Teach the Vote's Week in Review: Oct. 30, 2015

Here are this week's education news stories from ATPE and Teach the Vote:

• ATPE urges state's congressional delegation to reauthorize ESEA this year

• Don't forget to early vote today or vote Tuesday on constitutional amendments, plus a special reminder for voters in HD 118

• U.S. House elects Paul Ryan as Speaker; leadership shifts could impact Texas profoundly

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ATPE State President Cory Colby sent a letter to members of Texas's congressional delegation urging them to pass a reauthorization bill to fix the beleaguered and outdated Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ATPE Lobbyist Kate Kuhlmann provided the full story in an update for our Texas the Vote blog yesterday.

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Early voting for the Nov. 3 election ends today. Don't miss your chance to vote on seven proposed constitutional amendments either today or Tuesday. If you live in San Antonio's House District 118, your vote in this election is extremely important, since a special election is being held to fill the seat of retiring Rep. Joe Farias (D). The winner of that seat could be participating in a special legislative session that many have predicted for 2016 to decide school finance issues. View profiles of the HD 118 candidates on our Resources page, and find more general election details here. For a nonpartisan guide to the proposed constitutional amendments, check out the resources available from Texas's League of Women Voters.

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Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has been elected as the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Following the resignation of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Ryan received 236 votes yesterday, followed by 184 votes for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and nine votes for Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Florida). A one-time candidate for Vice-President, Ryan has chaired the House Ways and Means Committee, which now creates another vacancy in a critical leadership role. The changes are of particular interest to the Lone Star state. Texas Congressman Sam Johnson (R) has been tapped to oversee Ways and Means on an interim basis, while Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) is hoping to land the more permanent position as chair of the powerful committee that oversees tax-related legislation, along with Social Security. Brady is well-known to many ATPE members as a champion for changing controversial Social Security offset provisions that have diminished educators' ability to collect benefits upon retirement.

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Don't forget to follow @TeachtheVote for education-related tweets and retweets and find more content on Facebook from ATPE. We wish all of you a happy and safe Halloween!