Education Policy

Texas Education Advocacy

Decisions made by state-level officials have a profound impact on the quality of education the state provides to its students.

Key policies involve how education is funded, the curriculum teachers use, the types of instructional programs schools must offer and much more. Many policies and practices have led to inequitable educational opportunities for students.  

Since its founding 51 years ago, IDRA has provided analysis and guidance to policymakers nationally while engaging with communities, educators and students on policy issues to ensure all students have access to equitable and excellent education.


Texas Policy Team 2025 JanMeet our policy team! 

Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., Deputy Director of Policy

Celina Moreno, J.D., President & CEO

Morgan Craven, J.D., National Director of Policy, Advocacy and Community Engagement

Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., Chief Legal Analyst

Kaci Wright, Education Policy Fellow

Vivek Datla, MPA, Education Policy Fellow

Thomas Marshall III, M.Ed., Policy Communications Strategist

Isabelle Philip, Education Policy Fellow

See PDF flier



Get Resources and Tools on our Five Priority Issues 


Resources 

IDRA Policy Digests 2025 (bilingual PDFs)


Tools

New Data Map: The Big Cost of Proposed Voucher Legislation – IDRA Map and Dashboard by State Senate Districts, State House Districts, Traditional Public School Districts, and Charter School Districts

Policy Brief: Keep Public Funds in Texas Public Schools – Reject Harmful Private School Voucher Programs  Invest In Public Education, Public Funds Public Schools, May 2023

Issue Brief: Identity-based Bullying in Texas Schools – Policy Recommendations – IDRA Issue Brief, by Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D., & Makiah Lyons, April 2023

Issue Brief: Hitting Hurts – The Case for Ending Corporal Punishment in Texas – IDRA Issue Brief, by Morgan Craven, J.D., April 2023

Issue Brief: How Texas Schools Are Funded – And Why that Matters to Collective Success – Issue Brief, By Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., August 2022

Video gallery: Student Testimony Against Classroom Censorship

Video gallery: Student Testimony Against Transgender Sports Exclusion Bills

Video gallery: IDRA Education Advocacy and Testimony 


Alerts

IDRA Texas Education Policy Alert #4 – February 11, 2025 • English • Spanish

IDRA Texas Education Policy Alert #3 – February 3, 2025 • English Spanish

IDRA Texas Education Policy Alert #2 – January 27, 2025 • English Spanish

IDRA Texas Education Policy Alert #1 – January 17, 2025 • English Spanish


Changing Policy

Education Savings Accounts are Inefficient and Ineffective for General Diffusion of Knowledge, Student Achievement and School Investments – IDRA Testimony against SB 2, Submitted by Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D., to the Texas Senate Committee on Education K-16, January 28, 2025

Don’t Prioritize Politics and Profits Over the Families Policymakers Should Be Representing – Testimony Against Senate Bill 2, Presented by Lizdelia Piñón, IDRA Education Associate, to the Texas Senate Committee on Education (PK-16), January 28, 2025 (Plus testimony by Sixth Grader, Felicita Piñón)

Education Saving Accounts Harm Texas Students’ Access to an Equitable Education – TLEEC Testimony Against Senate Bill 2, submitted by Kaci Wright to the Texas Senate Committee on K-16 Education, January 28, 2025

Sign-On Letter: Public Charter Transparency – Comments to the Texas Education Agency, April 2024

A Policy Agenda to Support Black Students, IDRA, February 2024

• Policy Comments, Testimony and Policy Updates in 2024, 2023 and 2022 and 2021 legislative sessions


Engaging Communities

IDRA partnered with other civil rights and educational equity organizations to demand that school districts immediately stop their anti-LGBTQ+ activities and policies.

IDRA partnered with other civil rights and educational equity organizations to demand that school districts immediately return the books they had removed from its school library shelves. Most of the books focus on histories of racism and discrimination and the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community and people of color.

Texas Education CAFE Advocacy Network

Texas Legislative Education Equity Coalition (TLEEC)


Communicating Effectively 

Knowledge is Power is IDRA’s national resource for educators and advocates to help you do your work for equity and excellence in education in the midst of classroom censorship policies.

Students Tell Texas Attorney General that Racial Discrimination in School is Real – IDRA Applauds Students Speaking Out Against Texas’ New Classroom Censorship Law (Español), September 29, 2021

88 public school students described their experiences with racial discrimination in school

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