Dominique Harvey
Texas PTA VP Advocacy

November elections are almost here

In statewide races, the candidates are:

Changes in make-up of 2027 legislature

There will be five new state senators next session. Currently there are 19 Republican senators and 12 Democrats. This partisan split could change if some incumbent senators are defeated.

Going into the November election, there are 24 open House seats. Sixteen Republican House members are leaving, and eight Democrats will not be returning. There could be more changes, and some observers are predicting that the Democrats could pick up 8-10 House seats.

How could these results affect the Legislature?  A smaller Republican majority for the next legislative session could result in a Speaker’s race that possibly could change the dynamics of the House.

Abbott, Patrick, and Burrows ask state agencies to cut base budgets by 3 percent for next session

The request from the Big 3 comes in a letter to agency heads. The exception to the 3 percent cut is for public education and school vouchers.  More than one out of every seven dollars of the current biennium’s budget — $51 billion — was directed to property tax cuts. Gov. Abbott and Lt Gov. Patrick are both advancing proposals to cut even more property taxes during the next legislative session.

There is speculation from some budget writers that the possibility exists that the state may be facing the first deficit budget situation the state has seen since 2011. This could affect school funding as well.

The Senate Committee on Local Government held its first interim hearing

The committee met on September 1, to examine the effects of recent property tax relief measures, including homestead exemption increases and rate compression enacted in prior sessions. The committee heard extensive data presentation, and testimony from tax officials and school board members.

Statewide data from all 254 counties showing 61% of over-65 and disabled homeowners now pay zero school property taxes; 25% of general homesteads pay zero; average ISD tax bills dropped 13.5% for general homesteads and 32% for over-65 homes; 92% of Texas counties have 50% or more homesteads paying zero ISD taxes.

Senator Carol Alvarado raised concerns about structural deficits from permanent tax obligations funded by temporary surpluses and the need to include renters in affordability discussions.

A Bernie ISD Trustee stated that the average Bernie ISD homeowner under 65 pays only 3.6% more in school taxes despite 70% market value increase over eight years.

Texas changes how it funds special education 

Beginning with the 2026-27 school year, Texas is moving away from a system that based special education funding largely on where and how students received services. Under SB 568, funding will instead be tied more closely to the intensity of services a student needs. Students will be placed into one of eight funding tiers based on the services included in their individualized education program. Statewide, the new funding system should provide about $250 million more than the previous formula.

Some schools will see their accountability ratings improve

Texas Education Agency officials said about 27,200 students received additional credit for their test responses to some questions on the reading portion of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. The adjustments affected some sixth through eighth graders, as well as those who took the English I end-of-course exam. Nine campuses and five districts saw their A-F rating increases as a result, officials said.

In December 2023, the TEA began a computer automated process to grade open-ended questions on the STAAR, including on the reading and English exams, with humans manually reviewing at least a quarter of exam scores. About 1.7% of more than 1.6 million exams reviewed saw scores improve, although not all increases directly led to improved A-F ratings for schools, said agency officials.

Vouchers update

In the latest budget request, acting Comptroller Don Huffines is asking for $2.3 billion to keep the program going for the next two years. This translates into a slightly higher annual amount than what lawmakers allocated for the current school year.

In the 2025 session, lawmakers assigned $1 billion to get the voucher program going and cover costs for the 2026 school year. The vouchers, known as Education Savings Accounts, give $2,000 to homeschooled students, about $10,500 for those in private school and up to $30,000 for students with special needs. 

Nearly 110,000 students are in the program in its first year. More than 60,000 are attending private school, 7,300 are special education students and the rest are homeschoolers.

Data from the comptroller shows that 70% of private school recipients were already enrolled in a private school. For students on the waitlist, that figure is 80%, according to the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency, an advocacy group that obtained data from the comptroller through a public information request.

Legislative Calendar

Fall 2026 — remaining interim hearings: 

October 5 — last day to register to vote

October 19 — early voting starts

November 3 elections — VOTE

November 10 — bill pre-filing begins

January 12 — opening day

February 12 — committee hearings underway

March 12 — bill filing deadline

May 31 — sine die

The Denton Council of PTAs treats voter education as a year-round habit, not a once-every-four-years scramble.  Ahead of the fall elections, the Council partnered with Vote Denton to place voter registrars at every high school open house across the district, meeting families where they already were. In February, they hosted a Straight Talk watch party paired with a live Q&A session featuring Denton ISD administrators, turning a statewide broadcast into a local conversation.  That momentum carried into April, when the Council organized a candidate forum open to the entire community and extended an invitation to every candidate running for a Denton ISD Board of Trustees seat, regardless of where they stood.  Layer in regular updates shared through email, social media, and every Council Delegate meeting, and you get a Council that has made staying informed feel normal, not political.

Thank you, Denton Council of PTAs, for showing what steady, nonpartisan engagement looks like all year long.

PTA leaders across Texas each bring their distinct personalities and approaches to their roles. Whether assertive, cooperative, compassionate, or strategic, they all share a common commitment: to act in the best interest of children. Advocacy takes many forms, but the dedication to supporting our students and schools is a universal thread that unites all our PTA leaders. 

We are thrilled to showcase all the great work in communities across Texas in Advocacy Starts at Home!

Elections 
Tuesday, November 3 

Monday, February 22nd