Legislative Update from Tricia Cave at CREST Fall Forum

I attended the Legislative Update at CREST last week. Wow. The ATPE representative, Tricia Cave, did a phenomenal job in explaining what has been going on and what is expected next. Here's my notes. 

Texas Legislative Update: What's Ahead for Public Education

A summary of an ATPE advocacy webinar presented by lobbyist Tricia Kay, covering the road from the 89th Legislature to the 2027 session, which begins January 12, 2027.

Texas Legislative Structure and Budget

• Structure: The Texas Legislature has a 150-member House and a 31-member Senate. It meets in odd-numbered years for 140 days, and the governor can call unlimited special sessions of up to 30 days each afterward.
• Budget picture: The surplus keeps shrinking: about $32 billion two sessions ago, $24 billion in 2023, and $16 billion this session - and $8 billion of that was money previously earmarked for public education that the governor held to leverage his voucher bill. Expect little to no surplus next session.
• Last session the governor declared seven emergency items, including vouchers and teacher pay, and called two special sessions.

Political Shifts in the House

• The "governor's revenge tour": rural Republicans who voted against vouchers in 2023 were primaried, funded heavily by the governor's own money plus out-of-state money from groups like Betsy DeVos's American Federation for Children and billionaire Jeff Yoss. Most were defeated, producing a very large freshman class.
• Speaker's race: Dade Phelan was expected to keep the gavel, but grassroots opposition (protesters in red shirts filled the Capitol on opening day) backed David Cook. The Republican Party split, and Democrats supplied the votes that made Dustin Burrows speaker. The concessions promised to Democrats in that deal may not have been delivered, which will matter going into next session.

Review of Recent Legislation (89th Session)

• HB 2 - School finance: Pay raises for classroom teachers (librarians, instructional coaches, and similar roles were left out) plus funding for a teacher "prep allotment" to recruit and retain educators, with significant new rules attached that ATPE is watching closely.
• SB 2: The voucher bill.
• HB 6 - School discipline: Gives administrators tools to remove pervasively disruptive students from the classroom when a teacher raises concerns.
• HB 1481 - Cell phone ban: Phones may not be visible at all during the instructional day. A San Antonio-area district was cited by TEA for allowing phones at lunch.
• SB 10: Requires Ten Commandments posters in classrooms, as long as they are donated. Grassroots groups are supplying them to districts.
• SB 11: Required every district to vote by last March on whether to allow a time for prayer and Bible reading during the instructional day.
• SB 12: Prohibits psychological or health exams and medical procedures without parental consent. The bill generated confusion (some districts interpreted it to cover band-aids and hygiene products) and the author walked parts of it back. Cleanup legislation is expected next session.
• SB 13 - Library standards: School boards must take a larger role in approving library materials, and a challenge and removal process was created.

Testing and Accountability Updates

• HB 8 (special session number two) replaces STAAR with three end-of-course-style tests given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. The author says they will be shorter, but nothing in the bill requires that. TEA guidance on length and format is still pending.
• English II was removed from the EOC lineup; the other EOCs were updated.
• A-F ratings are still driven by test results. The commissioner's power to set standards increased, and districts largely lost the ability to legally challenge their results. This takes effect next school year.
• ATPE win: Mock STAAR and benchmark testing are now banned. Districts can no longer give them.

House Interim Charges Overview

Interim charges are what each chamber studies between sessions, and they are usually the roadmap for next session's bills. The House Public Education Committee is:

• Monitoring HB 2, HB 6, HB 1481, SB 12, and SB 13.
• Studying the state of public education, focused on declining enrollment and its effect on school finance.
• Eliminating educator misconduct. SB 571 gave superintendents and principals 48 hours to report all misconduct allegations, even unfounded ones, or face criminal and civil penalties. Reports to TEA tripled, and many complaints are dismissed in the pre-investigation phase. ATPE is fighting to protect educator due process rights.
• Improving middle school outcomes to lift high school graduation rates.
• Reviewing teacher recruitment and retention. ATPE's testimony: Texas does not lack teachers, it lacks teachers willing to teach under current conditions.
• Reviewing special education under the new service-intensity funding model, where the kids with the highest needs get the most funding. Expected to be a positive change.
• Overseeing TEA. A recent audit found the agency extremely top-heavy, with one supervisor for every three and a half employees. The commissioner graded himself an A and called the report misleading, though it found no financial wrongdoing.

Other House committees with education-related charges: Appropriations (replacing property tax revenue), Pensions and Investments (TRS actuarial soundness), Ways and Means (property tax relief), and Governmental Oversight (school education foundations, a likely target next session). Two hearings have already been held: in May (enrollment decline, school safety, and AI in the classroom) and in June (HB 2 implementation, recruitment and retention, and special education).

Senate Interim Charges Explained

The Senate's language is noticeably different in tone from the House. The Senate Education Committee hears its charges October 6 and 7:

• Improving school transformation talent: the leadership pipeline for principals, assistant principals, and superintendents.
• Shifting enrollment and "right-sizing."
• Maximizing instructional time, including a look at four-day school weeks. A-rated districts with four-day weeks are expected to push back hard.
• Reviewing the HB 2 pay increases. The charge literally says "celebrate school choice."
• Monitoring SB 12, SB 13, SB 571, HB 2, and HB 6.

The Senate Local Government Committee is looking at property tax, and the Select Committee on Religious Liberty is reviewing the Ten Commandments and prayer-in-school bills. Interim hearings stream live on House Live and Senate Live, and archived afterward.

SBEC Rules and Updates

• SBEC reopened five chapters of the code to align with new laws: Chapters 227, 228, and 230 (educator preparation: admission, curriculum, and available certifications) and Chapters 247 and 249 (the educator code of conduct and disciplinary procedures), driven by SB 571 and SB 12.
• A new inspector general oversees misconduct allegations, and a temporary suspension committee created by SB 571 meets every two weeks in public hearings to suspend certificates of educators deemed an immediate danger.
• SBEC is reworking educator preparation program rules, rewriting the CAR (continuous approval review), and working on the TTAP and T-TESS development and pilots.
• The SBOE approved the controversial Social Studies TEKS revisions and the statewide literary works list (under HB 1605), runs the IMRA process for instructional materials, developed a civics training program for educators, and must approve all SBEC rules. Math TEKS are next.

National Board Certification Risks

This is the headline warning of the briefing:

• A non-public July SBEC report found that National Board Certification materials violate state law, specifically SB 12 and the rules against partisan or "woke" curriculum.
• National Board has until November 2 to revise its materials. If SBEC is not satisfied, TEA will recommend revoking National Board Certification as a rung of the TIA (Teacher Incentive Allotment) at the December 3 and 4 meeting, with the final vote expected on December 4.
• ATPE expects revocation is likely: National Board is a small organization that cannot do the full rewrite TEA demands in the time allowed. It is attempting attestation statements and free video-library access for Texas teachers instead.
• The dispute is about the materials, not teacher quality. Everyone agrees National Board teachers are among the best in the profession.
• Action for NBCTs: Speak at the December 3 and 4 SBEC meeting, contact SBEC members, and show up on December 4 for the final vote.

Looking Ahead to 2027

• Property tax legislation, but likely no full repeal: there is no way to replace the funding yet.
• More targeted school funding in buckets. The shift away from raising the basic allotment is already forcing districts to close buildings and lay off staff while paying mandated raises. Expect more of the same.
• Teacher pipeline initiatives to bring more candidates into the profession.
• Fine-tuning of special education funding under the new service-intensity model.
• Additional accountability changes once the December report on the STAAR transition comes out.
• Enrollment-related reforms, since enrollment has declined sharply.
• Career readiness investments and workforce development.
• Rules on student use of AI, plus possible screen-time limits for younger grades. The commissioner may resist those limits, since students in grades three and up test online.
• A renewed fight over educator due process to protect educators from being unfairly targeted by the state.

What You Can Do Now

• Check your voter registration today. The deadline to register is Monday, October 5. The speaker found her own registration on hold and her daughter's suspended, so verify even if you think you are fine.
• Early voting begins October 19. The general election is November 3. Make voting a social event and bring friends.
• Build a relationship with your representative or the candidates running for the seat. They will meet with you, and you are the education expert they need. Offer yourself as a resource.
• Check Teach the Vote to see whether candidates completed the ATPE candidate survey, and refer them to ATPE if they have not. Consider volunteering for a campaign or at the polls.
• Use ATPE's resources: the Teach the Vote blog for hearing recaps and testimony, the Member Advocate Program (the path to Capitol expeditions), the ATPE PAC, and Advocacy Central, which is free to everyone, including non-members, with contact campaigns, call and email scripts, and bill tracking.

The Bottom Line

Next session's agenda is already visible in the interim charges: enrollment decline, targeted funding, accountability, and the teacher workforce. Two dates are time-sensitive for educators: the October 5 voter registration deadline and the December 4 SBEC vote on National Board Certification.

Source: ATPE advocacy webinar with lobbyist Tricia Kay. Watch interim committee hearings live on House Live and Senate Live, and find hearing recaps and written testimony at Teach the Vote.