Bills on the move
The Texas House passed three bills on Thursday directly related to public schools. The bills now go to the Senate for consideration -- HB 233 for committee referral and SB 3 and SB 9 for concurrence with House amendments or referral to conference committees to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the bills.
HB 233 (Huberty), as passed by the House, seeks to amend recently passed legislation (HB 4545, 87th Regular Session) regarding supplemental instruction requirements for students who have fallen behind during the pandemic. HB 233 specifies that accelerated instruction requirements are triggered when students fail math or reading STAAR exams in grade 3 or in grades 4-8 during a year after not performing satisfactorily on the same test the year before. The bill requires students to receive supplemental instruction in groups of no more than 4 students for every teacher but allows a school board to adopt a resolution authorizing supplemental instruction in groups of no more than 10 – though this provision would expire Sept. 1, 2022. The bill also allows the commissioner to waive the accelerated instruction requirements for one year if at least 60 percent of eligible students pass the STAAR exams in the subjects they previously failed. The bill also includes provisions for parents and ARD committees to tweak supplemental instruction plans, especially for homebound students who may begin their plans when they return to campus.
SB 3 (Hughes), as passed by the House, would require the commissioner of education to create a civics training program for teachers and administrators and to establish the grade levels at which a teacher provides instruction to be eligible to participate in that training program. The commissioner would be required to appoint nine current and former educators to an advisory board to help develop the training. School districts and charters would be responsible for ensuring that at least one teacher and administrator from each campus that includes an eligible course attends the training. The bill then sets forth items that the State Board of Education must include in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) related to civic knowledge. The Texas Education Agency would be responsible for ensuring that all schools teach civics education according to this law. The bill then goes on to list several things that teachers cannot be compelled to do and that schools or teachers cannot make part of social studies instruction. SB 3 prohibits schools from giving course credit for a student’s work in the lobbying division of any entity or political activism. The Senate had amended the bill to clarify that students may still receive credit for work with an entity that lobbies as long as the student is not directly involved in lobbying or public policy advocacy activities. The House amended the bill to state that this bill creates no private cause of action against a teacher, administrator, or school employee; to clarify that students can participate in CTE programs for credit even if a participating entity lobbies; and to specify that teachers can still direct students to communicate with elected officials as long as they do not influence the content of the communication.
SB 9 (Huffman), as passed by the House, would require public schools to provide instruction and materials relating to the prevention of child abuse, family violence, and dating violence at least once in middle school and at least once in high school. Districts would also have to amend their dating violence policies to include a clear statement that dating violence is not tolerated at school, reporting procedures and guidelines for students who are victims of dating violence, and information regarding the instruction on the prevention of dating violence. The House amended the bill to clarify that School Health Advisory Council recommendations to school boards regarding dating violence cannot conflict with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills; to include sex trafficking in the required education and policy changes; and to require schools to develop procedures for immediately notifying parents of students who are alleged victims or perpetrators of dating violence.