Across the Lawn – February 28, 2025

One Thing to Do: Check out our panels on teacher pay and pre-K at SXSW EDU

Join the conversations on teacher pay and the power of pre-K at Raise Your Hand Texas’ SXSW EDU panels next week. JoLisa Hoover, our teacher specialist, and Max Rombado, our legislative director, will be joined by panelists for discussions on pressing public education issues. 

Tuesday, March 4 at 1:00 p.m. – $mart Moves: Investing in Teacher Pay and Retention

Tuesday, March 4 at 2:30 p.m. – A Path Forward: Strengthening Pre-K Across the Nation

To read more about the panels and the amazing speakers, visit our events page below. 

Five Things to Know:  

1. Senate Passes Teacher Pay and Incentive Bill, Senate Bill 26 (SB 26)

The Senate unanimously passed SB 26 by Sen. Creighton, a $4.6 billion teacher pay and incentive bill, on Wednesday, February 26. The bill now goes to the House for consideration. SB 26 includes the following: 

• Establishes a teacher retention allotment, providing additional funding for classroom teacher compensation based on teaching experience and district size.
  • School districts with 5,000 students or less:
    • At least three, but less than five years, of teaching experience: $5,000 
    • Five or more years of teaching experience: $10,000
  • School districts with more than 5,000 students:
    • At least three but less than five years of teaching experience: $2,500
    • Five or more years of teaching experience: $5,500
  • This allotment is not a one-time bonus; it is continued in subsequent school years. The bill also repeals the requirement that 30% of any basic allotment increase be used to compensate full-time employees, excluding administrators, which was passed in HB 3 (2019). SB 26 does not increase the basic allotment.
• Requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to provide a third-party vendor for liability insurance and other supports for classroom teachers. TEA estimates the annual liability insurance cost would be $125 per educator, with the educator contributing $25 and a $100 subsidy from the state.
• Expands eligibility for prekindergarten enrollment to include children of classroom teachers employed in the district offering the prekindergarten class.
• Expands the Teacher Incentive Allotment program.
• The fiscal note assumes TEA will need 11 additional staff to implement provisions of the bill.

2. Senate Committee on Education K-16 Discusses Parental Rights, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), Library Materials, and More

The Senate Committee on Education K-16 met on Thursday, February 27, to discuss a dozen bills, including: 

The Senate Committee on Education K-16 met on Thursday, February 27, to discuss a dozen bills, including: 

• Senate Bill 12 (SB 12) by Sen. Creighton relating to parental rights in public education and to certain public school requirements and prohibitions regarding instruction and diversity, equity, and inclusion duties and the loss of funding for public schools that fail to comply with those provisions. Major provisions of SB 12 include: 
  • Standardizes open enrollment and district-to-district transfers with clear criteria for approvals, denials, and prioritization.
    • Denials must be based on published capacity limits or specific documented discipline concerns, not equity considerations.
    • Schools must use a lottery system when applications exceed capacity, with priority given to returning students, dependents of district employees, military, or law enforcement personnel, and siblings of current students.
    • Prohibits charging tuition for normal student transfers but allows agreements with fees for specific inter-district student services.
  • Prohibits public schools from assigning diversity, equity, and inclusion duties to anyone.
    • School districts must implement local discipline policies for violations, including termination of employees engaging in prohibited DEI activities.
    • Loss of funding for public schools that fail to comply with provisions.
  • Prohibits public schools from withholding information from parents regarding their children.
  • Requires districts to notify parents if there is any change in services provided to or monitoring of students related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health.
  • Modifies the current complaint process regarding parental rights
    • If there are five or more findings against a school district, then the superintendent must appear before the SBOE. 
  • Requires parental consent for human sexuality instruction and prohibits public schools from providing instruction, guidance, or programming regarding sexual orientation or gender identity to students in pre-K through 12th grade.
• SB 1565 by Sen. Creighton relating to a school district’s grievance procedure and to certain public school requirements and prohibitions regarding instructions and diversity, equity, and inclusion duties and the loss of funding for public schools that fail to comply with those provisions.
• SB 13 by Sen. Paxton relating to a school district’s library materials and catalog, the creation of local school library advisory councils, and parental rights regarding public school library catalogs and access by the parent’s child to library materials.
• SB 371 by Sen. Campbell relating to parental approval for a student’s participation in human sexuality instruction in public schools.
• SB 400 by Sen. Kolkhorst relating to requiring parental consent for psychological or psychiatric examination, testing, or treatment conducted by a school district employee.

3. House Bill 2 (HB 2): A Deeper Dive into its Teacher Workforce Provisions

HB 2 by Rep. Buckley was filed last week on Thursday, February 20. The legislation, if passed, will make substantial changes to the teacher certification process in our state, in addition to adding new funding to the basic allotment, small-and mid-sized adjustments, and special education allotments. The teacher workforce provisions of the bill include: 

• Prohibits school districts from employing uncertified teachers for courses in the foundation curriculum. The foundation curriculum includes English, math, science, and social studies.
  • The bill creates an exemption in the 2026-27 school year for courses other than reading and math in grades above 5th.
  • The bill provides a one-time bonus of $1,000 per teacher who was hired in 2022-23 or 2023-24 and was uncertified but earns a standard certificate by the end of the 2025-26 school year. 
• Creates new residency and intern certificates.
• Requires districts to pay more for beginning teachers who are certified  ($3,000 for standard or intern certificates and $6,000 for residency certificates). 
• Creates a Teacher Literacy or Math Achievement Academies Allotment for certain educator preparation programs for each candidate that completes the literacy achievement academy ($1,000) or math achievement academy ($500).
• Prohibits Districts of Innovation schools from including an exemption related to uncertified teachers and parent notification requirements related to uncertified teachers.
• Creates a TEA data collection system for teacher vacancies.
• Waives testing fees and application fees for a person applying for a certification in special education or bilingual education.
• Funds a teacher time study.
• Requires that school districts use at least 40% of any funding increases received from the basic allotment to pay for raises for teachers and other district employees.

4. Senate Committee on Finance to Hear School Safety Funding Bill

Senate Bill 260 by Sen. Huffman will be heard in the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, March 5, at 9:00 a.m. The bill doubles the school safety allotment from $10 to $20 per student and $15,000 to $30,000 per campus. The Senate has set aside $400 million for school safety increases in its proposed budget, SB 1.  

Under a law passed last legislative session, school districts are currently required to have active-shooter plans, provide mental health training for specific staff members, install silent panic buttons in classrooms, and maintain an armed security guard present on each campus during school hours.

4. House Committee on Public Education Schedules Hearings

The Texas House Committee on Public Education has scheduled three days of hearings to take place in March. The first day will be invited testimony on HB 2 by Rep. Buckley related to school funding, the second day will be public testimony on HB 2, and the third day will be invited and public testimony on HB 3 by Rep. Buckley related to Education Savings Accounts.  

Tuesday, March 4, at 8:00 a.m. on HB 2 by Rep. Buckley (invited testimony only)

Thursday, March 6, at 8:00 a.m. on HB 2 by Rep. Buckley (public testimony)

Tuesday, March 11, at 8:00 a.m. on HB 3 by Rep. Buckley (invited and public testimony)