We are just over one week into the 89th Legislature and things are beginning to move. As we continue to advocate for the important bills supporting our Educator’s Bill of Rights, we are also watching the following developments:
House, Senate Budget Proposals
On Wednesday, leaders from the Texas House and the Texas Senate released their chambers’ initial proposals for the state’s 2026-2027 budget. After five legislative sessions in 2023 in which increased state funding for public education was held hostage for a private school voucher program, Texas public schools have been forced to eke by on deficit budgets that have forced them to close campuses, lay off staff, and cut essential student services like bus routes.
With that reality, we are pleased to see both chambers have included billions in new funding for public education in their proposals. However, both proposals fall short of what is needed to match inflation since 2019, the last time the state increased base funding for public schools.
- Comparing the Senate & the House: We applaud Sen. Joan Huffman, the author of Senate Bill 1, and the Texas Senate for dedicating $5.3 billion to desperately needed relief for public schools. Disappointingly, the Texas House, which has long touted its public education credentials, has proposed nearly $5 million less than the Senate in new base funding.
- Educator Pay Raises: The $4,000 pay increase for Texas teachers in SB 1 is welcome, as is the additional $6,000 for rural teachers, who experience an even more profound pay disparity. A $10,000 increase for rural teachers, roughly 20% of our state’s teaching workforce, would bring them up to the national average in teacher pay – a number that itself is nearly 27% lower than similarly educated professionals in other fields. But their peers in urban and suburban districts would remain, even with this increase, significantly underpaid.
- Support Staff Needs: Our main concern with both education funding proposals is the lack of support for paraprofessionals and other essential school staff. While raising teacher pay is crucial, we must also address the poverty-level wages of paraprofessionals, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians, and other support staff. These roles are vital to our schools and raises for non-administrative staff must be included in the state budget.
Senate Voucher Bill
On Friday (the day of this writing), Sen. Brandon Creighton filed SB 2, the Senate’s priority voucher bill. Our legislative team continues to analyze the full text of the bill, but so far, we can share this with certainty:
- Eligibility: SB 2 is a private school voucher program with universal eligibility for every school-aged child.
- Voucher Amount: The voucher would amount to $10,000 per year for students attending accredited private schools, $11,500 per year for students with disabilities, and $2,000 per year for students using a non-private school provider, such as tutoring or courses at a higher education institution.
- Restrictions: SB 2 has income requirements if “excessive” voucher applications are received, requiring that up to the first 80% of slots be reserved for students who were enrolled in public school the prior year and have a disability or have a household income at or below 500% of the federal poverty line. (For reference, currently, 500% of the federal poverty line for a single parent with one child is $105,750 and 500% of the federal poverty line for a family of 6 is $215,750.)
- Accountability: Participating students would be required to take either the state-required assessment or a nationally norm-referenced exam.
- Special Education Accommodations: The bill requires private schools that accept funding via this voucher to post a notice stating that the school is not required to comply with federal special education laws.
SB 2 is scheduled for an initial hearing in the Senate Education K-16 Committee this coming Tuesday, Jan. 28. If you are interested in testifying, we urge you to attend our testifier training this Monday, Jan. 27, at 4:30 p.m. CT. You can register online here.
Of note, both the House and Senate’s budget proposals include $1 billion allotted for a private school voucher program, a figure that far outpaces funding for other critical areas like school safety. This funding comes at a time when public schools are struggling to recover from years of underfunding and inflation-driven cost increases.
Vouchers divert taxpayer dollars to private schools, which are not held to the same accountability standards as public schools and serve only a small fraction of Texas students. This approach threatens to widen existing inequities in the state’s education system. Public schools, which educate most Texas children, need robust funding — not competition for limited resources.
House Rules Approved
The Texas House adopted new rules for the 2025 legislative session, ending the tradition of appointing minority party members as committee chairs. This change consolidates power within the Republican majority, limiting the minority party’s influence over legislation.
While vice chairs, now required to be from the minority party, gain new authority, some Capitol observers have said this shift is a move toward increased partisanship. The rules also eliminate six committees and introduce subcommittees to streamline legislative work.
Committee chairs have yet to be appointed by new House Speaker Dustin Burrows. We expect that news in the coming weeks. As a reminder, the House is prohibited from taking action on bills not designated as emergency items by Gov. Greg Abbott within the first 60 days of a legislative session; Abbott has yet to release his emergency priority list.