With only a month remaining in the current legislative session, bills that are moving out of the House and Senate will affect decisions about curriculum, instruction, and libraries as soon as next school year. This month, we provide an update on bills reported on last month and spotlight bills that are moving forward through the legislative process but are not yet final. (Note: links are provided to the Texas Legislature Online . Set up a free log in to see the full text and updated status of a bill.)
Update on Instructional Materials: HB 1605/SB 2565: These companion bills regarding instructional materials selection and funding have been passed out of their respective education committees, and SB 2565 was passed in the Senate on Tuesday, April 25. Â As reported previously, these bills would restructure the Texas adoption process and would authorize the Commissioner to establish an Open Education Resources (OER) portal to provide free, online instructional resources for reading and math grades K-8 and all foundation subjects for K-5. A committee substitute clarified the responsibilities of the State Board of Education, which will establish a cycle for the review of instructional materials, give final approval to a rubric for reviewing instructional materials, and approve instructional resources for use in the state. On the Senate floor, five amendments were added to the bill that provided requested clarification on several important topics. One amendment banned methods of literacy instruction involving three-cueing, while several others gave the SBOE more authority over rulemaking regarding a parent portal and the appointment of advisory committees. Another amendment ensured that the Proclamation 2024 review process will move forward under current laws and rules. Clarification about the proposed $20 and $40 per pupil amounts explained that both are annual amounts and additional state aid that will flow to schools through the Instructional Materials and Technology (IMTA) fund.
In testimony “on” the bill to the March 29 meeting of the Senate Education Committee, a consortium of organizations including TASA pointed out that no funding has been allocated for SB 2565 other than the Instructional Materials and Technology fund. The proposed legislation authorizes TEA to use IMTA funds to purchase instructional resources for the OER portal, conduct reviews of instructional materials, develop trainings and technical assistance for districts, and to develop an OER portal and Texas Resource Review website. This could result in diversion of fa significant amount of funds from the IMTA to the Texas Education Agency, with the cost to extend beyond this biennium as the system established would exist in perpetuity. Other concerns related to the potential of this legislation to limit local control over decisions about instructional materials and deplete districts’ IMTA funds. See the full text of the comments here: testimony-on-SB-2565_Creighton_TASA_TACS_IMCAT.
Libraries: HB 900/SB 13 have both been approved by their respective chambers. These bills have similar provisions related to rating library books. Both bills differentiate between library books and instructional materials used by teachers in the classroom, including “classic” books, and apply specifically to resources within a school district’s library catalog. More information about these bills may be found in our March newsletter.
Accelerated Instruction: HB 1416/ SB 1261 propose to modify the requirements for accelerated instruction as passed in HB 4545 in the 87th legislative session. HB 1461 has passed in the full House, and SB 1261 has passed out of the Senate Education committee. Changes would include a 4:1 ratio of students to teachers instead of 3:1 and only requiring tutoring for reading and math in grades 3—9. Accelerated learning committees would be required only for students failing to meet the standard on STAAR for two or more consecutive years. Other provisions give districts more flexibility to plan time for tutoring and give parents additional rights to modify their child’s tutoring plan.
Advanced Math: HB 4870/SB 2124 Â The Senate Education committee passed this bill on Monday, April 24, but the House Public Education Committee has not yet considered a similar bill, HB 4870. The bills propose to increase the number of students who complete advanced mathematics courses in high school by setting up an automatic enrollment process for 5th grade students who meet certain criteria that indicate readiness for advanced mathematics in grades 6–8. Parents would still be able to opt students out of advanced mathematics. Several districts and organizations testified to the Senate Education Committee in support of this bill, including Hayes CISD, the Dallas Commit Partnership, Texas 2036, and the E3 Alliance.