The Special legislative session in Texas gets underway next Monday, July 21. Flood Warning systems, THC regulation and congressional maps are three of the 18 items on the agenda. Governor Greg Abbott recently announced that in the aftermath of the devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country, the state must ensure better preparation for such events in the future.
As Texas Public Radio reports, this effort is expected to include legislation to improve early warning flood systems in flood-prone areas throughout Texas, as well as relief funding for the impacted Hill Country. Also in the announcement, proposed legislation would make it a crime to provide hemp-derived products to anyone under 21. Abbott is directing the lawmakers to redraw the congressional map, which would increase the number of Republican seats – which could help preserve the GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
And during that special session, Governor Abbott has also directed lawmakers to find a replacement for the STAAR test results play a critical role in the grades that school districts receive. Professor Duncan Klussmann, who teaches education at the University of Houston, explains some of the dissatisfaction leveled against the standardized test. “It’s often how they use the information and how they use the information in punitive ways towards school districts. That tends to be what people object to more than the test itself. But the STAAR Test gets the blame, because it’s the test that’s given.” Klussmann says even if the STAAR test is eliminated, it would likely be phased out over a few years.
