How to Find Your Legislators:
Find your Texas Senate and Texas House representatives through the Who Represents Me? link.
Important note: For this campaign, please reach out to your Texas state representative and state senator.
Ask your Legislators To:
- Include speech-language pathologists and audiologists in any pay increases offered to teachers and other public school staff, such as in Texas Senate Bill 26.
- Support funding for public education as necessary to provide students with an adequate and equitable education as required by the Texas constitution.
- Support legislation that promotes adequate funding for special education programs by urging full funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Supporting Facts:
Speech-language pathologists and audiologists in the public school setting provide critical services to students and students with special needs across the state, including:
- Preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders;
- Providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids;
- Identifying, assessing, and treating speech, language, and cognitive communication disorders, including, but not limited to difficulty pronouncing sounds, stuttering, understanding or using words, and communicating with teachers/peers;
- Supporting students to acquire language; and
- Enabling people to recover essential skills to communicate about their health and safety, and to have sufficient attention, memory, and organizational skills to function in their environment.
According to data from the Texas Department of Licensure and Regulation, in the state of Texas there are over 20,000 Speech-language pathologists (18,761) and audiologists (1,607). The American Speech-Language Hearing Association estimates that 53% of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work in the public school setting, which would equate to over 9,940 SLPs working in Texas public schools.
Speech-language pathologists go through rigorous training and require a masters degree plus a year of clinical fellowship. Audiologists complete a doctoral degree in Audiology. Both must pass an exam for licensure.
Summary Message
Given the role that speech-language-pathologists and audiologists play in the lives of special needs students around the state of Texas, we respectfully ask that they be included in any legislation that provides pay raises to employees in public schools, such as teachers, librarians and school nurses.
How Can You Advocate?
Have Five Minutes? Please Call or Email
Lawmakers respond best to calls or emails directly from their constituents with unique messages. We encourage you to:
- Find your Texas Senate and Texas House representatives through the Who Represents Me? link
- Call or send an email to your Texas state representative and state senator asking for support to:
- Include speech-language pathologists and audiologists in any bills
- Fully fund public education, inclusive of special education programs
You can even offer to serve as a resource should your legislator have additional questions.
Have Two Minutes? Click to Advocate
If time is short, or you don't feel comfortable calling or emailing your legislators, use this Voter Voice Campaign to send a pre-populated email to your legislators.
Help us spread the word about this important issue! Add your own story to make your email even more impactful.