Special Session
Although the Senate continued to meet, no actual progress to finally pass legislation was made because a quorum (quorum = two-thirds of House membership or 100 representatives) could not be established in the House.
On Monday, House Bill 8 and Senate Bill 8 — identical bills aimed at eliminating the STAAR exam — were filed. The Senate’s Education K–16 Committee held a hearing and then voted unanimously (8–0) to advance SB 8 to the full Senate.
The 61-page bill proposes significant changes to the state’s assessment and accountability system, including:
- Replacing STAAR with three shorter assessments — beginning-of-year (BOY), middle-of-year (MOY), and end-of-year (EOY) — starting in the 2027–2028 school year.
- Shortening the length of each test compared to the current STAAR format.
- Requiring rapid reporting of results, with scores available within days.
If a second special session is called and eliminating STAAR is included as an item on the call, we expect the Senate and House to file identical bills again that will mirror SB 8 and HB 8.
Rumors of a second special session, immediately following the conclusion of this first special session, are circulating as more pressure is put on legislators to take action, especially on flood and disaster response systems to mitigate loss of life and property. If so, the process of passing legislation will start over again with bill filing, hearings and ultimately votes by both chambers. There is talk/hope of a quorum in the House happening today, but as of this writing, no hard evidence exists that the numbers will be there to take votes.
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.
