The 89th Legislature adjourned sine die June 2 after passing many bills related to public education. In this multi-part series, ATPE is recapping these bills by first taking a look at major legislation relating to our four legislative priorities for the 2025 regular session.  

PART I: Public Education Funding, Educator Compensation, and the Teacher Pipeline 

PART II: School Working Conditions 

• HB 1481 (Relates to ATPE’s Priority to Improve Working Conditions) 
• HB 6 (Relates to ATPE’s Priority to Improve Working Conditions) 
• HB 2243 (Relates to ATPE’s Priority to Improve Working Conditions) - VETOED 

Coming soon: 

We’ll share information about other public education legislation not considered high-priority bills in a subsequent post.  

Each bill includes ATPE’s position on the legislation, along with links to related ATPE Legislative Program categories and positions.  

PART II: School Working Conditions 

Related ATPE Legislative Priorities for 2025: 

• Improve Working Conditions 
  ATPE recommends the Legislature strengthen school disciplinary laws to empower educators to provide a safe learning environment. School districts should be positioned to establish local policies governing the responsible use of technology such as cell phones, computers, and artificial intelligence. The Legislature should strengthen the mental health supports available to both students and staff, enact measures that protect teachers’ conference and planning time, and support initiatives that promote the positive impact of public school educators on the lives of their students and the future of Texas.

• HB 6 – Student Discipline 
• HB 1481 – Student Cell Phone Ban 
• HB 2243 – Teacher Commission (VETOED) 

HB 6 by Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Plano) | et al. – Student Discipline 

Status: Signed into law 

HB 6 is the House’s priority discipline bill. The bill makes several changes to how Texas public schools handle student discipline.  

The bill outlines the mandatory duties of the campus behavior coordinator and expands educator and administrator authority to initiate voluntary and mandatory student removals, including the ability to use in or out of school suspensions, placement in a DAEP, and expulsions. HB 6 adds to the list of serious offenses for which a student shall be expelled, including kidnapping, burglary, and assault. The bill also allows for a reduction of time in a DAEP placement based on the student’s parent’s acceptance of a behavioral agreement created by the school. The bill creates a limited virtual expulsion program to provide virtual instruction and instructional materials for remote learning to certain students for whom placement in a Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program (JJAEP) is not an option.  

HB 6 expands a charter school’s ability to deny admission based on a student’s disciplinary history to include conduct that resulted in placement in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) or expulsion, while removing the ability of school districts to waive provisions of Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code. The bill provides employees with additional immunity from an employment action taken against an educator for reporting a Chapter 37 violation, including from initiating a voluntary student removal.  

HB 6 adds crisis prevention and intervention training for parents to the eligible expenses under the Supplemental Special Education Services Grant Program.  

Finally, the bill expands the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHAT) program and requires that treatment assessment teams assigned to a campus include the campus behavior coordinator. In addition, if the student being assessed is receiving special education services, the team must also include a person with knowledge of student disabilities and how student disabilities manifest.  

ATPE supported the bill but also worked to refine it over the course of the session. Read ATPE’s written testimony submitted for the House committee hearing and Senate committee hearing on HB 6. 

Related positions in the ATPE Legislative Program:  

School accountability, governance, and regulation  

• Charter schools 
• School safety 

HB 1481 by Rep. Caroline Fairly (R–Amarillo) | et al. – Student Cell Phone Ban  

Status: Signed into law         

HB 1481 bans student cell phones during the instructional day and requires school districts to adopt a policy for the bill’s enforcement.  

This bill went through many iterations during the session, including one in which educators would have been required to collect students’ phones and keep them in locked storage—a requirement that ATPE opposed. (Read ATPE’s written testimony.) The final version of the bill simply bans cell phones during the instructional day, which includes passing periods and lunch; it does not require anyone to collect the phones, instead providing that students must store them away in a backpack or locker for the day.  

ATPE’s position went from neutral to supporting the bill once it was amended to its final form. Improving working conditions, including managing technology use, is one of ATPE’s legislative priorities.  

Related positions in the ATPE Legislative Program:  

Workplace issues: 

• Educator working conditions and schedules 

HB 2243 by Rep. Tom Oliverson (R–Cypress) | et al. – Teacher Commission  

Status: VETOED 

HB 2243 would have created a Texas Commission on Teacher Job Satisfaction and Retention. The 13-member commission would have included current or former teachers with at least 10 years of experience, as well as public school administrators and elected school board members. The commission was to be tasked with developing recommendations to reduce teachers' administrative burdens, assess the impact of state and federal education laws on teacher satisfaction, and explore the effects of declining federal education funding on the state's education system. The commission would have been required to submit a report with its findings and recommendations to the governor and Legislature by Dec. 31, 2026. The commission was to be dissolved Sept. 1, 2027. 

ATPE provided written testimony to the committee on the original version of HB 2243, asking for teachers to be included on the commission along with fewer legislators, as well as asking for the study of additional information. Once these provisions were added to the committee substitute, ATPE supported the bill.  

VETOED: Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vetoed HB 2243 on June 22, 2025, stating that the bill would violate the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government. He also complained that the bill would allow the commission to hire staff and legal counsel and procure goods and services without adhering to competitive bidding requirements. In his veto message, Abbott pledged “to convene a task force this interim to streamline teachers' responsibilities and to repeal unnecessary administrative burdens.” 

Related positions in the ATPE Legislative Program:  

Workplace issues: 

• Educator working conditions and schedules