State testing bill heads to conference committee

At this point in the legislative session, almost all floor discussion in both the House and Senate is on whether or not to concur with changes made to bills in the opposite chamber. Several major education bills such as HB 2 (school finance) and HB 6 (student discipline) were approved upon their return from the Senate, but HB 4 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R-Salado) was changed in a significant enough way that the House instead moved to appoint a conference committee to hash out the differences with the Senate.

The original version of HB 4 passed by the House would replace STAAR with three shorter tests administered throughout the year and diminish the weight of test scores on campus and district ratings in the A-F accountability system, along with some other changes to TEA rulemaking regarding state testing. When HB 4 arrived in the Senate, they essentially replaced it with their own accountability bill, SB 1962 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), and sent it right back to the House. 

The Senate's take on the school accountability issue included limitations on school districts' ability to sue TEA regarding state accountability ratings. It would still scrap the STAAR test, but would be less prescriptive on what a new assessment instrument should look like. Some critics said that the bill would allow for STAAR to be replaced in name only without requiring much to change on how the test is administered or the outsized effect it has on state accountability ratings.

With only a few days left in the session, the conference committee will need to work quickly to arrive at a final version to send to the governor. Both chambers will work through the weekend to finalize their bills before the session ends June 2.