Here's your weekly wrap-up of education news from ATPE Governmental Relations:

• UPDATE: Oklahoma educators heard at the polls
• Recommendations for school funding examined at commission meeting
• Congress passes education budget
• BREAKING NEWS: Congressman Brady files bill to replace Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)

Earlier this year in the Fall issue of ATPE News ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann described how educators in Oklahoma, Kentucky, and West Virginia were poised to impact the legislatures of their respective states and what Texas educators could learn from their examples. This week Kuhlmann provided an update on what educators in Oklahoma have done in their legislatures:

Oklahoma educators joined their local community members to deliver more blows to the legislators who voted against their priorities earlier this year – ousting six more incumbents. In all, there were 19 Republican legislators who voted against the Oklahoma pay raise for teachers, and only four will remain on the general election ballot in November 2018.

With the deadline to register to vote quickly approaching on Oct. 9 and with early voting beginning shortly thereafter on Oct. 22 now is the time to take the example of Oklahoma educator's to heart, get informed about the issues and candidates in their districts, and head to the polls ready to make a difference.

School finance commission meeting September 25, 2018.

On Tuesday, the Commission on Public School Finance met at the capitol to discuss recommendations provided to the commission by its working group on expenditures. The working group recommended reallocating money from the cost of education index (CEI) which uses an out of date funding formula, increasing the compensatory education allotment, and creating a new dual language allotment, among other things. The commission also discussed the ongoing issue with the General Land Office which chose to fund schools with only $600 million for the biennium meaning a $150-190 million dollar deficit from previous funding levels. The commission will have a total of six more meetings in the months of November and December to finalize it's recommendations for the legislature. ATPE Lobbyist Mark Wiggins provides additional insights into the meeting in this blog post.

Federal law makers passed a spending bill on Wednesday that includes funding for the Department of Education in fiscal year 2019. The spending bill increases the overall federal education budget while singling out specific programs for funding bumps. The bill also includes the controversial provision that allows Title IV funds from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to be used in order to arm teachers. President Trump is expected to sign the bill. Find more information in this blog post by ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann.

U.S. Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX) who chairs the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, along with Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA), has introduced H.R. 6933 to amend Title II of the Social Security Act. The bill would replace the windfall elimination provision (WEP) with a formula equalizing benefits for certain individuals with non-covered employment. Read the full announcement here.