Public education exists to give kids the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the workforce and in life, something Texas schools too often fall short of providing. Turning that around is some of the most important work our state must do, so it’s a good thing education funding and policy enjoyed such a big spotlight during this year’s Legislature.
The changes we got are imperfect, but at the end of the day, the session turned out about as well as we could reasonably have hoped for.
Dollars for traditional public schools and private-school vouchers took center stage. Gov. Greg Abbott has long promised a “school choice” policy, and once the Legislature got started this year, it was clear that lawmakers would send one to his desk. Meanwhile, public schools desperately needed relief as they struggle with deficit budgets amid stagnant state funding.
Since we knew vouchers were inevitable, our hope was that lawmakers would craft a reasonable program and include means testing. We also wanted them to address school funding with the same sort of urgency they gave vouchers.
We got both of those things, more or less.
The voucher program Abbott signed into law comes with a $1 billion budget and will serve an estimated 100,000 students in its first year. The Legislative Budget Board projects the cost could grow to about $4 billion by 2030.
Although eligibility for the program is near-universal, a means-testing component made it into the final proposal. When the number of acceptable applicants exceeds available vouchers, students will be selected in a tiered system that prioritizes low-income students and those with disabilities.
The program’s cost and outcome should be closely monitored to ensure this large sum of public money is well-spent.
The other side of the debate was public education funding. House Bill 2 handled that, providing a record-breaking $8.5 billion in new dollars.
Early on, we had hoped to see a substantial increase to per-student funding called the basic allotment. That isn’t how things played out. That allotment had been $6,160, and the final bill raised it by only $55.
But HB 2 puts plenty of money into other, dedicated funding streams. Importantly, it adds money for experience-based teacher raises and pay increases for other staff. It also adds funding for special education and teacher certification, and it roughly doubles the allotment schools receive to pay for costly state mandates like hiring armed security for each campus.
Spelling out what districts can and can’t do with the new funds gives them less discretion over how they spend state money. But they’re still getting the dollars, and that’s what counts.
All in all, lawmakers succeeded in ensuring the voucher program didn’t completely fly off the rails and saw to it that public schools got the relief they needed. Not everything played out exactly how we wanted, but that’s just how life goes. Plus, there were a number of other notable wins for Texas education this year
Tucked away in the depths of HB 2 are provisions we strongly supported aimed at boosting early literacy. Students from kindergarten to third grade will be screened for math and reading progress throughout the year. If their results indicate they are falling behind in reading twice in a row, their parents could get access to a $400 grant to pay for TEA-approved tutoring services.
If the program works as well as we hope, lawmakers should invest more in it.
Discipline reforms in House Bill 6 made it through both chambers as well. As of Friday, it awaits Abbott’s signature. Even in the lowest grades, misbehavior that disrupts class and even leads to injury is more common than you might think. Texas law mostly forbids out-of-school suspensions for students in second grade and under, leaving many districts with few options in dealing with the youngest and worst-behaved.
HB 6 restores suspension as an option in some situations. It’s not a perfect solution, since out-of-school suspension is never an ideal outcome, but schools need to be able to remove students who persistently take learning time away from other kids. The bill also allows greater flexibility in how schools punish students who bring e-cigarettes onto campus.
Texas has also made it easier for schools to control cellphones in classrooms in public schools, a long overdue policy. Awaiting the governor’s signature as of Friday, House Bill 1481 requires every school district and open-enrollment charter school to adopt a policy that forbids students from using cellphones and other devices on campuses during the school day. This is sure to be an imperfect policy, but it’s an important starting point for reducing digital distractions and getting instruction back on track.
House Bill 4 didn’t pass, but it would have replaced the STAAR test with multiple smaller tests throughout the year and made adjustments to accountability standards for public schools. We had high hopes for this bill initially, but lawmakers couldn’t come to a consensus about how to replace STAAR. With such an important policy, getting it right is more important than getting it done fast. As flawed as it is, it’s best to keep STAAR for now and come back to the issue in 2027.
Lastly, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 10 requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms. It’s plain to us that this law crosses a line separating church from state, and it’s sure to draw legal challenges. Yes, Texas students need moral instruction, but pasting a religious document to the wall will not deliver it to them. SB 10 is a major blunder awaiting Abbott’s signature as of Friday.
With a few hiccups and plenty of imperfections, we’re hopeful the work lawmakers did this session will improve instruction and better prepare students for adult life. That’s what counts most.