The Senate Education committee met Tuesday to take up three bills.
First, Sen. Paul Bettencourt laid out Senate Bill 569, his priority legislation for reforming virtual education. This bill, a refile from last session, would reform and broaden the scope of virtual education in Texas, allowing districts to establish fully virtual “campuses.” While we support the need for some hybrid options to accommodate and provide options for students, we knew even before the pandemic that students learn best in a physical classroom where they have access to resources and supports provided by a campus learning environment.
Also presented in the hearing were SB 10, which would require the posting of the Ten Commandments in all Texas classrooms, and SB 11, which would allow districts to adopt a policy for a period of prayer in schools. We have public schools across this state with deficit budgets, laying off staff, closing campuses, and cutting student services. Teachers and school staff are so demoralized and exhausted that they are leaving their jobs at alarming rates. And our students’ mental health and well-being is at such a low point that we are seeing record behavioral challenges, including physical attacks on educators.
It is difficult to believe that these issues are what lawmakers have determined as urgent or significant.
Like the chaplain bill from last session, districts would be required to take a vote on the policy during the 2025-2026 school year. In addition to voting these three bills out of committee, the committee also voted out SB 13, the latest library censorship bill. It is expected that all these bills will make a swift trip to the Senate floor.
Bills like SB 10 are the reason our members listed the freedom of religion in our public schools as one of 10 essential rights for public school employees in our educator-created legislative agenda.
Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee met Wednesday to take up several bills, including SB 260, a bill that would double the school safety allotment from $10 to $20 per student and $15,000 to $30,000 per campus. Witnesses expressed general support for the allotment in the bill but did point out that the proposed infusion still would not completely fulfill the mandates of HB 3 from the 88th session. Though this bill did not contain policy proposals, witnesses spoke to the need for increased mental health services as part of a comprehensive safety program.