The House Public Education Committee met Tuesday with an agenda that included six bills, including a bill intended to protect parental rights and another that would prohibit districts from purchasing materials on the State Board of Education’s “rejected” list.   

House Bill (HB) 7 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Plano), a bill Leach refers to as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” seeks to: 

• Make changes to the reporting of educator misconduct; 
• Create new procedures in the grievance process for a parent appealing to the commissioner of education; 
• Requires the Texas Education Agency to maintain and publish on its website a list of parental rights regarding their children’s education;  
• Require districts to provide more information to parents, including lists of materials their children check out from the library and a syllabus or instructional plan for each course at the beginning of a semester; and 
• Require parental consent for any psychological and psychiatric testing or treatment of a child.  

ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave testifies on HB 7 before the House Public Education Committee March 25.

ATPE Lobbyist Tricia Cave testified on the bill, reminding the committee that many educators are parents as well and want to work with parents in students’ best interests. However, Cave also expressed ATPE’s concerns about the bill, including that its “psychological and psychiatric testing” portion is broad and vague and could potentially require parental consent each time a teacher does simple things to check on a child’s welfare, such as a daily mood check-in. Rep. Leach clarified it was not his intent for simple daily check-ins to be caught in the language of his bill, and ATPE asked that the language be clarified to match the author’s intent. Additionally, ATPE testified about concerns that the section on appeals limits them only to public school districts, meaning parents could not appeal the actions of TEA or a charter school. This, ATPE argued, would limit rather than expand parental rights. Finally, ATPE asked that language in the bill’s section on educator misconduct section be clarified. Currently, the bill does not define “inappropriate communication” or “appropriate boundaries,” and ATPE is concerned about potential unintended consequences resulting from this language being so vague. ATPE also provided written testimony.

HB 100 by Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson (R–Galveston) would prohibit districts from adopting instructional materials on the State Board of Education (SBOE)’s “rejected” list. The Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) process was created following the 2023 passage of HB 1605. Instructional materials submitted in the IMRA process are reviewed for alignment with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS), as well as factual errors, suitability, and compliance with the parent portal requirement of HB 1605. Materials can be approved or rejected, or no action can be taken. HB 100 seeks only to prohibit districts from adopting materials the SBOE has already reviewed and rejected.   

The committee also considered: 

• HB 121 by Rep. Ken King (R–Canadian), which would allow TEA to deputize members of law enforcement in order to improve communication between the agency and districts regarding school safety. 
• ATPE-supported HB 124 by Rep. Greg Bonnen (R–Friendswood), which would increase the school safety allotment from $10 to $14 per student and $15,000 to $27,000 per campus. While ATPE supported this bill, we submitted written testimony asking the House to adopt the language of SB 260 by Sen. Joan Huffman (R–Houston), which provides $20 per student and $30,000 per campus for school safety.   
• ATPE-supported HB 1458 by Rep. Will Metcalf (R–Conroe), which would allow retired peace officers and reserve deputy sheriffs to become campus guardians under the provisions set forth in HB 3 last session.  
• ATPE-supported HB 2249 by Vice Chair Diego Bernal (D–San Antonio), which would establish a Texas Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program and Texas Teacher Retention Incentive Program. The scholarship program created by the bill would provide a scholarship of $10,000 per year for college students interested in pursuing a teaching certification to obtain their degree and teaching certificate in exchange for agreeing to work at least five years in a Texas public school.  

Several bills previously heard in committee were also voted out of committee, including:  

• ATPE-supported HB 210 by Rep. Ryan Guillen (R–Rio Grande City), which seeks to prevent conflicts of interest for members of a district board of trustees. The bill would prevent districts from selecting vendors in which a board member has a business interest. 
• ATPE-supported HB 213 by Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D–El Paso), which would classify chronically absent students as “at risk” and require collection and reporting of data regarding these students. 
• ATPE-supported HB 222 by Rep. James Talarico (D–Round Rock), which would allow districts to use funds from the school safety allotment to provide classroom and behavioral management training to educators. 
• HB 610 by Rep. Terri Leo-Wilson (R–Galveston), which would require the severance payment to a school district superintendent to equal no more than six months of their salary.   
• ATPE-supported HB 1085 by Rep. Pat Curry (R–Waco), which would allow districts to offer a lifetime recreation and outdoor pursuits course to satisfy a student’s physical education requirements. This course would be created by the SBOE in partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife.  

The committee will meet again April 1. Several important bills are still pending before the committee, including HB 2 (school finance), HB 3 (vouchers), HB 6 (student discipline), HB 1481 (cell phone ban in public schools), and HB 123 (literacy and numeracy).