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Schools. 89th TX Legislative Session, 2025

Feb 2511 min read

Updated: Mar 24


Latest Update:  24 March, 2025

Summary: Journal of blogs, articles, and sources about SCHOOL ISSUES in the 89th Texas Legislature, 2025. • Willow Park Civics reads widely, deeply, and daily, and then provides an INDEX of the activities of the 89th Texas Legislature, whose regular session is scheduled to meet from January 14, 2025, to June 2, 2025.

• Latest post: 25 February, 2025





 

Schools. 89th TX Legislative Session, 2025

• Journal of Willow Park Civics Blogs, other articles, and sources about SCHOOL ISSUES in the 89th Texas Legislature, 2025.


Journal


Sen. Brandon Creighton , the upper chamber’s lead negotiator on vouchers for the second straight session, said it was “very encouraging to see the alignment” between the first drafts of the voucher plans, known as Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 3.


According to the recently drafted proposal, those books deemed to explicit for Texas prisons would also be inaccessible to children in public schools.

The proposal, House Bill 5021 by State Rep. Andy Hopper(R–Decatur), would prohibit public schools from purchasing or possessing any books listed in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s register of books prohibited to prisoners.


Sen. Phil King’s (R-Weatherford) Senate Bill (SB) 1049 implements a statewide approach to religious release laws, requiring school districts to establish a plan for exempting the absence of students who attend such times of religious instruction. These times must be at the request of the parent, and must be at least one hour per week but no more than five. 



Building on recent efforts to curb extremist gender ideology in higher education, Valerie Muñoz reports one lawmaker is seeking to prohibit instruction on pronouns that do not align with biological sex.

State Rep. Joanne Shofner (R-Nacogdoches) has introduced House Bill 3742, which calls for prohibiting instruction on the nonbiological use of gender pronouns in Texas’ higher education institutions.


The Texas House Public Education Committee spent this week considering House Bill 2, a major school finance bill that would increase funding for public education by $8 billion.

The bill has drawn mixed reactions with supporters arguing it is necessary to address school funding concerns, while critics warn it could make it harder to implement broader reforms—including property tax relief and school choice.


• OPINION: The Kids Aren’t All Right, The Texan, 04 March 2025

Conceivably, ESAs could both massively change the lives of some schoolchildren and lead to difficult budgetary questions for schools.

But the vast majority of schoolchildren in Texas will continue to attend the schools they’ve always attended — some of which are performing phenomenally, some terribly, and the rest somewhere in the middle.

Texas students are woefully behind grade level across the board. The Texas Education Agency’s 2024 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) results show more than half of all students in third through eighth grades read and do arithmetic below grade level; only 28 percent of eighth graders at least met grade level in 2024.

Pass an ESA program or don’t, and the reading and arithmetic scores in the short term are still likely to be well below subpar. An injection of money isn’t going to solve the problem either. Both could make things better or worse, but the problems won’t be whisked away when Abbott signs whatever package he signs.


The measures would include protections allowing public school teachers to use students’ biological pronouns and to pray in school.


Following up on the passage of the “Texas Teacher Bill of Rights” — which garnered unanimous approval in the Texas Senate this week — Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Creighton) has filed Senate Bill (SB) 27, a bill focusing on classroom discipline and procedural protections.


The priority piece of legislation passed with bipartisan approval.

Teacher pay raises as part of the “Texas Teacher Bill of Rights” were taken up on the Senate floor Wednesday, where lawmakers in the upper chamber debated this emergency item for Gov. Greg Abbott.

Teachers with three to four years of experience would receive a $5,000 raise in districts with 5,000 or fewer students, while those in larger districts would receive $2,500. For teachers with five or more years of experience, the raise would be $10,000 in smaller districts and $5,500 in larger ones.

The committee substitute to SB 26, which was brought before the floor Wednesday, differs only slightly from the original bill


Following up on the passage of the “Texas Teacher Bill of Rights” — which garnered unanimous approval in the Texas Senate this week — Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Creighton) has filed Senate Bill (SB) 27, a bill focusing on classroom discipline and procedural protections.


• Is TEA The Next Education Agency To Go? Dallas Express, 26 February 2025

There has been ongoing speculation that President Donald Trump may consider eliminating the federal Department of Education. However, recent state legislation indicates that Texas’s Education Agency (TEA) might face similar scrutiny.

State Rep. Andy Hopper (R-Decatur) introduced HB 2657. The bill’s text repeatedly states that its goal is nothing less than the full “abolition” of the statewide education agency and the repeal of the “public school accountability and assessment system.”


A new measure was filed to limit the power of faculty senates by positioning them solely as advisory councils.

Senate Bill 1489 by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) suggests that faculty senates—bodies of elected representatives from university faculties—should not have any final decision-making authority on any matter.


After a bruising 2024 primary and new leadership, the Texas House is closer than ever to passing a school choice plan.

Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) has said he expects this session to be, more than anything else, an education session, and last week the Texas House dropped a payload of bills to that effect.

The two-pronged centerpiece of that package from Chairman Brad Buckley (R-Salado) is House Bills (HB) 2 and 3 — the chamber’s blueprints for school finance, teacher pay raises, and Education Savings Accounts (ESA).


The bill intends to build on Texas' 2023 "READER" Act.

Enhanced library oversight, stronger protections for minors, and increased parental involvement have become hot button topics for lawmakers and citizens alike, and now a bill has been proposed that intends to regulate the accessibility of “sexually explicit materials” to minors in public libraries.

House Bill 3225 would broadly define “access” to include any method by which a library obtains materials, whether physically, electronically, or otherwise. It also specifies that the law would apply to libraries that are municipally financed, operated, and free to the public.


The measure would also expand teachers’ opportunities to receive performance-based bonuses and provide them with free pre-kindergarten.

In an 11-0 vote, senators approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 26 by State Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe). The measure is the first part of a “Texas Teacher Bill of Rights” legislative package.


The Texas House’s priority proposal that would let families use public funds for their children’s private schooling diverges from the Senate plan when it comes to how much money students would receive, which applicants would take priority and how the program accommodates students with disabilities.


• Lawmakers Propose Limits on School Superintendent Salaries, Texas Scorecard, 19 February 2025

Taxpayer-funded salaries for Texas school districts’ top administrators have skyrocketed in recent years.

Two Texas lawmakers have proposed legislation to limit the salaries of school superintendents.

Last school year, the state’s highest superintendent salary topped half a million dollars.

Eight superintendents received salaries above $400,000, and another 81 received $300,000 or more. The lucrative salaries are supplemented by benefits and bonuses—all at taxpayers’ expense.

House Bill 2562 by State Rep. Carrie Isaac (R–Wimberley) would limit the salaries of school superintendents to twice the amount of the highest annual salary paid to a classroom teacher in the district. The measure would apply to all independent school districts and open-enrollment charter schools.

House Bill 974 by State Rep. Ben Bumgarner (R–Flower Mound) would limit superintendents’ annual salaries to no more than the governor’s salary, currently $153,750. Bonuses would be included in calculating the salaries that ISDs and charter schools pay their top administrators.


Burrows called the pair of bills “historic” and a “defining issue of this session.” The Texan, 20 February 2025

The Texas House has filed its pair of education bills, one for public school funding and the other to create a school choice program, characterized by House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R-Lubbock) as the “defining issue of this session.”

Dubbed the “Texas Two Step,” Burrows described the pair of education bills as “historic” and said that the Texas House has “the votes to get it done.”

House Bill (HB) 2 addresses teacher pay raises and public school finance, making significant revisions to existing funding formulas, teacher incentive systems, and administration procedures.

Burrows said the school choice bill, HB 3, will be a “universal” option for Texas families, saying that “it’s historic, and it provides what people have been asking for."


The two chambers’ proposals are largely similar, increasing the chances it will make it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk. Texas Scorecard, 20 February 2025

Earlier this month, Abbott reaffirmed school choice as a top priority in his State of the State address. Just days later, the Senate passed Senate Bill 2, its version of the plan. Now, the House has introduced its own proposal, House Bill 3, authored by State Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado), who has also been reappointed as chairman of the House Public Education Committee.

While SB 2 and HB 3 share the same goal—creating an Education Savings Account program that allows parents to use state funds for private school tuition, tutoring, and other educational expenses—they differ in a few areas.

Under SB 2, students attending private schools would receive a flat $10,000 per year, while homeschooled students would receive $2,000. Notably, the bill does not impose a cap on overall program costs, allowing funding to grow based on participation.

Meanwhile, HB 3 calculates ESA funding at 85 percent of the state’s per-student public school funding, translating to approximately $8,000–$10,000 per student. Special needs students could receive up to $30,000, a significantly higher amount than what is offered in the Senate plan. However, HB 3 caps the program’s total funding, limiting it to either the amount appropriated in the previous biennium or the cost of serving all eligible students on the waitlist, whichever is greater.


• Texas Legislature Poised To Vote On Cell Phone Ban In Public Schools, Dallas Express, 18 February 2025, Excerpts

A new bill in the Texas Legislature aims to curb cell phone use in public schools by enforcing a statewide ban for students during school hours.

House Bill 515 (HB515), introduced by Republican Rep. Ellen Troxclair, would require students to store personal electronic devices, including cell phones, in secure cases provided by the school district. However, according to Troxclair’s wording, the bill would not apply to school-issued devices.

The proposal aims to address what Troxclair argues are the harmful effects of excessive cell phone use on students’ mental health and academic performance.


Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick flagged both late last month as among his top 25 priorities for the 89th Legislative Session.

State Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) filed Senate Bill 10 on Monday. It would require “a public elementary or secondary school” to “display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.”


From teacher pay and preparation to special education and DEI, here are issues Texas lawmakers are prioritizing this legislative session.


Both efforts were endorsed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and were listed among his top 25 priorities for the legislative session.

State Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) filed Senate Bill 10 on Monday. It would require “a public elementary or secondary school” to “display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments.”


• School choice, vouchers and the future of Texas education, The Texas Tribune, 23 January 2025

Everything you need to know about what they are and how they might change the state’s educational landscape.,



Senate Bill 2 starts a new debate on a school voucher program in Texas. A funding proposal would allow up to 100,000 K-12 students who want to enroll to a private school to participate.



Both chambers set aside $1 billion for a voucher-like education savings account program — double what was on the table two years ago — in a sign that supporters are emboldened after recent electoral gains.


Legislation filed in the Texas House would prohibit public universities from granting tenure or any type of permanent employment status. Valerie Muñoz reports it would not affect those individuals awarded tenure before September 1, 2025.

The measure by State Rep. Matt Shaheen (R-Plano) would allow those institutions to develop a system of tiered employment status as long as every faculty member undergoes an annual performance evaluation.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has advocated for eliminating tenure since 2022, arguing that tenured leftist professors are poisoning the minds of the next generation and must not be shielded behind claims of “academic freedom.”

No state has yet successfully banned tenure.



Newly filed legislation would require the governing boards for public higher-education institutions to meet in-person.

State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) filed Senate Bill 724, which would require members of the governing boards of Texas’ higher education institutions to attend at least 75 percent of yearly meetings in-person.

Legislation authored by State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham) would require members of the governing boards of Texas’ higher education institutions to attend at least 75 percent of yearly meetings in person.



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