IDRA

Last week, students, parents, and community advocates came together for Protect Public Education Day of Action hosted by Fund Georgia’s Future & the Georgia Coalition for Education Justice!

Special thanks to our Fund Georgia's Future partners, for helping to make the day such a success. #gapol

🚨TODAY, the Georgia House will debate HB 1023, a bill that would require weapons detection systems at school entrances, despite little evidence they make schools safer.

➡️ Use our form to contact your House Rep and urge them to vote NO on HB 1023. #gapol

idra.news/SayNotoHB1023

Exclusive: HISD has lost nearly 4,000 immigrant students amid ICE fears HISD's immigrant student population fell for the first time since COVID this school year. Experts say families are staying home as they fear ICE enforcement.

"Schools have a constitutional responsibility to serve all students, including immigrant students. And that means developing a school climate that is safe not only for students, but also for their adult caregivers," - Paige Duggins-Clay, IDRA #txlege
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...

Proud to have @idraedu.bsky.social & TLEEC support students in their right to free speech as they walkout of classes across TX and the country this past week. The stakes are high but the youth are strong ✊

idra-resource.center/TLEECSupport...

🚨 ACTION ALERT:

To easily send a message to your House Rep opposing SB 74 and the criminalization of librarians, click here: secure.ngpvan.com/Yc1dv8o4M0aW...

It's time our lawmakers start focusing on the real issues impacting Georgians' lives and leave scapegoating LGBTQ people in the past!

Mikayla Arciaga with @idraedu.bsky.social is explaining the process of book challenges:

"Our concern is that there are not clear guidelines... we have jumped straight from adding standards of what you want to see to adding criminal penalties... We have time in this session to do our due diligence."

132 CAP This is "132 CAP" by Georgia House of Representatives on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

SB 74 is up right now in the Judiciary Non-Civil House Committee. Criminalizing librarians with bills like SB 74 would chill access to constitutionally protected speech, undermine public institutions, and invite costly litigation. #gapol

Watch live: vimeo.com/1162300445?f...

There is a box with a red heading "Get the facts about vouchers" and the icon of Florida. The text in the box reads: "Florida’s state auditor reported losing track of 30,000 students in its voucher program. The program cost $398 million more than expected by the end of the 2024-25 school year." The bottom of the box has the Texas Center for Voucher Transparency logo. The background is a faded close-up of the Texas Capitol. At the bottom of the image is a purple box with the sources: Lauren Lumpkin in the Washington Post.

Texans can learn from other states what can happen when voucher programs grow without guardrails and adequate oversight: budget deficits, misuse of public funds, and limited improvement in student outcomes.

#txlege #txed

A public hearing SB 74 scheduled for Thursday, February 5th at 3:30pm, in room 132 CAP with the House Judicial Non-Civil Committee. The room is in the basement of the Capitol Building. You may attend the hearing or if you are unable to attend, please bring your state-issued ID.

☎️☎️☎️☎️☎️☎️Time Sensitive! Make your call to protect librarians and our libraries from interference and overreach. Librarians are professionals who should be trusted to use the training they have to do the job we depend on them to do! Share this post!!!

indivisiblegeorgiacoalition.org/2026/02/04/s...

This week, the Texas private school voucher program goes live to families across the state.

We call on state leaders to fairly fund our neighborhood public schools instead of sending more money to an already billion dollar voucher program. #txlege

idra.news/TxVoucherWatch

If the majority party is not trying to censor gay people for simply existing (in literature), they should stop progressing legislation which uses an antiquated definition of harmful. #GaPol

Georgia librarians could face criminal charges for ‘harmful materials’  • Georgia Recorder Librarians and education advocates are warning that a bill moving through the state Legislature could cause Georgia’s librarians to self-censor controversial materials and lead to more challenges on b...

@mikaylaarciaga.bsky.social Georgia advocacy director at the IDRA, a non-profit educational advocacy group, said that could lead to books with passing references to LGBTQ characters to accusations of obscenity. #SB74 #gapol
georgiarecorder.com/2026/02/03/g...

Proud to partner with @idraedu.bsky.social and Texans across the state for the Voucher Week of Action!

#DefendPublicEducation

We are joining @osodtexas.bsky.social & public education supporters across the state for a week of action from February 2 to February 6 to call on the state to put transparency first, protect taxpayer dollars, and ensure fairness for public school students. ✏️ #txlege
bit.ly/VoucherWeekO...

The headline is Voucher Week of Action toolkit in red font to the right of the Our Schools Our Democracy logo. Below the headline is the text: "Public education supporters are coming together for a Voucher Week of Action from February 2 to February 6 as Texas opens parent applications for Texas Education Freedom Account (TEFA) vouchers. Check out the Week of Action toolkit for: - A #TexansChoosePublicSchools campaign to highlight the amazing work that your local school district is doing. - Sample op-eds you can personalize and submit to your local paper. - A sample email to send to your lawmakers with key unanswered questions that require clear answers for parents, policymakers, and the public. At the bottom is a red popout with the link bit.ly/VoucherWeekOfAction

Are you ready to join the Voucher Week of Action next week?

Check out the toolkit at bit.ly/VoucherWeekOfAction and get ready to:
🏫 Celebrate our Texas public schools
📧 Contact your Texas lawmaker
✏️ Write an op-ed to your local paper

Graphic promoting a “2026 Advocacy Training” event. Large yellow headline reads “2026 Advocacy Training” on a blue background. Text lists: “Saturday, Jan. 24, 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM.” A bold yellow diagonal banner says “VIRTUAL ONLY.” An image of the Georgia State Capitol with its gold dome appears on the right. Additional text: “Join to learn about advocacy work in Georgia & to get more involved in the 2026 legislative session!” Bottom includes Georgia Equality logo and registration link: “REGISTER: www.georgiaequality.org/advocacy2026.”

UPDATE: Due to the threat of inclement weather, we have made the decision to switch tomorrow's advocacy training to VIRTUAL ONLY.

Anyone registered for the in-person event MUST additionally register for the virtual option to receive the Zoom information: www.georgiaequality.org/advocacy2026

All Risk, No Reward for Public Ed: What’s Ahead for the Federal Voucher Program pfps.org/all-risk,-no...

Georgia’s voucher programs are riddled with gaps in accountability, transparency, and effectiveness. We need to get our house (and senate) in order before we go adding more privatization.

Read our whole statement here: prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/E...

#GaPol #EduPol

This week, Gov. Kemp announced that Georgia will opt into a federal private school voucher program that provides tax credits to donors to voucher organizations in the state. He made this decision without public input with the legislature.

Georgia students deserve better. #gapol

ELC’s #MakingTheGrade shows vast regional differences in public school funding across the country. New York, the highest-funded state, spends about 2.5 times as much on K–12 education as Idaho, the lowest-funded state. Read more: edlawcenter.org/wp-content/u...

The background is screenshots of Texans testifying against vouchers. There is a cream colored box in the middle with the heading Join the voucher week of action and the text: Despite years of Texans rallying, testifying, and organizing to oppose private school vouchers, Texas is scheduled to open voucher applications on February 4. Join public education supporters from across the state for a week of action from February 2 to February 6 to highlight public school success stories and call for the voucher program to put transparency first, protect taxpayer dollars, and ensure fairness for public school students. There is a red link at the bottom that directs you to bit.ly/KeepVouchersOut

The background is screenshots of Texans testifying against vouchers. There is a cream colored box in the middle with the heading Join the week of action above a QR code and the text Sign up for templates to take action. The QR code leads to bit.ly/KeepVouchersOut. Below is the text: You can take action by: - Emailing your lawmaker to call for increased oversight. - Writing an op-ed to your local newspaper. - Posting photos, videos, and stories from your school district to show that #TexansChoosePublicSchools. - Signing up to speak at your school board meeting. - Hosting a local action to engage your community.

This Feb 2-Feb 6, join public education supporters for a statewide voucher week of action.

Together, we can show that Texans demand transparency, accountability, and fairness for public school students. Join the next phase of the fight: bit.ly/KeepVouchersOut.

#txed

Thanks to @josephinelee.bsky.social for telling this important story. We reminded legislators all last session that this voucher program would discriminate against students.

Now, it's happening right in front of our eyes.

Texas Taxpayers Will Fund Dozens of Private Schools that Openly Discriminate The state has signed off on voucher funds for schools that exclude non-Christian and LGBTQ+ kids.

“Private schools can say our religious beliefs or our moral beliefs dictate that having a gender identity or sexual orientation that doesn’t conform with traditional male-female binaries is against our religion.” - Paige Duggins-Clay, IDRA #txlege
www.texasobserver.org/texas-vouche...

“Private schools can say our religious beliefs or our moral beliefs dictate that having a gender identity or sexual orientation that doesn’t conform with traditional male-female binaries is against our religion,” said Paige Duggins- Clay @idraedu.bsky.social

Texas Taxpayers Will Fund Dozens of Private Schools that Openly Discriminate The state has signed off on voucher funds for schools that exclude non-Christian and LGBTQ+ kids.

92% of private schools already enrolled in Texas’ voucher programs serving kids beyond kindergarten are religious. @texasobserver.org found many of these exclude non-Christian and LGBTQ+ kids. #TxEd #TxLege #TexasSchools #ProtectPublicSchools #SchoolVouchers www.texasobserver.org/texas-vouche...

✨Another year, another Georgia Legislative Session 📚

IDRA's team is back for another year of working to ensure every child can thrive in Georgia public schools. Here’s what we’ll focus on for the next 40 legislative days.

Read the full priorities: www.idra.org/education_po...
#gapol

Voucher School Scam$ - Network For Public Education #SchoolVoucherScam$ is now an interactive research tool. Scandals can be sorted by category/state and searched with keywords.

Check out NPE’s #SchoolVoucherScams - learn how vouchers bilk taxpayers, fail children, & funnel funding away from our public schools networkforpubliceduc... - we will update monthly w/ the latest #SchoolVoucherScam$ - share our hashtag & stories

Vouchers aren't free. They're fraud.
Vouchers cost us. They don't cover the full cost of private school tuition. Families pay the difference.

Public schools lose critical funding. Our communities deserve better.