Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath gave comments Wednesday morning, June 25, to the State Board of Education (SBOE) in three major areas – this year’s STAAR data, his six charter school recommendations, and legislative updates.  

Morath began by sharing STAAR performance data, which can be accessed on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website. Overall reading/language arts (RLA) scores show slight increases, which was great news following declines in the 2024 data. Math also saw slight increases, with grades 5 and 7 seeing a slight dip. The newly created math academies, Morath said, should help bring the state back up to pre-COVID levels in math, as reading academies have done in RLA. Science saw the greatest year-over-year positive results, while social studies had minor drops.  

Morath posited that some of the gaps in scores could be attributed to lack of effective content instruction in elementary science and grades 1-3 social studies. Lower elementary instruction, he said, really doesn’t prepare students for the rigor of the science and social studies content in the upper grades. He did notacknowledge the role of the accountability system in driving the emphasis away from science and social studies in the lower grades. Morath went on to express particular concern about the ability of students to retain important background information in social studies between the two halves of U.S. History in grades 8-11. He encouraged board members to consider these concerns as they prepare to revisit the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum standards for social studies.  

Morath then moved on to discussing charter schools. Currently, Texas has 188 charter entities (large organizations, such as IDEA or Yes Prep, are considered one entity), 958 total charter campuses, and 456,000 students enrolled in charter schools. The commissioner reviewed the charter accountability metrics, including the “three strikes” rule, as well as academic and financial non-renewal standards. Since 2014, TEA has closed a total of 54 charter entities and 97 charter campuses.  

Morath next explained the charter application process, detailing what he described as a lengthy and rigorous process that allows only a few charters to make it to the final SBOE review for approval. Since 2016, only 32 of 241 charter applicants have been approved by TEA, which is just 13% of applicants. 

This year, 25 applications were received, and six applications were moved forward for SBOE consideration. Those applicants are: Arcadia High School (Houston); Fort Worth STEAM Academy (Fort Worth); Frank Liu Jr. Academy for Music and Arts (Houston); The Museum School of East Dallas (Dallas); Unidos Soccer Leadership Academy (San Antonio); and Valenta Academy (Bastrop). The SBOE will consider these applications this week and question the charter representatives before taking a final vote on Friday.  

The commissioner also gave legislative updates following the 89th Legislative Session, which wrapped up June 2. The SBOE adopted a list of legislative priorities prior to the beginning of the regular session, which included the following: 

• Address school library sexually explicit material and assign a rating system to SBOE. 
• Codify Special Education Funding Commission recommendations. 
• Grant rulemaking authority to the SBOE regarding school systems’ implementation of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.  
• Increase funding for hiring certified teachers and/or increasing salaries for certified teachers 
• Create the Navigating Excellence Through Targeted Support program to fund student-level targeted math and reading intervention.  
• Reimburse costs associated with special education and bilingual certification exams.  
• Implement the remaining recommendations made by the Governor’s Teacher Vacancy Task Force to improve teacher recruitment and retention. 
• Expand the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership program by removing the funding cap. 
• Expand the $20 Open Education Resource (OER) allotment to be utilized for any OER materials on the SBOE-approved list. 

All but one of the SBOE’s legislative priorities saw legislation passed this session. The legislature did not choose to expand the OER allotment.  

Senate Bill (SB) 13 by Sen. Angela Paxton (R–McKinney) addressed school library books concerns by establishing a Local School Library Advisory Council. It also clarifies local library material challenge processes and requires the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) to update its collection standards. The bill does not grant SBOE rulemaking authority, which had been one of the board’s legislative requests. A similar bill that would have granted SBOE rulemaking authority, House Bill (HB) 183 by Rep. Jared Patterson (R–Frisco), was never heard in committee.  

SB 12 by Sen. Brandon Creighton (R–Conroe) was billed as a parental rights. The legislation requires a school district superintendent to appear before SBOE if five parent grievances are overruled by the agency in a year. There is currently a lawsuit pending on this bill.  

HB 6 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Plano) dealt with some of the working condition concerns expressed in the 2023 report of the Teacher Vacancy Task Force. The bill creates a cohesive process for addressing pervasive student discipline concerns.  

Finally, and most importantly, HB 2 by Rep. Brad Buckley (R–Salado) addressed several SBOE legislative priorities. It codifies recommendations of the Special Education Funding Commission, including the recommendation to move to an intensity-based service model for funding. It increases funding for hiring certified teachers, as well as increasing teacher salaries. Morath highlighted the bill’s provision that will fund certification testing costs for bilingual and special education teacher candidates, as well as additional funding for residency and student teaching pathways. SB 1 by Sen. Joan Huffman (R–Houston), the state’s budget, also includes funding for targeted reading and math intervention, which was part of HB 2.  

Morath also commented on additional legislation of interest to the board. The SBOE will now be eligible for state benefits under HB 3254 by Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson (R–Galveston), a former SBOE member. Additionally, the SBOE Chairman, currently Aaron Kinsey (R–Midland), will now be able to hire five staff members, rather than relying on existing TEA staff. There were several curriculum updates, including HB 100 by Leo-Wilson, which bans school districts from purchasing instructional materials that are on the SBOE’s rejected list, and HB 5515 by Buckley, which ensures districts cannot be overcharged for freight costs associated with instructional materials. HB 27 by Rep. Ken King (R–Canadian), SB 24 by Sen. Donna Campbell (R–New Braunfels), and HB 824 by Rep. Jolanda Jones (D–Houston) all require updates to the social studies TEKS and curriculum regarding personal financial literacy, communism instruction, and civics. SB 25 by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R–Brenham) and SB 1207 by Sen. Phil King (R–Weatherford) will require updates to health curriculum in the areas of nutrition and adding adoption information to parenting instruction, respectively.  

Board members were given the opportunity to question the commissioner about various topics related to his presentation. Member Keven Ellis (R–Lufkin) asked Morath whether any of the STAAR data could be attributed to the STAAR redesign in 2022. Member Marisa Perez-Diaz (D–San Antonio) also pressed the commissioner on this, questioning if the timing had been right for redesign. Morath responded that the redesign was mandated by HB 3906, passed by the 86th Legislature in 2019. He contended that the data did not show a substantive decline in proficiency following the redesign, and that the changes were not made to increase difficulty, but to better reflect instruction.  

Member LJ Francis (R–Corpus Christi) asked about the marginal increase in math scores and what the agency feels the data in math outcomes tells us. Morath replied that students are far less proficient in math than they were pre-COVID in 2019. Colleges are also reporting a sharp decline in math proficiency, with more students needing to enroll in remedial math courses. Francis followed up with a question about the trend across the country; Morath affirmed that math scores are down across the country, and Texas is actually doing better than the overall national trend. The commissioner expressed hope that the math academies would produce better results, as the reading academies have done. 

Ellis and Member Pam Little (R–Fairview) also had questions about the Bluebonnet curriculum. Ellis was interested in data showing how many districts are using Bluebonnet, which Morath said the agency could release annually, potentially in the late summer/early fall following districts’ curriculum adoption. Little asked whether the EMAT, the state’s online ordering system for instructional materials, was unfairly set up to give Bluebonnet an advantage over other materials, since they were available earlier than other materials for districts to order. Morath replied that this was a one-time logistics problem caused by upgrades to the site, and there should not be any issues moving forward. 

Member Rebecca Bell-Metereau (D–San Marcos) asked about the passage of HB 2674 by Rep. David Cook (R–Mansfield), which prohibits the state from regulating homeschooling. Bell-Metereau expressed concern about the ability to provide oversight of the students receiving homeschool instruction and asked if the commissioner was pushing back against the lack of regulation. Morath stated that as an executive branch employee, it would be inappropriate for him to push back, and he advised Bell-Metereau that she was free to do so if she wished.  

Member Julie Pickren (R–Pearland) asked about what she called a “significant” increase in funding for public education as a result of the passage of HB 2. Morath replied that school districts would see approximately $800 per student per year in additional maintenance and operations (M&O) funding, with larger districts seeing slightly less. He added that with federal funding of approximately $2,000 per student and interest and sinking (I&S) funding of approximately $1,500 per student, this would bring the total overall funding to around $16,000 per student. It is important to note, however, that this is an extremely broad overview of the very complex school finance system and, in ATPE’s view, not a good measurement of how well the state is funding public schools.  

The SBOE will continue to meet through Friday this week. Stay tuned to Teach the Vote for updates.