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. 

• How does HB 8, the testing bill passed by the Texas Legislature during its second special session of 2025, really impact state testing?
• From The Texas Tribune: Texas educators praise new school cellphone ban
• Your classroom and library materials: What Texas SB 13 means for school employees
• SBOE meets to discuss HB 1605, Social Studies TEKS, and more
• TEA issues updated guidance on SB 12, the Parental Rights Bill
• House Public Education Committee member Rep. James Talarico announces bid for U.S. Senate race
• Stay in the know and take action with ATPE’s member advocacy tools

HB 8: The Texas Legislature sent House Bill (HB) 8 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado) to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his signature Sept. 4 after a contentious debate on the House floor. Educators and parents alike have good reasons to be skeptical of the bill, which increases mandatory state testing in grades 3 through 8 from 15 to 51 tests. However, the bill has some positive and some potentially positive aspects. 

There are many competing narratives about the impact of HB 8 on the amount of testing. For example, Buckley claims HB 8 will end “the high-stakes nature of one test, one day” in favor of three shorter tests at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. In reality, there are multiple ways to consider what the impact on testing will actually be. 

In this blog post, we take an unvarnished look at the most talked-about aspect of the bill and attempt to sort the rhetoric from the reality on what HB 8 actually means for you and your students. 

CELL PHONE BAN: ATPE-supported House Bill (HB) 1481, which requires all school systems to adopt and implement a policy prohibiting the use of personal communication devices by students on school property during the school day, took effect Sept. 1. Texas’ more than 1,200 public school districts have adopted policies ranging from secure phone pouches to increased monitoring.  

School officials told The Texas Tribune that as a result of the ban, students have become more engaged in and outside of classrooms, and they are not seeing the pushback from students and parents they were concerned they would face. A survey conducted by the National Parents Union, however, showed a majority of parents (78%) want their child to have their phone in case of an emergency at school. Only 36% of K-12 parents support a cell phone ban for the entire school day, according to a Pew Research Center survey. One student from Brazosport ISD wrote letters to the governor and members of the Legislature in hopes of convincing them to oppose the law.  

Brian Woods, deputy executive director of the Texas Association of School Administrators, told The Texas Tribune an improvement in student data could reinforce the cell phone ban’s success and increase support in future years.  

Read more in this article republished from The Texas Tribune.  

SB 13: Senate Bill (SB) 13 brings new rules for school and classroom library materials, including stricter approval processes, expanded parental rights, and broader access to challenging books across Texas public and charter schools. ATPE Managing Attorney Lance Cain offers guidance for navigating SB 13’s regulations on atpenews.org. 

SBOE: At the September State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting, which took place this week in Austin, the board approved updates to instructional materials under HB 1605, adopted new rubrics for the 2026 review cycle, and advanced revisions to the Social Studies TEKS that could shift future classroom content. Board members also considered changes to gifted-and-talented identification rules and moved forward with updates to educator certification standards, particularly in special education. The SBOE also discussed the Permanent School Fund, which supports statewide education operations. Teach the Vote will provide a full recap next week.

SB 12: Senate Bill (SB) 12, passed during the regular session, requires parental permission for schools to provided health and psychological services for students. Confusion regarding what services may and may not be provided under the law has been pervasive, leading to frustration among both parents and school staff. Following reports that schools were unable to provide bandages and other basic health services, such as temperature checks, to students whose parents had not signed SB 12-required permission slips, authors Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Plano) and Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe) sent a request to the Texas Education Agency to clarify the bill’s provisions. TEA issued new guidance Monday in the form of an FAQ and model language for districts. 

TALARICO: Rep. James Talarico (D–Austin), a member of the Texas House Public Education Committee, officially announced his bid for the U.S. Senate Tuesday. He will join former Dallas congressman Colin Allred and former astronaut Terry Virts in the Democratic primary. Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio are also considering entering the race. The winner of the primary will vie for the Senate seat currently held by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who is himself facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary. 

Read more from The Texas Tribune.  

MEMBER ADVOCACY: Even when the Legislature’s not in session, we urge you to stay informed and engaged. Here are a few advocacy resources to check out: 

• Advocacy Central: Get in touch with your elected officials about the legislation impacting your profession.  
• Judy: Chat with ATPE’s new AI assistant for Texas educators, ready to help you with all things ATPE and all things #txed.   
• ATPE Member Advocate Program (ATPE-MAP): Enroll in ATPE-MAP to earn state-level and local-level advocacy microcredentials, as well as earn continuing professional education (CPE) credit. ATPE-MAP is included in your member benefits, so be sure to check it out today.    
• ATPE Professional Learning (PL) Portal: Three sessions from the 2025 ATPE Summit are available in the ATPE PL Portal: an HB 2 compensation overview, the ATPE lobby team’s advocacy update and the closing keynote by Jonathan Alsheimer. Log in to watch the recordings and earn 1.5 hours of continuing professional education (CPE) credit. (Jonathan Alsheimer’s appearance arranged through Gotham Artists.) 
• 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.