Good Reason Houston announces priorities for the 89th Texas legislative session

As the 89th Texas Legislative Session approaches, Good Reason Houston, a nonprofit focused on improving public education, has laid out its legislative priorities for the upcoming session. 

These priorities include academic accountability, early education, teacher support, and postsecondary readiness, with the goal of improving educational outcomes for Houston’s students.

“Advocating for policies that put students first is essential to creating positive, systemic change in Houston’s public schools,” said Veronica Garcia, Chief Policy Officer at Good Reason Houston.

In a Dec. 3 webinar, Good Reason Houston outlined its legislative priorities, which are as follows:

• Fair, Transparent, and Rigorous Accountability: Ensure students, families, and communities have access to a robust and transparent academic accountability system—one that measures student academic success, public school quality, and identifies areas where additional resources are needed.

• High-Quality Early Learning: Increase resources for high-quality early education programs and incentivize the use of research-backed classroom tools designed to promote effective, engaging interactions and environments foundational to early learning.

• Strategic Investment in Public Education Funding: Ensure public school systems have the financial resources they need to meet student learning needs and support postsecondary success, including investments in student-focused reforms introduced by HB 3 (86R) aimed at improving student outcomes.

• Strengthening Effective Teacher Pipeline: Cultivate and retain a workforce of education professionals by incentivizing rigorous preparation pathways, recognizing and investing in highly effective educators, and supporting ongoing professional development.

• Driving Postsecondary Readiness: Set graduates up for postsecondary success by incentivizing college, career, and military readiness pathways in K-12 programming that align with postsecondary opportunities in high-wage, high-demand industries.

Good Reason Houston has been working to close achievement gaps and improve educational outcomes across the Houston area. The organization's mission is to raise awareness, advocate for change, and advise school systems on strategies to improve the quality of education for all students. 

Through its partnerships with public school systems, Good Reason Houston is currently working with 18 districts and serves more than 700,000 students across 901 schools.