The Texas House Committee on Public Education is set to convene this Tuesday for a crucial meeting covering a wide range of pressing issues, with nine bills on the agenda.
Bill Breakdown
Here’s a breakdown of the key topics up for discussion, organized by House Bill number:
HB 6: Refining School Discipline
- This bill aims to provide a clearer definition of suspension, including both in-school and out-of-school suspensions.
- It also seeks to establish limitations on out-of-school suspensions, potentially influencing how disciplinary actions are handled in Texas public schools.
HB 27: Personal Financial Literacy Takes Center Stage
- HB 27 proposes replacing economics as a mandatory high school graduation course with personal financial literacy.
- Economics would remain available as one of three elective options for the final required credit.
HB 123: Enhancing Kindergarten Readiness
- This bill focuses on improving kindergarten readiness by emphasizing early literacy and numeracy skills.
- It ensures that young learners enter kindergarten with a strong foundation for future academic success.
HB 210: Vendor Transparency and Conflict of Interest
- HB 210 addresses potential conflicts of interest by creating a criminal offense for vendors who conduct business with school districts where a board member has a substantial business interest.
- This bill increases transparency in school district vendor relationships.
HB 213: Identifying Chronically Absent Students
- This bill introduces a new identification process for chronically absent students, recognizing them as being at risk.
- This bill allows for early intervention for those students at risk of dropping out.
HB 222: School Safety and Classroom Behavior
- HB 222 allows professional development for classroom behavior management to be a permissible use of the school safety allotment.
- This gives schools more options to increase school safety.
HB 610: Superintendent Severance Payments
- This bill seeks to reduce the severance payment for superintendents from one year’s salary to six months’ salary, without penalty from the Foundation School Program.
HB 1085: Lifetime Recreation and Outdoor Pursuits
- HB 1085 proposes the development of a lifetime recreation and outdoor pursuits course that would satisfy the physical education (PE) credit for high school graduation.
- This course would also include hunter education.
HB 1481: Limiting Personal Wireless Devices
- This bill requires school boards to develop policies prohibiting personal wireless communication devices during classroom instruction.
