Senate passes bills on parental rights, school libraries, and religion in schools

The Texas Senate passed two education-related bills on March 19, SB 12 and SB 13. Both bills fit firmly into the parents' rights movement dominating much of the education policy discourse at the Capitol in the last few legislative sessions.

SB 10 by Sen. Phil King (R-Weatherford) requires districts to display a poster of the Ten Commandments in each classroom. The bill passed along partisan lines 20-11.

SB 11 by Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston) allows districts to adopt a policy to require campuses to provide students and employees with an opportunity to participate in a period of prayer and reading of the bible or other religious text, and lays out the framework for such policies, which must include opt-in provisions. The vote in favor of the bill was 23-7.

SB 12 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe) is a wide-ranging bill that makes parental rights regarding their child's education more explicit in addition to banning any kind of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in schools. On the Senate floor, Democratic senators expressed concerns that completely removing any reference to DEI could exacerbate discrimination and disallow longstanding avenues for legal recourse if a student or employee faces discrimination. Creighton dismissed those concerns and claimed that DEI policies have actually worsened discrimination. 

After a long debate, the bill passed on party lines, 20-11 and awaits further action in the House.

SB 13 by Sen. Angela Paxton (R-Plano) intends to protect schoolchildren from sexually explicit materials in school libraries. Senators from both parties agreed that keeping those materials out of school libraries is important, but disagreed on how to go about accomplishing that goal. The bill would establish advisory councils to increase transparency in the library materials acquisition process and grant more power to school boards to approve or reject potential library materials. 

Paxton and Sen. José Menéndez (D-San Antonio) debated the potential chilling effect on school library acquisitions if the bill passes, with Menéndez explaining that he trusts librarians to make appropriate choices for their own collections. While the bill was in committee, TCTA requested that school librarians and classroom teachers be mandatory members of the library advisory councils due to their expertise in identifying appropriate materials for children, but the suggestion was not accepted.

The bill passed 22-9.