The House Committee on Public Education met Tuesday to consider 12 bills, including a bill that would criminalize educators who assist in the “social transitioning” of a student; a bill that would give parents access to student library records; and a bill that would ban payroll deduction for the collection of dues for associations such as ATPE. This meeting was likely the last opportunity for the committee to hear House bills before the deadline to report them from committee.  

The bills heard by the committee today were: 

• ATPE-supported HB 441 by Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R–Odessa) would grant a sparsity allotment to districts under 350 students, an increase from the previous 130 students.  
• HB 591 by Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D–San Antonio) would create community-based learning centers for students to receive services such as tutoring or after-school athletics. 
• HB 1325 by Rep. Cody Vasut (R–Angleton) would allow children of judges, prosecuting attorneys, and service members the ability to transfer schools. 
• ATPE-opposed HB 1655 by Rep. Nate Schatzline (R–Fort Worth) would prohibit public school employees from assisting with social transitioning of students and would allow referrals to the Attorney General’s office for teachers who violate the policy. ATPE opposed the bill because its provisions are broad. For example, it would allow for prosecution of teachers for simply calling a student by their chosen nickname or a different pronoun.  
• HB 3312 by Rep. Valoree Swanson (R–Spring) would require a school district to retain video and audio recordings of an incident in a special education classroom until the incident is resolved.  
• ATPE-opposed HB 5019 by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R–Keller), would take away educators’ ability to use payroll deduction to pay their association dues. ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave testified against the bill, asking the committee to consider the negative impacts of such a move on already overworked and overburdened educators and pointing out the bill’s clear constitutional issues, including violation of educators’ free speech rights. ATPE also submitted written testimony against the bill.  
• HB 5526 by Rep. Shelby Slawson (R–Stephenville) would allow for a school security volunteer program made up of retired veterans and police officers in counties of less than 1 million people.   
• SB 13 by Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney) would provide parents access to their student’s library records as well as defining harmful, indecent, and profane content and prohibiting purchase of those materials.  
• ATPE-supported SB 27 by Senate Ed Chairman Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe) seeks to improve conditions for teachers in several ways. It increases transparency in hiring, requiring school districts to notify current staff about job openings before filling them. It waives certification exam and application fees for high-demand areas such as special education and bilingual education and pays vendors directly for first-time test-takers. The bill also directs the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to study teacher time use, required duties, and professional development and to help districts refine schedules to give teachers adequate time to meet job expectations. It protects probationary teachers from sanctions if they resign late under valid personal circumstances, such as illness or relocation. Finally, it ensures fairer salary deductions during unpaid leave by basing them on actual workdays, not calendar days. ATPE submitted written testimony in support of the bill.  
• SB 57 by Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D–Laredo) would require public schools to develop plans specifically tailored to ensuring the safety of individuals with disabilities or impairments during school drills, disasters, or emergencies. ATPE submitted written testimony expressing concerns about potential increased administrative burden on educators.  
• ATPE-supported SB 207 by Paxton would allow excused absences for students attending mental health care appointments, reinforcing the importance of mental well-being. 
• ATPE-supported SB 843 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R–Brenham) requires TEA to establish and maintain a comprehensive database of school district bonds, taxes, and related projects. The proposed database would centralize critical financial data, making it more accessible to the public and allowing for greater transparency and accountability in school district financial management. Districts would be required to submit the information to TEA. 

Additionally, the following bills were voted out of the committee: 

• ATPE-supported HB 850 by Rep. Suleman Lalani (D–Sugar Land) would require that all schools have defibrillators within three minutes of any spot on campus. The bill would also require schools to have an emergency plan for cardiac events and TEA to establish a grant program to pay for the defibrillators.  
• HB 1551 by Rep. Hillary Hickland (R–Belton) would require the school to notify parents if an educator is alleged to have committed a criminal offense such as a sexual assault. ATPE submitted written testimony on the bill, asking that private schools and homeschool cooperatives be added to this bill in order to protect all children, not just those in public schools, from potential predators.   
• ATPE-supported HB 2336 by Rep. Alma Allen (D–Houston) would allow district employees to request in-person grievance hearings.  
• ATPE-supported HB 3622 by Rep. Brooks Landgraf (R–Odessa) would increase ADA funding for alternative education programs.  
• HB 4442 by Rep. Salman Bhojani (D–Euless) would require districts to offer a mindfulness elective course. ATPE asked the author to make this an optional offering from districts, pointing out smaller districts may not have the personnel to offer the course. Bhojani did lay out a committee substitute to the bill that made the change ATPE requested, thus, while we did not support the bill as filed in committee, ATPE will support the committee substitute as it moves forward.  
• HB 4746 by Rep. Chris Turner (D–Grand Prairie) would add students who complete high school with the Pathways in Technology Early College High School or Early College High school designation as one of the postsecondary readiness factors for which a high school campus can earn an academic distinction designation. It also ups the per-student allotment for these programs from $50 to $150. The program serves historically at-risk and underserved populations and allows them to earn a high school diploma, associate’s degree, and/or a workforce certification.   
• HB 4893 by Rep. Rhetta Bowers (D–Dallas) would create the Breakthrough Program, a postsecondary advising program for first generation college students.   
• HB 5089 by Rep. Charlie Geren (R–Fort Worth) would require 20% of registered voters in a district to sign and present a petition to the State Board of Education (SBOE) in order to split a school district. The bill would also require an even split of all debt and property between the old and newly created districts. This bill came about as a result of the proposed split of Keller ISD earlier this year, and among those who showed up to testify were school board members, defending their actions, and community members, upset about the attempted split.   
• ATPE-supported SB 1490 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston) would specify the formula for funding an adult education program run by a charter school.   
• ATPE-supported HB 4980 by Rep. Terry Wilson (R–Georgetown) would establishe a Child Care Professional Pathway Program. The program would be offered in partnership between local child care businesses, community colleges, and public schools for students to receive a child care associate’s certificate with a guaranteed job placement at a child care center.  

The deadline to report House bills from committee is Monday, May 12, so the committee will likely hold a formal meeting later this week in order to vote out the remaining House bills pending before the committee. Any House bill not voted out and reported from committee by Monday will be procedurally dead, though the potential exists for its contents to reappear as an amendment to another bill. The committee can continue to work on Senate bills until Saturday, May 24.