• Special session stalled by standoff over election-related legislation
• Texas Senate reignites social studies curriculum debate
• TRS Board meets in-person to review legislation
• ATPE recognizes educators during  Virtual Summit held this week

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SPECIAL SESSION: The first special session of the 87th Texas Legislature stalled this week as more than 50 Democratic state representatives left the state, thereby preventing the Texas House from reaching a quorum, the minimum number of members required to be present in order to conduct business. Without a quorum, the House cannot hold hearings, vote on bills, or conduct any other business with very few exceptions.

Democrats who left the state, now staying in Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress and the Biden administration regarding voting rights, indicated they would not return before the 30-day special session expires August 6, effectively ending the first called session just as it began. Gov. Greg Abbott told the media this week he will call legislators back for a second special session to begin August 8. Meanwhile, the House is standing at ease until Saturday afternoon, and the Senate has recessed until Monday afternoon.
 

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CURRICULUM: Despite the lack of quorum in the House preventing the passage of any legislation during the special session, the Senate continued to hold hearings and vote on bills this week. One of those bills was Senate Bill (SB) 3 by Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), which revisits the debate over social studies curriculum that began during the regular session with House Bill (HB) 3979 by Rep. Steve Toth (R-Spring). SB 3 would strike requirements added to HB 3979 by the House, including the civil rights movement, women’s suffrage, Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, and other subjects in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

The Senate held a hearing Thursday on SB 3 in the State Affairs Committee, rather than in the Education Committee, where education policy is traditionally discussed. After several hours of testimony in overwhelming opposition to SB 3, the committee voted along party lines to approve the bill. ATPE registered opposition to SB 3, not because of specific curriculum changes it seeks to make, but because like HB 3979, it usurps the State Board of Education’s (SBOE) authority to write TEKS in collaboration with Texas educators. The full Senate debated and then voted along party lines to approve SB 3 on Friday.
 

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TRS: For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas Board of Trustees held an in-person meeting at its Austin headquarters Thursday and Friday. The board kicked off its July meeting with a legislative update that focused primarily on the TRS portions of the state budget bill, SB 1 by Sen Jane Nelson (R–Flower Mound), and HB 1585 by Rep. Stan Lambert (R–Abilene), the TRS Sunset bill. TRS staff also briefed the board on the special session, including an update on SB 7 by Sen. Joan Huffman (R–Houston) and HB 85 by Rep. Glenn Rogers (R–Graford), which were filed in response to the governor’s call for a 13th check for TRS retirees to be considered during the special session. Both HB 85 and SB 7 unanimously passed out of their respective chamber’s committees, and the full Senate has passed SB 7.

The full board recessed to allow its committees to meet, including the Strategic Planning Committee; Benefits Committee; Policy Committee; Investment Management Committee; Budget Committee; and Audit, Compliance and Ethics Committee. Archived video of the TRS committee meetings can be seen here. The board reconvened Friday morning for public comments, a report on the agency’s multi-year data and computer system upgrade known as TEAM, a report from TRS Executive Director Brian Guthrie, and committee reports.  The board also heard from the interim Ombuds for the first time. In large part the Ombuds has overseen the 120 written complaints the agency has received since the fourth quarter of 2020. Finally, the board heard public presentations from the two firms who are finalists to serve as the external TRS actuary before going to into executive session for the remainder of the meeting.

Presentation slides and other materials related to the July TRS meeting can be found in the board book. An archived video of the Friday meeting is also available to watch here.
 

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SUMMIT: ATPE held its virtual Summit this week, featuring professional development sessions, award presentations, the election of state officers, and the annual meeting of the ATPE House of Delegates. Professional development sessions included keynote speakers, such as Coach Ken Carter, and an advocacy update presented by members of the ATPE lobby team.

During th event ATPE announced the recognition of all Texas public school employees as recipients of the Judy Coyle Texas Liberty Award this year. The association’s highest honor, the award is named after one of ATPE’s founding members, Judy Coyle, who was a long-time, distinguished educator. ATPE State President Jimmy Lee said the association “could think of no one individual who has done more for public education” than the Texas educators who contributed so much over the past year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and tragic winter storm of 2021.

ATPE’s House of Delegates voted Wednesday to approve several bylaws amendments and adopted the ATPE Legislative Program for 2020-21, which contains the members’ positions on a number of legislative and policy issues pertaining to public education. Delegates also elected their 2020-21 state officers and issued an honorary resolution to the outgoing ATPE Past State President Tonja Gray.