Latest news with #PaulBettencourt
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Texas Senate approves ending STAAR test, sends bill back to House for approval
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas Senate approved legislation Tuesday night aimed at revising the state's school accountability system and replacing the standardized test with a version meant to reduce anxiety for students. House Bill 4 will now head back to its originating chamber for final approval before going to the Governor's desk. The Senate's version of the bill, authored by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R – Houston, would prohibit school districts from suing the state to block the A-F accountability ratings in which schools are evaluated. In 2023, more than 100 school districts sued the Texas Education Agency to stop the release of the ratings over anticipated changes in how the scores would be calculated. The bill would also authorize state interventions in school districts that do not comply with the accountability statutes. 'What gets measured gets fixed, but you can't fix what you can't measure,' Bettencourt said in a news release. 'HB 4 ensures accountability ratings are released clearly, fairly, and with purpose to measure performance, report results and help schools improve.' One of the biggest elements of the bill is ending the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR test. There have been complaints on both sides of the aisle that the STAAR test is forcing schools to teach kids for the test and not teaching them the curriculum, on top of creating high anxiety on students taking the exam. Instead, schools would switch to a three-test model that is spaced throughout the year. Students would take a national norm-referenced assessment at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and the end of the year. It will give teachers immediate results on testing to see how students are progressing throughout the year. The current STAAR testing model does not provide testing results until the summer when students are out of school away from their teachers. Educators have complained the results come too late to help a student improve while they are in the classroom. Unlike the version the House passed earlier this month, the Senate's version would eliminate the STAAR test in the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. The STAAR elimination and replacement would be phased-in over the next three years, giving time to run pilot programs and train teachers. The House will have to approve the changes before it can go to the Governor's desk for signature. Sen. Bettencourt was asked if the House members who worked on the original bill were happy with the changes. Bettencourt said they like the new version. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill expanding school misconduct investigations, Do-Not-Hire registry heads to governor
AUSTIN (KXAN) – In a 134-2 vote on Tuesday, the Texas House gave initial approval to a bill targeting what Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, called 'dangerous loopholes' in the state's misconduct registries. Senate Bill 571 is expected to head to the governor's desk soon. Sen. Bettencourt vowed to pass a bill during the 89th legislative session to expand access to the state's Do Not Hire registries and expand the Texas Education Agency's ability to investigate misconduct following a KXAN investigation. Our investigation found that a former juvenile corrections officer was able to get a tutoring job at an Austin Independent School District campus, despite the Texas Juvenile Justice Department's Office of Inspector General already determining he had an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile. The former corrections officer, Isaiah Xavier Smith, is now in jail in Lee County, facing multiple charges of Indecency with a Minor related to his employment at Giddings State School and his time tutoring on an Austin ISD campus. Austin ISD officials said non-profit Austin Partners in Education hired Smith and assigned him as a tutor to one of their campuses. The non-profit told KXAN that Smith did not disclose during the hiring process that he was previously employed by TJJD or the allegations he was facing within the agency. The sweeping 72-page bill allows the Texas Education Agency to compel school districts to report when volunteers, contractors or subcontractors are suspected of misconduct. The bill would also grant contractors, like Austin Partners in Education, access to the Interagency Reportable Conduct Search Engine. When complete, the search engine will include state misconduct information from several agencies, including TEA, TJJD, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and Texas Health and Human Services. The database is not finished despite the legislature approving its creation in 2023. SB 571 also expands the list of convictions that would result in a mandatory termination and loss of certification to include felony offenses of public indecency or an improper relationship between an educator and a student. A bill analysis from the Senate Research Center explains that school employees, including third-party service providers, can be placed on TEA's Do Not Hire registry for inappropriate communications with students, failing to maintain appropriate boundaries with students, or physically mistreating or threatening violence to a student. The bill has received criticism over a confidentiality provision added to the bill that makes records related to the TEA or the State Board of Education Certification's review or investigation of a misconduct allegation confidential and not subject to disclosure under the Texas Public Information Act. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Senate panel begins negotiations with the House over how to scrap the STAAR test
A Senate panel early Friday unveiled its rewrite of the House bill that would scrap STAAR, the state standardized test widely criticized for taking instructional time away from teachers and putting pressure on students. The Senate changes kick off formal negotiations with the lower chamber as the clock is running out on the legislative session. The Senate Education Committee's rewrite reflects a gap in what the two chambers want to see out of the new state assessment — and the A-F accountability ratings that are largely calculated based on assessment results. House Bill 4 would swap the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test for a shorter test that aims to better support student learning. Students would be tested at the beginning, middle and end of the year to monitor their progress. 'By the time we get to a shorter end-of-year test, we are not concentrating this into a high-stakes anxiety game that basically has teachers and students walking a tightrope,' said Sen. Paul Bettencourt, the Houston Republican sponsoring the bill. 'I know there'll be more of this coming out of my House counterparts as we move this bill on.' The Senate amendments to the legislation absorbs much of the language from Senate Bill 1962, the Senate's own bill on testing and accountability. The House had started the session with much of that language but moved away from it after public testimony and closed-door meetings with school leaders. The House wants to grade Texas students by comparing their performance to their peers around the country in what is called a 'norm-referenced test.' Proponents of this kind of test say it allows students and their families to get results back faster. The Senate panel does not specify what grading would look like, which would allow the state to continue a rigid scale to track students' academic performance. The House also eliminated a mandatory standardized test on social studies, while the Senate chose to retain it. Students' STAAR performance is a key metric in the state's ratings of school districts and school campuses, which are graded on an A-F scale each year. School performance ratings were held up in court because of two consecutive years with lawsuits. The House's bill also left an avenue for districts to sue to challenge the Texas Education Agency in the future, but set up a fast-track court process so those lawsuits do not halt the release of the ratings. The Senate's bill, meanwhile, doubled down on discouraging schools from taking legal action again. It gives the TEA commissioner, for example, the option to appoint a conservator to districts that initiate a lawsuit. Bettencourt has repeatedly slammed districts who joined the lawsuits over the A-F ratings in the past, calling the action 'lawfare.' The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Another big tax cut for Texas homeowners appears imminent
DALLAS — Texas homeowners are one step closer to a bigger tax break after the state House gave unanimous preliminary approval to a set of legislative proposals Tuesday. House members advanced bills aimed at giving homeowners relief on the property taxes they pay toward school districts, the biggest chunk of a property owner's tax bill. Senate Bill 4 by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, would change the state's homestead exemption, which reduces how much of a home's value can be taxed to pay for public schools, from $100,000 to $140,000. Senate Bill 23, another Bettencourt proposal, would raise a separate homestead exemption for homeowners who are older or have disabilities from $10,000 to $60,000. Both bills — key priorities for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Texas Senate — must come back before the House Wednesday for a final vote before heading to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. Providing bigger tax breaks to homeowners is a key component of a deal brokered by Republicans in the Texas Legislature to lower tax bills for Texans, who pay among the highest property taxes in the country. The other major piece is giving business owners greater exemptions on their inventory. Texas is one of the few states that taxes businesses' inventory. House Bill 9 by state Rep. Morgan Meyer, R-University Park, would exempt up to $125,000 of businesses' inventory from being taxed by school districts, cities, counties or any other taxing entity. Under current law, businesses don't have to pay taxes on that property if it's worth $2,500 or less. [Texas businesses feel the pinch from Trump's tariffs, Fed survey finds] The Texas Senate approved that bill last week, and House members gave a thumbs-up Monday to changes that chamber made. House lawmakers shot down a push by the chamber's more conservative members to boost the homestead exemption to $160,000. Supporters of the failed amendment argued that legislators could further tap the state's $24 billion surplus to pay for greater relief. But other lawmakers stressed that state budget writers have only set aside enough money to pay to raise the exemption to $140,000. The owner of a home valued at $302,000 — about the typical Texas home value last year, according to Zillow — would have saved more than $500 on their 2024 school taxes had the $140,000 exemption been in place that year, according to a Tribune calculation. That's when the exemption is combined with $3 billion in cuts to school tax rates proposed in the state's upcoming two-year budget. Texas lawmakers plan to spend $51 billion on cutting property taxes over the next two years. State budget watchers and some lawmakers, including Republicans, worry that the state won't be able to afford tax cuts in the long term. Voters in November will have the final say on whether the tax relief takes effect. The changes must be approved by voters because they each involve amending the Texas Constitution. Lawmakers appear on track to pass their major property tax legislation before they leave Austin in June. That's a marked difference from two years ago, when House and Senate leaders couldn't come to terms on a tax-cut deal before the clock ran out, forcing Abbott to call two special sessions to come to terms. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Property tax cuts for homeowners set for Texas House vote
AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Lawmakers in the Texas House are set to vote on a package of legislation that aims to cut property taxes for homeowners in the state. The House calendar calls for votes on two bills and two constitutional amendments to increase the state's homestead exemption, which is the amount of a home's value that is not subject to property taxes. House members will consider Senate Bill 4, which calls for raising the homestead exemption for all homeowners from $100,000 to $140,000. Supporters of SB 4 said the increase could save the average Texas homeowner nearly $500 annually in taxes. Senate approves $140K homestead exemption to increase property tax relief The House is also scheduled to take up Senate Bill 23, which would provide an additional raise to the homestead exemption for those 65 and older. It would raise the additional homestead exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners from $10,000 to $60,000. That's on top of the current $100,000 exemption for Texas homeowners. Both SB 4 and SB 23 require amendments to the Texas Constitution to take effect. The House is also scheduled to vote on corresponding resolutions to put the issues before Texas voters in November. If SB 23 passes in tandem with SB 4, the total homestead exemption for elderly and disabled homeowners would rise to $200,000. Bill author Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston estimates that the increased exemption will save the average over-65 or disabled homeowner more than $950 annually in property taxes. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
