The House Public Education Committee held its first interim hearing of the year Monday, May 11. Lawmakers focused on the second of the committee’s seven interim charges, the state of education, as well as one of the five bills the committee has been tasked with monitoring the implementation of, House Bill (HB) 1481 by Rep. Caroline Fairly (R–Amarillo), the law restricting student cell phone use in schools.  

This was the first of multiple hearings tied to the interim charges from House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R–Lubbock). No new laws are passed during the interim, outside of any called special sessions. Instead, lawmakers study key issues and gather input ahead of the next regular legislative session, set to begin in January 2027. The hearings give critical insight into the issues that will likely be top of mind for the committee next session.  

The state of public education 

The committee first took up the broad charge of the state of education, the text of which is below.  

Study the current state of public education in Texas. Examine academic outcomes, enrollment trends pertaining to the stability of the school finance system, school safety, and the role of technology and artificial intelligence. Identify emerging challenges, opportunities, and best practices to sustain and expand high-performing schools across Texas. Explore ways to streamline statutory and regulatory provisions to improve efficiency in district operations. 

The committee heard from seven panels totaling more than 20 testifiers, including Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath and Texas Education Agency (TEA) School Safety Chief John Scott; demographers and population trend experts; multiple school superintendents representing rural, midsize, and urban schools; and education policy experts.  

Enrollment decline and school finance implications 

One of the key takeaways from the hearing was that Texas schools are seeing non-pandemic enrollment decline for the first time in decades. Morath told lawmakers the enrollment losses were more accelerated than the agency previously predicted. State demographers had predicted flat enrollment based on the significant slowdown of people moving to Texas both from within the U.S. and from abroad, along with lower birth rates. However, Texas public school enrollment ended up not merely flat but at a 76,000-student deficit this school year, the largest non-pandemic enrollment decline in nearly 40 years. In addition to declining immigration and birth rates, there has been some shift toward private and home-school settings. This trend is likely to accelerate to some extent in the coming school year as the state voucher program enters its first year of full implementation. What was mentioned only briefly was the data that more than 60,000 of the unexpected student decline were Hispanic students. Not discussed was that in at least two major urban districts, these students are ESL students—not merely Hispanic—leading to strong speculation that current federal immigration policy may also be a factor. Demographer Bob Templeton, of STRIVE Public Policy Resources, warned the committee that enrollment decline is likely to be a sustained issue that will probably worsen in the coming years. He believes Texas could, conservatively, lose an additional 120,000 students by the 2027-28 school year, with overall enrollment declining to 5 million (a loss of 400,000 students) within five years.  

The enrollment decline has major implications for public school finance, staffing, facilities, A-F accountability ratings, and the continued conversation surrounding private school vouchers and charter expansion. Lower enrollment leads to less funding, which leads districts to attempt to lower fixed costs such as staffing, building expenses, and programs. According to Our Schools Our Democracy, more than 100 campuses across 25 districts in Texas have been targeted for closures for next year, with many other districts currently discussing potential closures.  

Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D–Austin) drilled down on school finance efficiency in an exchange with Morath. She pointed out that following the passage of HB 2 by Chairman Brad Buckley (R–Salado) last session, districts statewide are still struggling and adopting deficit budgets. Hinojosa attributed this to the prescriptive nature of the funding, which placed funding into buckets that have an explicit purpose rather than a general increase in the Basic Allotment, which provides more spending flexibility to districts.  

Hinojosa told the story of a man who approached her for help because his son’s school, which Hinojosa’s own son attended, is closing next year. She described how the school has been a central fixture in the local community for decades. 

“I want us to be less cavalier about those schools closing,” Hinojosa said, while pushing the committee to fully examine the impact shuttering a school community has on families. Morath agreed that districts were having to make “challenging decisions” in the wake of increasing budget deficits.  

This sentiment was echoed throughout the day, as testifiers came forward to share how their districts were adopting deficit budgets, laying off staff, and closing schools. Many pleaded with the committee to increase school funding and to have more conversations with district leaders and teachers about the real impact budget cuts are having on students. 

Rep. James Frank (R–Wichita Falls) disputed the notion that school closures were caused by lack of funding or by the school voucher system he voted for, pointing instead to the low birth rate and demographic shifts discussed by Morath and the demographers. “I just think there’s going to be a lot of finger pointing over the years as we look at this, because this is going to continue to happen,” said Frank. “If you have less kids…you’re going to have less school chairs, because you have less kids. That’s sort of the way math works.” 

Vice Chair Diego Bernal (D–San Antonio) agreed that demographic shifts are a factor but added, “I think it’s also important that the Legislature recognize that we have also created incentives for people to leave the public schools by the proliferation and oversaturation of charter schools and now vouchers. And I’m not saying that’s responsible for all the school closures, I’m just saying we have to recognize our part of that.” 

With regard to school safety, Rep. Trent Ashby (R–Lufkin) asked Chief Scott about implementation of the school safety bill, HB 3 by Burrows, that the 88th Legislature passed in 2023. Scott said districts are working toward compliance in implementing key aspects of the bill, including school facility hardening and the requirement that every campus have an armed security officer. Scott said some districts are struggling with the armed officer requirements due to high costs and a shortage of available personnel. Scott said districts were generally doing well and complying with required safety audits, but there was some inconsistency in fixing reported problems . He emphasized that the audit process is meant to be continuous and corrective, rather than a one-time check, and that overall data shows general improvement and high rates of compliance across the state. 

The future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom 

AI also emerged as a major discussion point during the hearings, with committee members and witnesses largely agreeing on a few key points: AI is here to stay, it is already changing classrooms, and schools are not fully prepared to deal with the issues that arise from its use. 

Much of the conversation focused on the balance between dealing with the existence of AI beyond the school setting and the struggle to ensure it does not hamper student learning, critical thinking skills, and academic integrity within the school setting. Morath framed AI as a technology schools cannot ignore, emphasizing that students will graduate into a workforce where AI tools are becoming increasingly more common while also highlighting the need for students to engage in “the productive struggle” which can be short circuited by technology in general, including but certainly not limited to AI. He used the decades-old calculator as an example of a tool that is helpful with calculus in higher grades, whereas the same tool in early grades significantly impedes student acquisition of numeracy skills. Testimony suggested that districts need guidance and training on when use of AI is proper; how and when introduction to AI should be incorporated into workforce preparation; and that schools are struggling to adopt policies on AI that meet the moment. Tommy Hooker, the president of the Texas Association of Rural Schools (TARS), asked the committee for a state-sponsored training on AI to be developed for teachers, citing it as one of the most critical needs facing public education right now. Vice Chair Bernal expressed skepticism about the legislature’s ability to be helpful, as he noted that the committee was just now taking up a conversation around limiting screen time in schools, which has been an issue for more than a decade.  

ATPE submitted written testimony on the state of public education, which can be read here.  

Implementation of House Bill (HB) 1481, the student cell phone ban 

The committee also discussed the implementation of HB 1481, which bans student cell phone use during the instructional day. Legislators heard from a panel of teachers, administrators, and researchers that implementation of the bill is going well and having positive impacts on students and the learning environment, when it is consistently enforced.  

ATPE conducted a survey of our members that we used to drive our written testimony on this item. Our findings were largely the same as those shared with the committee, with ATPE members commenting that the biggest problem with implementation of HB 1481 is having buy-in from parents and all staff members in enforcement. See ATPE’s written testimony on this item here. 

The House Public Education Committee will hold several more hearings this summer and fall as they continue to move through the interim charges assigned to them by Speaker Burrows. ATPE will continue to engage with lawmakers on these charges and will have more information on Teach the Vote as it becomes available.