Overall Vote Recommendation

Vote No; Amend

Principle Criteria

Free Enterprise

Property Rights

Personal Responsibility

Limited Government

Individual Liberty

In Layman's Terms

SB 8 replaces the STAAR testing system with a new assessment model that measures student progress throughout the school year and provides more timely feedback to teachers and parents. The bill also expands TEA's authority over school accountability while giving districts more flexibility through alternative assessments and local accountability options.

Digest

SB 8 proposes a major overhaul of the public school assessment and accountability systems in Texas. It aims to transition the state from the current State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) program to a new, “instructionally supportive” assessment framework. The bill mandates that assessments be administered at multiple points during the academic year, beginning, middle, and end, and focuses on providing immediate and actionable feedback for teachers, parents, and students. The new system must also align with the curriculum standards adopted by the State Board of Education and support student growth reporting.

SB 8 also modifies accountability indicators for public schools and school districts, requiring additional transparency in areas such as early education performance, third-grade readiness, and the percentage of students with vision disorders. It establishes a new grant program to fund innovative local accountability plans and allows districts to adopt alternative assessments approved by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

The bill consolidates significant oversight authority within TEA. Notably, it empowers the commissioner of education to continue implementing interventions, even when accountability ratings are legally enjoined, by allowing alternative data sources for campus intervention decisions. SB 8 repeals numerous provisions in Chapters 39 and 39A of the Texas Education Code and significantly diminishes the State Board of Education’s role in favor of TEA’s administrative control.

Overall, SB 8 is intended to make assessments more useful for instruction and to simplify the accountability process. However, it centralizes enforcement authority and reduces local school board control over turnaround plans and accountability appeals. The bill represents a significant shift in how Texas evaluates and manages student achievement and public school performance.

Author (13)

Paul Bettencourt Cesar Blanco Donna Campbell Brandon Creighton Brent Hagenbuch Bob Hall Adam Hinojosa Joan Huffman Bryan Hughes Phil King Mayes Middleton Angela Paxton Kevin Sparks

Co-Author (6)

Brian Birdwell Peter Flores Lois Kolkhorst Tan Parker Charles Perry Charles Schwertner

Contact the Author

Sen. Paul Bettencourt

Capitol Phone:

(512) 463-0107

Capitol Office:

CAP 3E.16

E-Mail:

[email protected]

Visit Official Website

Fiscal Notes

According to the Legislative Budget Board (LBB), SB 8 would have a significant fiscal impact on the state budget over the next five fiscal years, primarily due to the mandated transition from the STAAR testing program to a new “instructionally supportive assessment” model. The LBB estimates a negative net impact to General Revenue-Related Funds of approximately $55.9 million through the 2026–2027 biennium, with annual costs continuing into subsequent years.

The bill requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to contract with a nationally recognized assessment provider and make extensive changes to the state’s assessment infrastructure by the 2027–2028 school year. These changes are expected to cost the state $13.2 million in FY 2026, $34 million in FY 2027, and smaller but still substantial amounts in future years. The estimated cost to administer the new assessments would increase from $0.6 million in FY 2026 to $18 million by FY 2028. However, the transition would generate savings as well, TEA projects annual savings from eliminating STAAR components of $5 million initially and up to $21.1 million in FY 2028.

Other costs include an estimated $2.2 million annually for a teacher review committee process, $0.3 million in FY 2028 for an assessment instrument study, and $5 million per year to fund a new grant program supporting locally developed accountability systems. The bill would also necessitate nine new full-time TEA employees to oversee implementation at a cost of $1.1 million per year, along with minimal information technology costs of $0.2 million.

Local education agencies (LEAs) would be required to implement changes in assessment procedures, data reporting, and parent communication. While the exact cost to districts cannot be determined, it may be significant—especially for those subject to new interventions or sanctions. TEA estimates that monthly costs for appointed conservators under certain accountability interventions could range from $2,500 to $8,000 per district.

In summary, SB 8 represents a costly but potentially transformative investment in the state’s educational assessment system. While it creates substantial initial costs, some of these may be offset over time by savings and improvements in instructional alignment and student performance tracking.

Vote Recommendation Notes

SB 8 proposes a significant and ambitious reform to Texas’s public school assessment and accountability system by replacing the STAAR exam with an “instructionally supportive assessment” model. This shift acknowledges widespread concerns about high-stakes standardized testing and aims to better align assessments with instructional goals. However, while the intent to eliminate STAAR is commendable, the implementation framework presented in SB 8 raises several substantial concerns that conflict with core Liberty Principles, most notably, Limited Government, Individual Liberty, and Local Control.

The most pressing concern is the centralization of authority in the Texas Education Agency (TEA). SB 8 transfers rulemaking power from the elected State Board of Education (SBOE) to the unelected Commissioner of Education and grants TEA unilateral authority to impose interventions and sanctions on campuses, even during periods when accountability ratings are subject to litigation or injunction. This level of unchecked executive power undermines the constitutional principle of separation of powers and restricts the ability of local school boards and communities to influence educational decisions in their districts. It represents a significant expansion of bureaucratic control at the expense of local autonomy and democratic oversight.

Further, while SB 8 eliminates STAAR, it replaces it with a triannual testing model, requiring state-mandated assessments at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. Although these are labeled “instructionally supportive,” the increased testing frequency may lead to greater disruption of instructional time, potentially creating more stress for students and educators. Importantly, the bill provides no opt-out mechanisms for families, nor does it give local districts meaningful control over how or when to administer these assessments. This risks replacing one inflexible system with another that is more complex, more frequent, and equally burdensome.

The bill also has notable fiscal implications. While not as costly as HB 4 from the regular session, SB 8 still carries an estimated $55.9 million cost through the 2026–27 biennium, with ongoing annual costs for the new assessment system, item reviews, educator committees, and TEA staff expansion. These expenditures are significant, especially in the absence of strong performance metrics, cost-saving offsets, or statutory caps on implementation spending. Without clear evidence that the new system will deliver better academic outcomes or reduced bureaucratic overhead, taxpayers may be asked to fund a system that simply shifts the burden rather than alleviating it.

Additionally, the bill introduces new constraints on local school districts’ ability to challenge TEA determinations and restricts the use of public funds for litigation against the state, further weakening checks and balances. In doing so, SB 8 limits meaningful avenues for due process and shields TEA from accountability to local stakeholders, who are often best positioned to evaluate the impact of state policy on their communities.

While the goals of SB 8, to eliminate STAAR, improve instructional alignment, and empower educators with timely data, are valuable, the methods chosen undermine those same goals by entrenching centralized authority and creating a new layer of state-imposed testing requirements. The bill could be made acceptable through meaningful amendments. Until such reforms are made, SB 8 represents a step backward in terms of educational liberty, fiscal responsibility, and constitutional governance.

As such, Texas Policy Research recommends that lawmakers vote NO on SB 8 unless amended as described to better align it with the principles of limited government, local control, and individual freedom.

Free Enterprise

The bill mandates that TEA contract with a nationally recognized vendor to develop and administer the new assessment instruments. This may benefit a small number of large, incumbent assessment providers, likely through multi-year contracts worth tens of millions of dollars. However, the bill does not contain competitive safeguards or incentives for innovation, nor does it encourage the participation of smaller, Texas-based, or open-source alternatives. By institutionalizing a narrow procurement model, the bill risks distorting the educational services market and entrenching monopolistic vendor relationships. This could reduce competition, stifle innovation, and limit the opportunity for local or independent actors to contribute to assessment development or accountability planning.

Property Rights

The bill does not directly affect tangible property rights such as land use or ownership. However, there are potential privacy implications related to the expanded collection and use of student performance data. The bill requires TEA to collect, analyze, and disseminate detailed, individualized assessment results and diagnostic reports, but it lacks clear provisions regarding data privacy, parental consent, data retention limits, or third-party sharing restrictions. Though not a traditional property rights issue, student data privacy is increasingly viewed as an extension of personal liberty and informational self-ownership. Without safeguards, this broad collection effort could raise future liberty concerns, especially if data is used beyond its intended purpose.

Personal Responsibility

On one hand, the bill aims to give teachers and parents more timely data about student progress, which could support more informed decision-making and shared responsibility in student learning. The provision of diagnostic reports and performance-based instructional feedback could enable parents to better support their children and allow teachers to adjust instruction more effectively. However, the centralized design of the assessment system undercuts this benefit. By placing strict requirements on the timing and structure of assessments and concentrating decision-making authority at the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the bill reduces local discretion. Educators and parents are given data, but have little control over how it's generated, when it's collected, or how it's used, limiting their ability to exercise genuine responsibility over educational outcomes.

Limited Government

This is where the bill most clearly conflicts with liberty principles. The bill significantly expands the authority of the Texas Education Agency in several ways. It transfers rulemaking power from the elected State Board of Education (SBOE) to the unelected Commissioner of Education. The bill grants TEA the authority to enforce campus interventions and turnaround plans—even when performance ratings are blocked by court orders. It allows TEA to maintain sanctions indefinitely based on prior ratings. The bill limits local school districts’ ability to challenge TEA decisions or use public funds for litigation. These provisions represent a clear shift toward centralized executive control in education policy. They reduce the influence of locally elected school boards and voters, diminish legislative oversight, and undermine the principle that government should be as close to the people as possible.

Individual Liberty

The bill replaces a single annual test with a triannual assessment model (beginning, middle, and end of year) mandated by the state. While these assessments are intended to be “instructionally supportive,” the new structure still subjects all public school students to multiple state-mandated evaluations, regardless of individual or parental preference. There are no opt-out provisions in the bill for families who may object to the assessments or believe their child’s education would be better served through alternative evaluation methods. In effect, the bill increases the frequency of compulsory testing, reducing parental agency and student flexibility—both of which are essential to protecting individual liberty in education.

Amendment Recommendations

Restore authority to SBOE
Limit TEA’s enforcement powers
Reduce testing frequency
Expand local discretion and parental rights

Committee Vote Information

Senate Committee on Education K-16: 9Y/0N (2 Absent)

View Bill Text and Status