retention is a serious problem
  • Zaffirini – Could you tell us more about the conditions of your facilities?
    • Finished remodeling our campus about 4 years ago, many old issues have been addressed, thanks state of Texas for funding
  • Gonzalez – We have done a lot for the physical infrastructure, now we need to prioritize the human infrastructure, correct?
    • Yes, staffing is the main priority right now, we want to serve more kids but we cannot recruit enough people to work, high cost of living and gas is a main issue
  • Gonzalez – You said $2M for staff salary increases, that is just to keep the staff you have? Let’s say in a utilitarian world you had all the money you needed for staff, what would that be?
    • $2M is for only TSBVI employees, but could increase universal stipends, technical assistance, funding university training programs, don’t have an exact number
  • Gonzalez – Is the university funding IDA funding? Is it specifically earmarked for that purpose?
    • It is specified for us, not sure if it is specifically earmarked
  • Gonzalez – What would you ask for your next LAR request?
    • Pay increases, outreach, increasing technical assistance
  • Gonzalez – The structural problems are really the root of your problems?
    • Would emphasize out of school programs, some happening now during the summer, many students want to participate but we do not have adequate funding or staff needed
  • Huberty – Do you have a 125 students enrolled at school?
    • In our full-time program
  • Huberty – The $49.5M is a biennium budget?
    • Yes
  • Huberty – The $2.5M increase, that is for facility funding?
    • No, salaries
  • Huberty – So you would want another $5.5M for your LAR request,
    • Yes, will get back to you

 

Marina McCormick, Region 4 RDSPD Coordinator, ESC Region 4 Regional Day School Program for Deaf

  • Provides overview of services the Region 4 RDSPD provides
  • Member LEAs can function as satellite sites, receiving programs and support from program
  • What Region 4 RDSPD does: Provides support to ongoing staff, travel expenses, ideological expenses, specialized curriculum, individualized assistance devices and communications support, mental health supports
  • Three federal and state grants supplement budget, total budget is $9.5M
  • To meet student needs, which have increased, more local funding is needed
  • Not all RDSPDs calculate local funding from LEAs the same way
  • Budgetary shortfall falls on LEAs, total shortfall divided by total number of students and billed to LEAs
  • For smaller LEAs, especially charter schools, RDSPD funding can be a significant cost
  • Recommendations for funding changes regarding RDSPDs:
    • Conduct comprehensive review of SPED funding models, census and population-based model does not work
    • Review state budget total appropriation to reduce per pupil tuition rate for LEAs to better meet needs of students
    • Review funding in budget for early childhood intervention services for students that are deaf/blind
    • Need to increase funding for program curriculum and materials, ensure equity across LEAs
    • Conduct review of RDSPD local contribution formulas, develop a standard formula for LEAs across all RDSPDs, promote equity across LEAs
  • Zaffirini – How many students are not served/not eligible?
    • Would need to look at that data
  • Zaffirini – You talk about revising HHSC budget, where would that money come from? What program would lose money?
    • Would leave that to the Legislature to decide where best to pull from
  • Zaffirini – Are there waiting lists for these services?
    • For early childhood intervention services, which is coordinated from HHSC, not technically a waitlist
  • Zaffirini – Would such a review of HHSC budget result in losers and winners? Or would more money need to be allocated?
    • There might be some losses, but also some really big wins, overall would be a step forward to ensure equity for everyone, especially small LEAs
  • Zaffirini – I am trying to see if you are asking for additional funding or transferring funding from another program
    • I am asking for a standard formula for calculating contributions across LEAs, not asking for additional funding but asking Legislature for developing a standard formula
  • Gonzalez – Do you feel the state is bearing the cost of educating students that are deaf or hard of hearing? Are we following our own Constitution?
    • I feel like that is at the Legislature’s discretion to decide
  • Gonzalez – Want to explore more about the ECI, when it comes to ECIs, can you give more background on why more funding is needed? Any policy recommendations?
    • Huge collaborate effort across agencies in state, ECI coordinator spearheads effort for early intervention with parents of SPED children
  • Gonzalez – If you could give us a number we need, what would that number look like?
    • Would need to do some research and calculate for you
  • Huberty – Your RDSPD appropriation has gone flat across 10 years, that $33M has not increased?
    • No, has been flat since 2012
  • Huberty – Do you only have 5 LEAs participating in your programs?
    • Yes
  • Huberty – The shortfall of the $6.6M is broken out between those students in those 5 LEAs?
    • Yes, Houston ISD has the majority of those students and make up the majority of the deficit
  • Huberty – So theoretically, these are children that qualify for the Texas School for the Deaf but choose not to go?
    • It is evaluated by their IEP team
  • Huberty – So dividing this up per student, you only get a little more than the basic allotment? Concerned with the shortfall funding, would like you to survey more colleagues to see what their shortfalls are
    • Yes, and will get more data

 

Debbie Martin, Plano RDSPD Coordinator, Plano ISD Regional Day School Program for the Deaf

  • Provides overview of Plano RDSPD program and RDSPDs in Collin County
  • Many services provided are year-round, teachers must be paid year-round, adds additional shortages and issues to funding
  • Every RDSPD has to have a fiscal agent, coordinate funding needs with LEAs, reports the PEMs funding annually, Plano ISD takes this on for Plano RDSPD
  • Plano ISD receives ADA associated with PEMs reporting, those funds offset district costs taken on for being the fiscal agent of RDSPD
  • Over the past 10 years, grant funding has decreased, and shortfall billed to districts have increased, due to stipends and salary increases
  • Only increases have come from salary
  • Since 2019-2020 school year, shortfall has comprised of 50% of operating budget for Plano RDSPD, some districts are questioning needs for services
  • Shortfalls are having a huge impact on smaller districts in northern Collin County
  • Member districts have not opted to change billing process, but could be more efficient
  • Recommendations to funding system:
    • Look at other state SPED funding systems, possibly a better way to fund regional deaf day schools, model we have is based on census not needs of students
    • Look at shortfall system for LEAs, getting harder and harder to justify for some districts
    • Look at regional day school SSAs, some districts do not pay SSAs, may reduce costs for other SSAs across the board
    • Look at ways to increase funding for birth-age 3 programs, going into homes and getting families adjusted with devices and other needs
    • Look at additional grants that could fund RDSPDs, could help with shortfall
  • Gonzalez – What are the substantial differences as the ESC as a financial agent and LEA as a financial agent?
    • Technically employed by Plano ISD, Plano is one of 6 RDSPDs, all LEA RDSPDs
  • Gonzalez – How much early childhood intervention money do you receive?
    • Truly little, can get information to you
  • Huberty – Your state grant has not increased? So, more kids are joining your program with no increase in funding?
    • Correct
  • Huberty – If I look at 2012-2013, realistically, you have about the same number of kids, are you capped at what you take?
    • As we get earlier identification of students, they have moved over to 504 or become a consult student, fewer students need regional day school services through high school
  • Huberty – Would like to get shortfalls for all regions, and we are not funding it correctly, what would districts do if they opt out?
    • Districts have hired their own itinerant teachers, hire one deaf-ed teacher for district, do not have other supports provided at regional day school
  • Bettencourt – Important to get some cost data on a cost model, do you have specific data we can use as a cost model in this area? Wanting a breakdown of services and costs per district
    • Can provide for the Commission, and can work with TEA to get data

 

Public Testimony with Interpreter:

 

Preston Milo, Self

  • 16-year-old deaf student from Dallas, attending Dallas County Community College
  • Uses an ASL interpreter to communicate with most people at school
  • In seventh grade, district was not able to afford a qualified interpreter, had to use Zoom service but that interpreter was not qualified as well
  • Unqualified interpreters can significantly harm a child, without an interpreter students can feel isolated
  • Zaffirini – Thanks witness for testimony, encourages witness to testify again before Senate Finance and House Appropriations during session next year

 

Panel II: Special Education – Rural Schools Focus

 

Erin Warren, Superintendent of Luling ISD, Region 13

  • Providing background on providing services to SPED students through shared services allotment, or SSA
  • District acts as fiscal agent, specialized services are housed in that district, transfer among students between districts does occur
  • Funding for SSAs are federal and local, small and mid-sized school districts receive less funding that larger districts, small districts do not have funding needed so SSAs pool resources between multiple districts
  • 27/212 SPED students are transferred to Lockhart ISD daily, the fiscal agent
  • Pay an additional $517K to Lockhart ISD, Luling ISD has expended 106% of SPED funds compared to allotment, average overage of 113%
  • Asks to not be penalized for smaller districts not having enough funds

 

Jeane Boyett, Director of Grimes County Special Education COOP, Region 6

  • Region 6 has five member districts making up the SSA
  • Special education evaluations are increasing, resulting in more students getting services, costs of initial evaluations vary greatly
  • 30-40 hours for one evaluation, goal is one evaluation a week for evaluator, very time consuming, approximately 30% of students do not qualify for services
  • Staffing shortages are causing staff to work nights and weekends, staff are leaving for larger districts and private sector because of much higher pay, smaller districts cannot compete pay wise

 

Art Martin, Retired CFO Midland ISD/Lubbock ISD, currently contracts with Slaton ISD, Plainview ISD and Tulia ISD Regions 16 & 17

  • Provides overview on school finance regarding small and rural districts
  • Main issue is salaries, larger districts are able to pay more due to size, larger class sizes allow them to efficiently hire and staff for students, small districts cannot compete
  • Coding is another main issue, small districts have less finance staff and have more on their plates, harder to figure out and track costs
  • Advocating for increased funding for districts for a multitude of issues
  • Bettencourt – Are we looking at a hybrid cost model for smaller districts, or could best practices in larger districts be replicated in smaller districts?
    • Agrees, would take time to compete such a study, majority of those costs are driven by salaries, can look at best practices for small and large districts, many SSAs are operating very efficiently

 

Aaron Hood, Superintendent of Robert Lee ISD, Region 15

  • A part of a SPED co-op for ten member districts, they provide the majority of services for SPED students, 378 students in co-op, up to 592 students this year, 57% increase across 4-year period, co-op budget is $3.8M this last year
  • Appreciates the 55% rule for small districts
  • General revenue funding also supports several SPED staff at Robert Lee ISD

 

Questions

  • Zaffirini – If you could write one recommendation for this Commission’s report, what would it be?
    • Hood – Do not decrease SPED funding, has gone up a little, please keep it that way
    • Martin – Maintaining the formulas as they are, put as much money as you can in the basic formula
    • Boyett – Some sort of funding mechanism to help rural schools to attract applicants and keep them, a stipend of some sort perhaps
    • Warren – Look at the SPED transportation reimbursement funding, fewer unfunded mandates
  • Zaffirini – Can you think of any unfunded mandates that should be eliminated?
    • Warren – Cannot think of any, high expense mandates that are not funded should be looked at as the top priority
  • Huberty – Has the majority of growth been for dyslexia students? That is a big jump in 4 years, is it the cap removal?
    • Hood – Combination of a lot of factors, growth we saw contributed too
  • Huberty – Each evaluation has a different cost, correct?
    • Hood – Yes, a full evaluation is around $600, an autism evaluation is around $1,900
  • Huberty – What do you think the shortfall is total, with spending or revenues?
    • Martin – Tough question, need to look at funding formulas, 55% rule is good, SPED is primarily driven by staff and salaries, allocating a separate salary schedule for SPED staff that could help with costs
  • Huberty – Private clinics paying staff more?
    • Boyett – Yes paying around $10k to 23k more; on the high end we pay $70k
  • Huberty – One of our recommendations will be regarding transportation; want to make sure we are not missing what districts are charging for transportation vs the actual cost
    • Warren – Use one bus three times a day
  • Huberty – Would like cost structure of Luling’s SSA
  • Paxton – Any other factors that compare to the weight of salary to retaining/recruiting? Certain specialty difficult to acquire?
    • Warren – Have lost 30% of total staff; main reasons has been mental health issues of students/teachers; hardest to acquire are LSSP and SLPs
    • Boyett – Another factor is workload; LSSP and speech pathologists are hardest to find
    • Martin – Occupational therapist is one of the most difficult to acquire
    • Hood – Workload is the second factor to people leaving; LSSP is difficult to find/compete with private industry for
  • Gonzalez – When contracting out losing some expertise when developing school wide inclusion and accessibility efforts?
    • Boyett – Agree, is different from having an employee
  • Gonzalez and Boyett discuss ARD meeting; contractor participates along with district’s diagnostician
  • Gonzalez – Changing special education funding could have a positive or negative impact on ARD?
    • Boyett – Do not see issues with giving more funding
    • Hood – Depends on what service is done; could incentivize the school to give kids more services than needed
    • Martin – Basic allotment is a good way to go
  • Gonzalez – Heard it has worked, but schools are paying more than what is given in the funding
  • Gonzalez – Recommendations for policy changes for MOE? Specifically, how impacts rural?
    • Hood – Is about how we code total special education dollars in code 23, difficult due to federal MOE requirements as well
    • Warren – Notes concern with pulling from extra funds due to federal MOE standards
  • Gonzalez – Find spending more than coding? Think we should restructure coding
    • Hood – Yes; spend 100% of special education allotment on special education services
    • Huberty – Should stop right now; state has ongoing litigation with the federal government concerning MOE

 

Panel III: Special Education – Non-Profit Organizations

 

Joel and Carolyn Price, Imagine A Way

  • Founded non-profit in order to afford special education services; currently funding fifty-seven children on an annual basis
  • Medicaid provides the mechanism for special education funding for lower income; but if you make just beyond qualifying amounts, you are not eligible
  • Children in Imagine a Way are provided services at minimum 12 hours per week and goes up to 40 hours per week
  • Estimate are 51k children between 2-7 with ASD and 52% qualify for Medicaid services
  • If our process were used statewide, would cost $114m annually
  • Huberty – Who do you serve?
    • Autistic children from age of diagnosis up to age 7; supported families who make up to $100k and depends on the severity of service
  • Huberty – What happens after age 7?
    • Get them to the point they are able to move into the school system
  • Huberty – Partnerships with schools? Cost of program?
    • Do not, everything is private funding; About $6.5k per child per year
  • Huberty – Fundraise 95% of cost? Function similarly to pre-k or Montessori?
    • Have 55 currently
  • Huberty – If we were to expand HB 4 in 2015 to allow you to participate in the funding program, would be helpful? HB 1716 from last session could be helpful?
    • Could almost double what we are doing; we do not provide the service, funding goes directly to the clinic
  • Chair Combest – Where do you get clients?
    • Clinics refer families to us

 

Marti Boone and Dan Pastorini, Be an Angel Fund, Inc.

  • Support by providing equipment, services, and programs to special needs children including those who are deaf
  • Serve low-income individuals from birth to twenty-two; primary source of support is through adaptive equipment
  • Currently provide 12 hours of services which is $2.4k per year; pay the provider
  • Funds come through donation events, grant funds, other partnerships
  • Budget this year $2M and serving around 6k children; averages $333 per child
  • Finding evaluations are not including resources that school districts cannot provide
  • Not allowed to recommend other services in the ARD; family should get a resource list in the ARD
  • Should consider vetting and qualifying other organizations that could provide these respite/equipment
  • Notes over sixty-five students who had loaner hearing aids had to return them when going into lockdown
  • Chair Combest – Resource list is a valuable piece of information from testimony today
  • Huberty – Realistically with grant program funding, how much money would you want to have?
    • Could easily take on another 150 children for respite alone; if had $1m could help double the amount of children
  • Huberty – Partner with school districts on building new playgrounds?
    • Correct; most have been in the Houston area
  • Huberty – Concerning the respite care waiting list for federal programs is 15-16 years? Want to give the money to someone who can do it like you or other non-profits
    • Do not have staff and are not putting out the money/resources they could
  • Zaffirini – Previously developed a plan to fund a certain percentage of services on the waiting list; should make this recommendation
    • Non-profits should work with the state more; could serve more children due to alternative revenues
  • Huberty – How many kids are using hearing aids within the school system?
    • At least 7-10%
  • Huberty – If the state declares this is a problem, could create a privatized system
  • Chair Combest – How do you get this information to the rural school districts?
    • Is not getting to them, we do not know

 

Tammy Hortenstine, Director of Unified Champion Schools, Special Olympics

  • Provides background on Special Olympics and Unified Champion Schools in Texas
  • Serves 752 campuses, reached over 418K students and teachers just in this past school year
  • Unified Champions School program allows SPED students to adhere to a sense of normalcy, Unified pairs a SPED student with a general education student

 

Daniel Garcia, Principal, Hendrickson High School

  • Helped established Unified Champions at Hendrickson High School

 

Amy Wisenthutter, Hendrickson High School, Pflugerville ISD

  • Started Unified at Hendrickson High School, was student led
  • Students advocated for expanding Unified to every aspect of school, not just athletics, art, band, ROTC, etc., huge culture change at school
  • Combest – Can you provide the structure for a SPED student, with a challenging behavior, in Unified?
    • Hortenstine – Using unified activity as an inducement for good behavior, long journey to get there but once you do, it helps control behavior
  • Combest – But what about a behavior with which you cannot reason?
  • Student engagement is key, engagement can change behavior
  • Huberty – Most of your funding comes from the state, is there a request or more funding you are looking for?
    • Hortenstine – With inflationary pressures, for next session, $5.5M would let us go above and beyond
  • Huberty – How many students do you service?
    • Hortenstine – 418K this year, we are at 752 campuses right now and the goal is to double that next year
  • Huberty – Where is your money going towards?
    • Hortenstine – Supplies, whether that is sports supplies or whatever that campus needs, travel to state competitions; we want to expand to more campuses and that is why we need more funding
  • Huberty – Would like to see a return on investment provided to Commission

 

Public Testimony:

 

Jordan Ward, Mesquite Regional Day School

  • Advocating for higher pay for interpreters in public schools, states that deaf students deserve better
  • Because of high costs to stay certified, and high cost of living, it is not feasible for interpreters to work in K-12 schools, more feasible to work in private sector
  • Combest – What is the cost of all certifications?
    • Written is $75, each level is an additional cost as well

 

Twyla Loftin, Deaf Education Specialist at Educational Service Center Region 11

  • Top reasons why interpreters are leaving: poor pay, high workload, identification as a “para” professional, little to no breaks
  • Advocating for increased funding for RDSPD, cannot provide quality service to students without increased funding
  • Huberty – When you say additional resources, what is the number?
    • Relating to interpreters, in nine RDSPD programs surveyed, $6.5M shortfall
  • Huberty – Relating to salaries, what increase is needed?
    • Will provide data to you regarding district salaries and private sector salaries

 

Amber Cain, Deaf Action Center

  • Advocating for improvement in deaf education support, qualified language role model in classroom with child
  • Raising the pay scale is first step to secure qualified people in the classroom

 

Baron Cain, Texas Society of Interpreters for the Deaf

  • TSID advocates for increased general revenue funding for deaf programs, and to provide higher pay for sign language interpreters
  • Interpreters working outside the K-12 setting are paid much higher than school interpreters

 

Sarah Milem, Self

  • Advocating for increased funding for sign language interpreters in K-12 schools
  • School could not hire qualified interpreter for her child, local interpreters would not work for salary provided

 

Edgar Pacheco, Self

  • Asking for more grant funding for certified behavioral analysts, will allow SPED children to be better understood, improve learning for SPED students and general education students
  • More funding will result in less litigation
  • Zaffirini – Who is suing who?
    • Normally parents suing school district for failing to provide services

 

Kerry Neal, Self

  • The biggest need in schools is not equipment, but personnel, schools are deeply understaffed
  • Advocating for increased funding to hire more SPED staff, need to take a break from teaching
  • Combest – You mentioned you had to take a year off, because of the stress level as a teacher?
    • If COVID had not happened, I would have quit teaching way sooner, workload was too much, the mental health of students has changed
  • Combest – Do you think there is too much duplication in paperwork?
    • In some ways yes, monotony of having to keep up with daily tasks is hard
  • Zaffirini – Do you have specific technology programs that would be helpful?
    • Technology is fine, we need more staff and that is the problem

 

Leigh Olivero, Self

  • Child with dyslexia, was behind on reading in elementary school compared with the rest of her classmates
  • Advocating for better pay for SPED teachers in K-12 schools
  • Huberty enters exchange with witness about his personal experiences with dyslexia
  • Zaffirini enters exchange with witness about dyslexia in her family

 

Jennifer Olivero, Self

  • Mother of Leigh, 11-year-old dyslexic child, diagnosed as “profoundly dyslexic”, now entering middle school as an advanced student
  • Advocating for better pay for SPED teachers in K-12 schools, many of the teachers have left her daughter’s school due to the lack of pay

 

Dawn Garcia, Self

  • Teacher for over 20 years, state is not providing the best quality for students due to staffing shortages and issues, decisions are being made by people “not in the trenches”
  • Combest – Paperwork does not teach, it does not benefit that student
    • Correct
  • Gonzalez – Last year we passed legislation requiring 80% of counselor time be spent on counselor duties, for SPED teachers, how many hours do you spend on paperwork a day?
    • 2-3 hours a day, usually my own time after school

 

Jolene Sanders Foster, Coalition of Texans for Disabilities

  • Regarding ECI, 46% of kids that go through that no longer need SPED services, funding this program is extremely important
  • Desperately need more educators, not just SPED, in underserved areas, need to expand funding to provide this

 

Sue Ellen Stephenson, Self

  • Tremendous lack of support for students with autism in schools
  • Advocating for better autism support in K-12 schools and also for transitionary programs into adulthood
  • Combest – You said you felt your son felt passed along, can you expand?
    • As he got older, it just seemed like the school cared less and less, he could sense the teachers did not have his best interest, also was being bullied by other kids
  • Combest – Do you believe that there could have been transitionary preparation in high school?
    • Absolutely, no support was provided for actual real-life skills

 

 

Lisa Flores, Self

  • Advocating for a service-intensity model for SPED, inclusion must be modeled from the top
  • Lack of staffing at her son’s school is a real problem
  • Recommends moving to a tiered mainstream support funding system, the old weights just cannot accomplish our goals anymore
  • Huberty engages in exchange with witness about her work on HB 3

 

Tim Martin, Special Olympics Texas

  • Provides overview of Special Olympics activities in Texas and thanks Legislature for providing funding for his organization

 

Back to Panel III (technology was not working)

 

Jennifer Dantzler, Including Kids Inc.

  • Provides overview of Including Kids and their work in Texas
  • In Texas, there is a 15-year waitlist to receive Medicaid waiver services for autistic services, especially home and community services
  • Educating parents to get their children on this waitlist is key
  • More resources are needed for the severe end of the autism spectrum, 25% of autistic children have aggressive behavior
  • Usually, a district will only have one behavioral analyst, need to hire and retain more staff
  • Recommends setting behavioral criteria, and then requiring a licensed behavioral analysist to be involved in IEP of child
  • Huberty – We talked earlier about HCS services, when you talk about behavioral services, what is the private sector paying those people vs public sector?
    • I do not think it is that big of a difference, between $10-20K difference a year
  • Huberty – How many young adults are in a situation without access to a program like yours?
    • Many, for young adults that do not have transitionary training, they a financial burden to society, they could be productive members of society and in the workforce