The ATPE Governmental Relations team recaps the past week’s education news, legislative and election updates, and regulatory developments.

• Phelan withdraws from Texas House speaker race
• TRS announces extended enrollment deadline for new TRS-Care dental and vision options during December meeting
• SBEC approves new disciplinary rules, pedagogy standards, and special education certification rules
• Earn your State-Level ATPE-MAP Microcredential and unlock the potential to attend ATPE Capitol Expeditions
• Submit your ATPE Summit professional learning breakout session proposals by Jan. 7

SPEAKER RACE: Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Nederland) withdrew from the speaker race Friday, announcing he would not seek a third term as speaker of the Texas House. In his statement, Phelan said: “By stepping aside, I believe we can create the best opportunity for our members to rally around a new candidate who will uphold the principles that make our House one of the most exceptional, deliberative legislative bodies in the country—a place where honor, integrity, and the right of every member to vote their district takes utmost precedent.” Phelan has faced stiff opposition, including a closely won primary race, from the far-right factions of the Texas Republican Party over issues such as the 2023 impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and his continuance of a long-standing tradition to appoint representatives from the minority party as House committee chairs. House members are expected to coalesce around a new speaker candidate as soon as this weekend. 

TRS: The Teacher Retirement System (TRS) Board of Trustees met Dec. 5–6 in Austin. Executive Director Brian Guthrie announced that due to higher-than-expected demand for new TRS-Care Dental and TRS-Care Vision options, TRS has extended the enrollment deadline for these plans until Dec. 17. During the meeting, the board received a report on the TRS pension trust fund actuarial valuation for the previous fiscal year. ATPE Lobbyist Heather Sheffield has a meeting recap here.

SBEC: The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) met Friday in Austin and approved new disciplinary rules, pedagogy standards, and special education certification rules: 19 TAC Chapter 231, which contains a new rubric to allow special education teachers to prove content competency; 19 TAC Chapter 235, which contains teacher pedagogy standards used by educator preparation programs (EPPs) to prepare their candidates; and 19 TAC Chapter 249, which contains teacher disciplinary standards. ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave has a full update on ATPE’s advocacy at this meeting in this blog post.

ATPE-MAP: We are excited to announce that the state-level module in the ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP) has been released! This means members can complete the State-Level ATPE-MAP microcredential and unlock the ability to apply to attend Capitol Expeditions during the upcoming legislative session. Capitol Expeditions are ATPE’s new approach to in-person member advocacy during the session, replacing the ATPE at the Capitol event (affectionately referred to by some by its older name, Lobby Day). Educators who complete the courses needed for the state-level microcredential (the Intro to Advocacy and State-Level MAP modules) will earn three-and-a-half hours of continuing professional education (CPE) credit. Learn more about ATPE-MAP and enroll today. 

ATPE SUMMIT: If you’re interested in sharing your expertise at a professional conference, now’s the time to submit your idea for a breakout session at the 2025 ATPE Summit, July 7–9 at the JW Marriott Austin Downtown. We have just extended the Call for Proposals submission deadline to Jan. 7. The Summit Programming Committee—made up of nine ATPE members from across the state—is seeking a variety of learning experiences, including those that are interactive, encourage meaningful participation, and go beyond traditional lecture formats. Learn more and submit your proposal.