Both chambers have said school safety is a priority this session after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Uvalde elementary school last year.
Brian Lopez
Brian Lopez was The Texas Tribune's public education reporter from 2021 until 2024. He covered how policy and politics affect Texas’ K-12 public education system and the nearly 5.5 million kids enrolled in public schools. Previously, he was the Tarrant County reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Brian is a New York native but moved to Texas after high school. He graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Time runs out for taxpayer-funded private school tuition bill as special session looms
Gov. Greg Abbott has already signaled he would call a special session if lawmakers failed to pass a voucher-like program open to all students.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Key supporter of Texas school chaplain bill has pushed for evangelism in schools
Rocky Malloy, a self-described former drug-smuggling pirate saved by divine intervention, has led a group that promotes chaplains as a tool to proselytize to schoolchildren.
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Texas Legislature 2023
School voucher bill hangs by a thread as key deadline approaches
The House public education committee chair said Wednesday he currently has no plans to bring the bill for a vote. Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to call a special session if the House doesn’t “expand the scope of school choice.”
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Texas Legislature 2023
Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to veto pared-down school choice bill, warns of special sessions
Abbott says if a school voucher bill isn’t expanded to include more students, a special legislative session will be the result.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House’s version of the Senate’s voucher bill would change eligibility to the program and replace the STAAR test
The Texas House’s education committee is soon expected to discuss the new version of Senate Bill 8, which was heavily modified to sway votes in the lower chamber.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Teachers are losing hope that lawmakers will give them a big raise this session
The most ambitious proposals are all but dead, leaving teachers wondering why they’re looking at small raises when the state has a historic budget surplus at its disposal.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House advances bill that would give retired teachers a pension raise
The proposed raise would be the first time in nearly 20 years that some retirees would get a cost-of-living adjustment.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas House votes to require panic buttons in every classroom and armed guards in every school
Lawmakers have said school safety is a priority this session, but it is still unclear whether they’ll listen to Uvalde families who want to raise the minimum age to purchase semi-automatic guns from 18 to 21.
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Politics
Illegal voting in Texas likely to be a felony again after state House vote
The Texas Senate has passed similar legislation. But a key policy separates the two chambers.