This week in the Senate we saw relatively limited public education action compared with previous weeks, though several key bills are being worked on behind the scenes and in committee. 

The Senate Education K-16 Committee did not convene for its regular Tuesday hearing. However, the committee held a formal meeting late Wednesday evening where it voted to advance Senate Bill (SB) 2989 by Chairman Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe), which relates to the scheduling of the first day of school for students by school districts. Then, on Thursday, the committee reconvened to hear a slate of House bills, starting to move cross-chamber legislation in the final weeks of the session. 

ATPE supported multiple House bills considered this week, including: 

• House Bill (HB) 6 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R–McKinney) with Sen. Charles Perry (R–Lubbock) as the Senate sponsor relates to discipline in public schools. ATPE submitted written testimony expressing our support for the bill but sharing a few concerns and suggestions. 
• HB 120 by Rep. Keith Bell (R–Athens) with Sen. Charles Schwertner (R–Bryan) as the Senate sponsor relates to career and technology education programs in public schools, the Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program, the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program, and a high school advising program, including funding for those programs under the Foundation School Program, as well as to the new instructional facility allotment and permissible uses of funding under the Foundation School Program. 
• HB 210 by Rep. Ryan Guillen (R–Floresville) with Sen. Adam Hinojosa (R–Brownsville) as the Senate sponsor relates to contracting with a school district or open-enrollment charter school by a vendor with whom a member of the board of trustees or governing body of the district or school or a related individual has certain business interests. Provisions of the bill would create a criminal offense. 
• HB 1458 by Rep. Will Metcalf (R–Conroe) with Creighton as the Senate sponsor relates to the armed security officers required to be present at public schools and the appointment of reserve police officers by a school district police department. 
• HB 1188 by Rep. Christian Manuel (D–Nederland) with Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D–Laredo) as the Senate sponsor relates to the provision of information regarding a local intellectual and developmental disability authority to the parents or guardians of certain special education students. 

On the budget front, SB 1, the proposed state budget, remains in conference committee. Senate and House conferees were appointed several weeks ago, but there has been no public update since April 15. Similarly, SB 260, which would increase the School Safety Allotment, has Senate conferees named but still awaits House conferees to be named as of April 29. 

Meanwhile, HB 2, the House’s omnibus school finance bill, has been endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R), signaling its importance in this session’s education agenda. However, the bill has yet to be heard in the Senate, and it appears that Creighton and House Education Chair Brad Buckley (R–Salado) are still negotiating key provisions. Notably, the budget bill does not currently include funding for a Basic Allotment increase or other core aspects of HB 2, which is likely contributing to the holdup. 

Finally, the Senate advanced two notable education bills to the House this week: 

• SB 1224 by Sen. Kevin Sparks (R–Midland) relating to the reporting of certain public or private school employee misconduct to local law enforcement. ATPE provided written testimony in committee with our concerns. 
• SB 2529 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston) relating to a vote required by the governing body of a taxing unit to adopt an ad valorem tax rate that exceeds the voter-approval tax rate or authorize the issuance of tax bonds. ATPE opposed the bill in committee because it creates unnecessary barriers for school districts to fund essential needs by requiring a supermajority vote to approve bonds or tax rates above the voter-approval threshold. This undermines local control, delays critical investments in school facilities, and limits districts’ ability to respond to funding shortfalls or emergencies. This could harm students and staff by restricting resources needed for quality education, as well as weakens the ability of locally elected school boards to meet the needs of their communities, particularly when it comes to funding public education through tax or bond decisions. SB 2529 is a legislative attempt to restrict local control and local investment in schools at a time when Texas school districts already face growing financial challenges and underfunding from the state. 

With just 23 days remaining in the session, attention now turns to how these negotiations and pending bills will unfold in both chambers—and how they will impact Texas educators and public schools.