Policy

E3 Alliance is committed to transforming education systems through data and collaboration so that all students succeed. These advocacy priorities reflect our mission and commitment to meaningfully build racial equity belongingness, success, and well-being to ensure that the Texas public education system prioritizes students’ success.

Bright Futures for Texas Students

To help our students reach their full potential, education systems must continuously evolve. Educators regularly assess programs and processes to eliminate obstacles and close opportunity gaps. Legislative action can quickly scale successful systemic improvements across the state so ALL students succeed.

Our solutions recommend these actions:

  • Support Early Education
  • Increase Equitable Pathways
  • Champion College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR)
  • Ensure Postsecondary Success for All Students

Support Early Education

  • Reinforce low-ratio classrooms and quality pre-K.
  • Maintain a focus on early literacy and reading.

Why

E3 Alliance research shows students enrolled in pre-K are three times more likely to receive top school-ready ratings from their kindergarten teachers and reach on-level reading by 3rd grade.

Percent of Students from Low-Income Households Meeting literacy k-readiness standard, Texas 2021 44% not enrolled in pre-K,59% Enrolled in pre-k 4

Increase Equitable Pathways 

  • Enforce policies that increase access and opportunity to Algebra I in 8th grade.
  • Bolster middle school college and career advising by strengthening the alignment to high school.

Why

Students who succeed in Algebra I in middle school have a greater opportunity to engage in an advanced math course (e.g., dual credit) during their senior year of high school, which increases their likelihood of College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) and postsecondary enrollment.

For the Texas Class of 2020, education systems are completing Asian students in Algebra I by middle school at a rate of over eight times more than Black students (Asian – 66%, Black – 19%).

Related E3 Alliance Supported Bills

SB 2124: Authored by Senator Creighton
HB 4870: Authored by Representative Howard

SB2124/HB 4870: Relating to requiring an opt-out policy for accelerated mathematics courses for certain students.

SB 2124 Senate Education Committee Testimony | April 12, 2023

HB 4870 House Education Committee Testimony | April 20, 2023

Champion College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR)

  • Incentivize schools for students who complete an advanced math course in their senior year.
  • Support equitable access to dual credit and Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools (P-TECH) by increasing the number of students who enroll and earn applicable college credit, degrees and credentials of value.

Why

Students who complete four years of math are more than twice as likely to complete a postsecondary credential, associate degree, and/or bachelor’s degree, compared to those who take less than four years of math.

Students who complete a college-aligned math course in high school are six times more likely to complete a postsecondary credential, associate degree, and/or bachelor’s degree compared to those who complete Algebra II as their highest math.

Ensure Postsecondary Success for All Students

  • Pass legislation to implement the Texas Commission on Community College Finance recommendations for equitable reform, including significant new resources for strategic investment.
  • Develop a pipeline for high school teachers to become credentialed as adjunct instructors.
  • Increase access and opportunity for dual credit course offerings to retain students on the path to postsecondary success.

Why

In Texas, 62% of jobs require at least some postsecondary education, but only 47.9% of adults have a postsecondary credential. Currently, only 23% of students earn a degree within six years of graduation.

Get in Touch

Contact Jennifer Cavazos Saenz at jsaenz@e3alliance.org for more information.