There are 30 days, 21 hours, 12 minutes and 13 seconds are left in this legislative session. But who’s counting? There is still much work to be done.
To date, the Governor has only signed one bill into law, Senate Bill 14, known as the Texas DOGE (government efficiency) bill. He is expected to sign the second bill of the session on Saturday – Senate Bill 2, for private school vouchers.
This week, the House Public Education Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4, the bill that would greatly improve the public school accountability and rating system in Texas. Important parts of the bill including:
- Replacing the STAAR test with a nationally norm-referenced, through-year progress monitoring system for Math, Reading, and Science – like national MAP (Measurement of Academic Progress) that RISD and many other districts use.
- Including local indicators in A-F ratings focused on: Workforce development at all levels; Early childhood readiness; Finalizing all rules for a rating system by July 15 before a school year starts; Major future accountability system changes would require legislative approval.
Major bills of interest to RISD that are moving:
Improving School Discipline –House Bill 6
School funding – Increase basic allotment – HB 2
School safety & security – SB 260, HB124*
Special Education – HB 2, SB 568
Pre-K – House Bill 2, HB 124, SB 2252
Workforce Development – HB 20
Teachers – HB 2, SB 26
Accountability – HB 4, SB 1962
* Safety & Security: A conference committee has been assigned to work out the differences between SB 260 & HB 124. The final bill still needs to be approved by both chambers. For RISD, the difference between the two is approximately $100,000.
Next Week: The House and Senate Education committees continue to meet weekly (or sometimes twice a week) See the agenda for House Public Education bills here, and Senate Education here.
Watch House committee meetings. Watch Senate committee hearings.
Watch the Texas Senate in session. Watch the Texas House in session.
Legislative Corner is published periodically throughout the 89th Texas legislative session. For more information about RISD’s legislative involvement and priorities, please visit the legislative page here. Other resources include Texas Legislature Online (TLO) – find legislation (bills), committee hearings, legislative member info, and more; The Quorum Report – sign-up for “Daily Buzz” or a listing of political news articles; Texas Tribune – online daily news, also a data dashboard for education.
