Key issues – what passed, what didn’t during session

More than 1,100 bills passed the Texas Legislature during the 2025 session, with over 80 of them included in TCTA’s tracking list of education-related bills. As our lobby team works on analyzing all of the bills of interest to our members, we have developed a list of some of the more highly-publicized proposals. A few of the bills below did not pass but are included because they received some level of publicity. 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• Most bills have not yet been signed by the governor, the ones that have are so noted. Gov. Abbott has until June 22 to sign or veto a bill; any bill on which he does not take one of those actions becomes law. Budget bills (SB 1 and HB 500) are sent to the state comptroller for review before heading to the governor.
• These bills and their descriptions are by no means comprehensive. HB 2 in particular is 230 pages long and includes provisions added at the last minute that will take us quite a bit of time to thoroughly review. This list is simply designed to provide an overview of some of the more impactful proposals from the session. 

School district funding 

(HB 2 by Buckley/Creighton and SB 1 by Huffman/Bonnen) – PASSED

(HB 2 signed by governor, SB 1 under review by comptroller)

$8.5 billion additional funding for public schools was approved in HB 2 and appropriated in SB 1 (the budget bill). Roughly half of that is devoted to required pay raises and TIA enhancements (see below); districts will also receive $1.3 billion dedicated to basic ongoing costs (utilities, required TRS increases, etc.) designed to free up district funds for other purposes, $850 million for special education changes, $677 million for early learning and CTE, and more. 

Pay raises 

(HB 2) – PASSED

(Signed by governor)

Classroom teachers (not counselors, librarians, nurses): In a district with 5,000 or more students, a teacher with 0-2 years of experience does not receive an increase; a teacher with 3 or 4 years receives $2,500, and a teacher with 5+ years receives $5,000.

In a district with under 5,000 students, those amounts are $0, $4,000 and $8,000, respectively.

These are intended as permanent raises with state funding, and as a teacher gains years of experience, they will receive the higher amount. If a district is applying to be an “enhanced teacher incentive allotment system” (see TIA section below), it would receive the same per-teacher funding, but the raises must be based on performance.

Districts will receive funding ($500 million statewide) to increase salaries for non-administrative employees (counselors, librarians, nurses, paraprofessionals, custodians, etc.). Districts have authority over how to distribute these raises. 

Teacher Incentive Allotment enhancements (HB 2) – PASSED

(Signed by governor)

The amounts provided for designations under the Teacher Incentive Allotment were increased and a new “acknowledged” designation was created. 

National Board Certification no longer qualifies a teacher for the “recognized” designation, but for a “nationally board certified teacher” designation with an accompanying allotment of $3,000-9,000 (the higher amounts are for high need and/or rural districts). However, the State Board for Educator Certification will undertake a review of the National Board Certification program and determine no later than Dec. 31, 2026, whether to reauthorize or revoke this designation. 

A new enhanced TIA program would entitle districts to 10% more TIA funding; those districts would need to meet additional criteria that include performance-based compensation for principals and assistant principals, and a prohibition of across-the-board raises for teachers (except for periodic adjustments for significant inflation).

Vouchers 

(SB 2 by Creighton/Buckley) – PASSED 

(Signed by governor)

The new “education savings account” program, to be implemented beginning in 2026-27, will use up to $1 billion to provide funding for families to send their child to a private school. Families would receive over $10,000 per participating child to cover tuition and/or other related costs for private school attendance; a homeschooling family would receive up to $2,000. The amount would increase significantly – up to $30,000 more - for students with disabilities. 

Health insurance funding for ActiveCare 

(HB 500 by Bonnen/Huffman) – PASSED

(Under review by comptroller)

The legislature approved additional funding to TRS ActiveCare to keep the costs of premium increases to no more than 10%. (TRS adopted premium rates averaging 9.7% statewide, but with variation among regions of the state, on June 3.) 

Math academies 

(HB 2) – PASSED

(Signed by governor)

HB 2 includes revisions to literacy and math academies, including requiring teachers who provide math instruction in K-3 to attend a math academy no later than the 2030-31 school year.

Comprehensive testing reform  

(HB 4 by Buckley/Bettencourt) – DID NOT PASS

The bill proposing comprehensive changes to testing, including moving from STAAR tests to multiple, short through-year tests, failed to pass at the end of session. There are some changes to testing in HB 2, including a required literacy assessment instrument at the beginning of kindergarten, and through-year reading and math instruments in grade K-3.

Addressing uncertified teachers 

(HB 2) – PASSED

(Signed by governor)

HB 2 will prohibit districts of innovation from exempting themselves from teacher certification and parent notification requirements, and prohibits any district from employing a teacher of record for a foundation curriculum course who does not hold an appropriate certificate or permit. (There is a grace period allowed for implementation of this new prohibition for up to five years, subject to approval of the commissioner.) 

Also, DOIs with a teacher certification exemption for the 2026-27 school year can employ – for that year – a teacher without the appropriate certification for a course other than reading/language arts or math above grade 5. Districts can still apply for waivers and issue school district teaching permits as under current law. The bill also includes financial incentives for districts to help their uncertified teachers become certified.

Surcharges for hiring retirees

(HB 2) – PASSED

(Signed by governor)

HB 2 includes provisions relating to the costs to districts of hiring retirees. Under previous law, districts were not allowed to pass on the TRS surcharges to the retiree, but the bill repeals that. 

At one point the bill had included funding for districts to help offset the surcharges, but that was removed; instead, those costs are one of the allowable uses of the new Allotment for Basic Costs, if the district chooses to pay the surcharge instead of passing it along to the retiree.

Discipline 

(HB 6 by Leach/Perry) – PASSED

HB 6 gives districts more flexibility in how to address student discipline and to require more parental participation in disciplinary actions. It also gives teachers more authority over disciplinary actions. For example, it clarifies that a student can be removed from the classroom for a single incident. A removed student cannot be returned to the same classroom without the teacher’s written consent, unless a return-to-class plan is developed through a conference in which the teacher is given an opportunity to participate. 

Ten Commandments 

(SB 10 by P. King/Noble) – PASSED

Requires public schools to display in a conspicuous place in each classroom a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandment, if such posters are donated or the district chooses to purchase them. Includes specifications regarding the version, size, font style, and visibility of the poster. 

School library restrictions 

(SB 13 by Paxton/Buckley) – PASSED

SB 13 ensures the right of parents to library catalogs and to records of school library materials their child obtained through the library; clarifies existing prohibitions in school library collections to include indecent or profane content, or material that includes a link to prohibited content; gives districts the option to create a local school library advisory council (mandatory upon a petition of at least 10% or 50 parents of enrolled students) which comprises parents, with optional teachers, librarians and others as nonvoting members; and provides a process for challenging library materials. 

Parents' rights/DEI ban/prohibition of “social transitioning” 

(SB 12 by Creighton/Leach) – PASSED

Comprehensive bill regarding parents’ rights in their child’s education – includes a prohibition of practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion duties; a ban on assisting a person with social transitioning including the use of different pronouns or adoption of a different name in conflict with their biological sex at birth; and a prohibition of student clubs that are based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Furries” bill 

(HB 54 by Gerdes) – DID NOT PASS

HB 54 would have prohibited any “non-human” behavior in schools, such as wearing animal ears or making animal noises, except in specified circumstances such as Halloween or a school play. Allowing or encouraging “a dependance on or a belief that non-human behaviors are societally acceptable” would have been added to the definition of child abuse, warranting mandatory reporting. 

Cellphone ban 

(HB 1481 by Fairly/Creighton) – PASSED

Requires districts and charters to adopt a written policy prohibiting students from using a cellphone, tablet, smartwatch, or other personal communication device while on school property during the school day. The policy can prohibit students from bringing such a device onto school property or can provide for a method for the storage of the device while the student is on school property during the school day. It must include exceptions if needed for implementation of an IEP, by a student with a documented need as directed by a physician, or if needed to comply with a health or safety requirement. 

Child abuse reporting issues 

(Multiple bills) – PASSED

SB 571 (Bettencourt/Leach) strengthens reporting requirements regarding educator misconduct (primarily focused on reporting by administrators).

HB 4623 (Little/Paxton) removes immunity from liability for acts or omissions regarding sexual misconduct by an employee against a student and failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

Targeting districts 

(Multiple bills) – DID NOT PASS

SB 19 (Middleton) would have prohibited school districts (and other political subdivisions) from using public funds to hire a lobbyist, or to pay a state association (such as TASB) that hires or contracts with a lobbyist. 

HB 4 (Buckley/Bettencourt) would have severely limited a district’s ability to bring an action against the state/TEA/commissioner (such as recent lawsuits challenging accountability ratings) and would have required the commissioner to appoint a conservator to a district/charter that did so.

Targeting teacher associations

Payroll deduction (multiple bills including HB 1336 by Cain, HB 5019 by Capriglione, SB 2330 by Parker) - DID NOT PASS

These bills would have prohibited payroll deduction of association membership dues. (HB 5019 would also have prohibited CPE credits for training that occurred at a professional association meeting that also included political advocacy.)

Liability insurance (HB 2) - PASSED

(Signed by governor)

HB 2 includes a provision for the state to make liability insurance available to teachers (estimated at a $25 cost to the teacher) through a third party, which cannot also engage in political activities (e.g., none of the statewide teacher associations). 

We'll provide more comprehensive summaries of all the education bills as soon as possible. In the meantime, reach out to the lobby team by emailing legislation@tcta.org or calling 888-879-8282 if you have specific questions about recent legislation.

Join us June 17 on Zoom

Join us for a recap of the 2025 legislative session during the next Tuesdays with TCTA webinar at 6 p.m. CDT June 17. Members of TCTA's lobby team will discuss what passed and what didn't and explain how new legislation will impact educators, saving time to answer questions from members. Click here to register and get the Zoom link.