The ATPE Governmental Relations team recaps the past week’s education news, legislative and election updates, and regulatory developments. ATPE members: Share your thoughts and ask our lobby team questions in The Rotunda on the ATPE Online Community. 

• Texas House Democrats break quorum 
• House and Senate file identical testing/accountability bills 
• Senate Education Committee advances STAAR bill 
• Do I have to be a teacher of record to get the HB 2 teacher raise? 
• What you need to know about the Aug. 8–10 sales tax holiday 
• Members: Apply for ATPE state committee service by Aug. 31 
• Stay up to date and take action using ATPE’s member advocacy tools 

QUORUM: At least 51 Texas House Democrats left the state Aug. 3 to protest the mid-cycle congressional redistricting bill, House Bill (HB) 4 by Rep. Todd Hunter (R–Corpus Christi).  

Only 95 House members registered as present when the chamber gaveled in Friday afternoon—five members short of the 100 needed for a quorum.  

The special session is set to end Aug. 20, but Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has the power to call as many special sessions as he wants. He has vowed to pursue removal of lawmakers who have left the state. 

Speaker Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock) announced Friday from the floor that Republicans have filed a flood relief bill, presumably HB 3 by Rep Greg Bonnen (R–Friendswood), in response to the July 4 weekend Hill Country/Central Texas floods, which took place over two weeks before the special session began. Burrows stated Democrats are holding up flood relief as the bill cannot be referred to committee for a hearing until the House has a quorum. However, this smacks of using flood victims as political leverage, as quorum would not have been an issue in referring the bill had it been filed during the first half of the special session with other priority bills. 

Read more in this blog post by ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave. 

TESTING/ACCOUNTABILITY BILLS: On Monday, House Public Education Chairman Brad Buckley (R–Salado) filed House Bill (HB) 8, his standardized testing and accountability bill. Soon after, Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston) filed Senate Bill (SB) 8, the identical Senate version.  

In recent days, state leaders have continued to use the rhetoric of “eliminating the STAAR test.” Based on conversations with educators and parents alike, it seems unlikely either group would consider the filed versions of HB 8/SB 8 a fulfillment of that promise, except in name only. 

In this blog post, ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave explains what the bills, as drafted, would do.   

STAAR: The Senate Education K-16 Committee met Wednesday to hear Senate Bill (SB) 8 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston). The committee heard from four invited witnesses, including Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Mike Morath, and then heard public comment from only four people. ATPE submitted written testimony with comments on the bill.   

The committee voted 7-0 to advance SB 8 from the committee to the full Senate for floor consideration. With many House Democrats out of the state on a quorum break, it’s unclear if or when the House will hold a hearing on either bill or if they will have a quorum before the clock runs out on the special session. Like the flood bill, HB 8 cannot be referred to committee until the House regains a quorum. 

ATPE Lobbyist Heather Sheffield has more in this blog post. 

HB 2: A common question ATPE has received regarding House Bill (HB) 2 is whether an educator needs to be a “teacher of record” to get the HB 2 teacher raise. According to a provision in the bill, "teacher of record" means a person employed by a school district who teaches the majority of the instructional day in an academic instructional setting and is responsible for evaluating student achievement and assigning grades.  

However, the “teacher of record” definition is not part of the bill’s compensation language. The Teacher Retention Allotment (TRA) section of HB 2 specifically provides raises to “classroom teachers,” which has a broader definition under the Texas Education Code: “[A]n educator who is employed by a school district and who, not less than an average of four hours each day, teaches in an academic instructional setting or a career and technology instructional setting. The term does not include a teacher’s aide or a full-time administrator.” 

ATPE clarifies the “teacher of record” question in this blog post. For additional information on the bill, visit our HB 2 FAQ page on atpe.org. 

TAX-FREE WEEKEND: This year’s sales tax holiday runs from Friday, Aug. 8, through midnight Sunday, Aug. 10. Qualifying items include clothing, footwear, school supplies, face masks, and backpacks. Items can be purchased in store, online, by telephone, mail, custom order, or any other means, but the purchase date must fall within this two-day window. The total sale price of a single item, however, must be below $100 to qualify. The Texas Comptroller’s website has more information on the sales tax holiday. 

STATE COMMITTEE SERVICE: ATPE members are invited to apply for service on one of the ATPE standing committees that meets in the fall: Leader Development, Legislative, Membership, and Nomination/Election. Applications are open until Aug. 31. Find more details and learn about the value of ATPE state committee service in this atpenews.org article. 

MEMBER ADVOCACY: With just two weeks left in the special session, we urge you to stay informed and engaged. Here are a few advocacy resources to check out: 

• Judy: Chat with ATPE’s new AI assistant for Texas educators, ready to help you with all things ATPE and all things #txed.   
• Advocacy Central: Get in touch with your elected officials about the legislation impacting your profession. 
• ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP): Enroll in ATPE-MAP to earn state-level and local-level advocacy microcredentials, as well as earn continuing professional education (CPE) credit. ATPE-MAP is included in your member benefits, so be sure to check it out today.    
• ATPE Professional Learning (PL) Portal: Three sessions from the 2025 ATPE Summit are now available in the ATPE PL Portal: an HB 2 compensation overview, the ATPE lobby team’s advocacy update and the closing keynote by Jonathan Alsheimer. Log in to watch the recordings and earn 1.5 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) credit. (Jonathan Alsheimer’s appearance arranged through Gotham Artists.) 
• The Rotunda: Don’t forget, members, that you can interact with your ATPE lobby team throughout the week when you log in to the ATPE Online Community.