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. 

• Gov. Greg Abbott makes it official: Special session to begin July 21 
• “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law 
• How you can help those affected by the recent flooding in the Texas Hill Country 
• TRS to meet next week 
• That’s a wrap on the 2025 ATPE Summit
• Join ATPE and Jonathan Alsheimer July 15 for a Back-to-School Bash 
• Use ATPE’s member advocacy tools to stay up to date and take action 

SPECIAL SESSION: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced June 22 he would call a special session to address five bills he vetoed from the regular session. Initially, the call did not include any education items, but the official proclamation released Wednesday includes 18 items, one of which is testing reform.  

The call for testing reform reads “… consider and act upon … [l]egislation to eliminate the STAAR test and replace it with effective tools to assess student progress and ensure school district accountability.” During the recently concluded regular session, House Public Education Committee Chair Brad Buckley (R-Salado) filed House Bill (HB) 4 on this subject. The bill ultimately failed when the Senate and House could not come to agreement over its language, including whether to reduce or enhance the commissioner’s control over both the testing system and school districts’ ability to push back over what they considered to be agency abuses regarding regulation of the testing and accountability system. 

Read more in this blog post by ATPE Governmental Relations Director Monty Exter. Plus: Stay tuned for Teach the Vote’s Series on Priority Bills of the 89th Legislature; starting Monday, July 14, we’ll showcase major education bills of the 2025 regular session.  

ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL: President Donald Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” July 4 during an Independence Day ceremony at the White House.

Although much of the bill’s focus is on Medicaid, immigration enforcement, and tax law changes, there are also education related provisions found within the nearly 1,000-page bill is a plan as well, including a federal private school voucher program. Read more about the plan here.  

FLOOD RELIEF: Our hearts are heavy following the devastating July 4 floods across the Texas Hill Country. Lives have been lost, homes destroyed, and communities deeply impacted.  

In the face of such loss, many are asking how they can help. Those interested in doing so can find a list of nonprofit organizations, first responder agencies, and local governments actively involved in relief efforts here.  

TRS: The Teacher Retirement System (TRS) Board of Trustees invites you to watch its upcoming board and committee meeting webcast. 

The meetings will be shown live and available for on-demand viewing later at the following links: 

• Watch Live/On Demand Webcast on July 17 - begins at 9 a.m. 
• Watch Live/On Demand Webcast on July 18 - begins at 9 a.m. 

The board and committee agendas can be viewed here. 

ATPE's 2025-26 state officers: State Treasurer Twila Figueroa, McAllen; State Vice President Eli Rodriguez, Cypress-Fairbanks; State President Jerrica Holt, Community; State Secretary Teresa Millard, Woden; and Immediate State Past President Jason Forbis, Midway (12)

SUMMIT: The 2025 ATPE Summit wrapped up Wednesday following the 45th annual ATPE House of Delegates (HOD) meeting and election of 2025-26 ATPE state officers. The HOD approved the ATPE Legislative Program Tuesday; read the updated legislative program here. 

ATPE’s newly elected officers for 2025-26 are State Treasurer Twila Figueroa, McAllen; State Vice President Eli Rodriguez, Cypress-Fairbanks; State President Jerrica Holt, Community; State Secretary Teresa Millard, Woden; and Immediate State Past President Jason Forbis, Midway (12). 

David Pore, ATPE's federal contract lobbyist, accepts the Judy Coyle Texas Liberty Award at the ATPE Summit July 8.

ATPE also recognized 2025 award winners, including ATPE-PAC honorees, the Charles Pickitt Educators of the Year, Doug Rogers Campus Representatives of the Year, and Floyd Trimble Local Units of the Year. ATPE presented the Judy Coyle Texas Liberty Award to the association's federal contract lobbyist, David Pore of Hance Scarborough LLP. Named for one of ATPE's founding members, the Judy Coyle Liberty Award is presented by ATPE in recognition of superior service to public education. Pore was selected to honor his decades of advocacy leading to the January 2025 repeal of the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), two provisions in Social Security law that previously caused unfair reductions in the retirement benefits earned by public servants, including Texas public educators. 

BACK-TO-SCHOOL BASH: Join educators across Texas for an exclusive LIVE online event presented by ATPE at 5 p.m. CT Tuesday, July 15, featuring an energizing presentation from Jonathan Alsheimer, plus games, giveaways, and a few fun surprises! Learn more about our Back-to-School Bash and sign up here. 

Artist’s appearance arranged through Gotham Artists. 

MEMBER ADVOCACY: The legislative session may be over, but we urge you to stay in the know and take action year-round. 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 the state-level and recently released local-level advocacy microcredential, as well as earn continuing professional education (CPE) credit. ATPE-MAP is included in your member benefits, so check it out today.    
• 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.