| 1 | 1 | | 84R7124 RMA-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Burton S.C.R. No. 8 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The amount of paperwork required by federal and |
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| 7 | 7 | | state education agencies causes an undue burden on teachers, |
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| 8 | 8 | | especially those in special education, whose time and efforts would |
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| 9 | 9 | | be better spent focused on the needs of their students; and |
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| 10 | 10 | | WHEREAS, Countless teachers pursue a career in education |
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| 11 | 11 | | because they want to make a meaningful difference in the lives of |
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| 12 | 12 | | children; federal requirements, however, impede that worthwhile |
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| 13 | 13 | | goal by overwhelming educators who are working hard to create |
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| 14 | 14 | | lesson plans, grade assignments, and give individualized attention |
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| 15 | 15 | | to pupils and their parents; by adding unmanageable and often |
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| 16 | 16 | | redundant paperwork to already overloaded schedules, the |
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| 17 | 17 | | government creates a disincentive for teachers to remain in their |
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| 18 | 18 | | chosen field; and |
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| 19 | 19 | | WHEREAS, The IDEA Paperwork Reduction Act of 2002, which the |
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| 20 | 20 | | United States Congress failed to pass, aimed to reduce overall |
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| 21 | 21 | | paperwork for teachers by more than 50 percent by eliminating |
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| 22 | 22 | | redundancies between federal and state agencies and using |
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| 23 | 23 | | technology to create a more streamlined process; these proposals |
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| 24 | 24 | | are worthy of reconsideration in order to improve upon the |
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| 25 | 25 | | inefficient and onerous system currently in place; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | WHEREAS, Our best educators serve as role models, motivators, |
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| 27 | 27 | | listeners, and mentors, and it is incumbent on the government to |
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| 28 | 28 | | promote efficiency and quality in our education system by |
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| 29 | 29 | | eliminating unnecessary paperwork and allowing teachers to focus on |
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| 30 | 30 | | their students; now, therefore, be it |
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| 31 | 31 | | RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 32 | 32 | | hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to reduce the |
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| 33 | 33 | | amount of paperwork required of teachers by federal law; and, be it |
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| 34 | 34 | | further |
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| 35 | 35 | | RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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| 36 | 36 | | copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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| 37 | 37 | | the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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| 38 | 38 | | Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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| 39 | 39 | | members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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| 40 | 40 | | this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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| 41 | 41 | | memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |
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