• by Kaci Wright, M.Ed., & Vivek Datla, MPA • IDRA Newsletter • June – July 2025 •
The 2025 Texas Legislative session began with a hopeful call for lawmakers to address the needs of public schools. Top priorities included teacher compensation, school funding and student learning outcomes.
After several twists and turns, policymakers made some improvements. But they ultimately continued a march of what IDRA calls the “Texas three-step” to defund, demonize and privatize our public schools as well as to alter the landscape of higher education.
Defund: Dollars with Strings Attached
The legislature held up its promised major school funding bill (House Bill 2) until they passed the school voucher bill (Senate Bill 2) and other major Senate priority bills.
HB 2 invests $8.5 billion into teacher pay and school programs: $4.2 billion will go directly to teacher pay, preparation and retention funding for support staff; and $296 million will go to changes in enrichment funding for a two-year $55 bump in the basic allotment – the minimum amount of money the state allocates to educate a student.
The rest goes mostly toward specific allotments, including a new model for special education funding, new literacy and math interventions, school safety, and a new fixed allotment for non-instructional basic costs that districts incur through utilities, insurance and transportation expenses.
HB 2 does not come close to funding public schools at levels that would account for inflation since 2019. It also establishes a new school funding structure that is more directed toward programs than driven by student needs.
The legislature’s changes to the school funding structure reduce flexibility for how school districts can spend state funding, leaving them unable to prioritize the specific needs of their students. This, paired with the advent of a statewide school voucher program, presents new challenges to sustainable school funding in Texas and limits schools’ ability to serve all students.
In the short time since the passage of HB 2 and SB 2, many school districts have already announced additional school closures, layoffs, budget deficits and open enrollment policies. Northside ISD, one of the largest districts in Texas, launched an open enrollment program across the San Antonio area. Fort Worth ISD voted to close 18 schools over four years. Austin ISD cut more than 20% of positions. Leander ISD is considering layoffs and school consolidations. And, in addition to cutting staffing, Judson ISD is closing its pre-K program.
Demonize: Texas Lawmakers Continued to Attack Schools and Educators
[l-r] Chloe Latham Sikes, Ph.D.; Vivek Datla, MPA; Kaci Wright, M.Ed.; Paige Duggins-Clay, J.D.
Lawmakers passed a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion activities in school districts related to students’ race, color, ethnicity, gender identity or sexual orientation. This action will impact student and parent engagement programs, extracurricular activities, academic support programs, after-school care, mentorship programs, and more.
This bill (SB 12) bans any hiring, training and practices related to diversity, equity and inclusion. It also prohibits curriculum, guidance, and student clubs about gender identity and sexual orientation.
Diversity, equity and inclusion practices provide targeted support to students that is relevant to their identities, supporting their success. These practices, which emerged from desegregation efforts, strengthen our schools. By demonizing practices that benefit students’ school environments and learning, SB 12 risks harming students’ social development, academic outcomes and sense of community within schools.
Texas lawmakers broadened teachers’ ability to remove students from class for even a single instance of disruptive, unruly or abusive behavior. This law (HB 6) allows educators to place students in in-school suspension for an unlimited number of days and to send home students from pre-kindergarten to second grade through out-of-school suspension for disruptive behavior. These practices disregard data and research about how to address student behavioral issues best.
IDRA and our partners successfully worked to remove several other harmful provisions. But even with revisions, HB 6 is a step backward to the age of zero-tolerance, which has proven to negatively affect students, particularly students of color and students with disabilities (Duggins-Clay, 2023).
Although evidence shows that these methods fail time and time again, the bill prioritizes punishment over intervention. The consequences likely will result in Texas students falling behind academically, dropping out of school or being pushed into the school-to-prison pipeline.
Texas lawmakers also passed significant legislation to reshape the governance of academic decision-making at Texas public colleges. University faculty are experts in teaching and research. Historically, they have been the primary decision-makers on curricula and course offerings. But this year, lawmakers passed SB 37, shifting this responsibility to university governing boards, whose members are appointed by the Texas Governor and approved by the Texas Senate. As a result, students’ academic experiences and course offerings may increasingly reflect appointees’ political or economic agendas rather than scholarly or student-centered priorities.
Kaci Wright, M.Ed., testifies at the Texas Capitol
IDRA and partner organizations successfully blocked provisions that would have restricted professors from teaching on topics related to race, sex, ethnicity, and religion.
In a short-lived victory, IDRA and our allies successfully opposed legislative attempts to repeal the Texas Dream Act. This 2001 law allows undocumented students in Texas to qualify for in-state tuition at public universities if they meet certain requirements. SB 1798 sought to repeal it. It advanced out of committee but did not receive a vote on the Senate floor. Also, HB 232, which would have significantly limited Texas Dream Act eligibility, was heard in committee but did not advance.
However, right after the legislature adjourned, what appears to be closed-door negotiations between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas Attorney General’s office resulted in the nullification of the Texas Dream Act. For over two decades, this law has expanded college access for Texas students. This sudden reversal leaves undocumented students and Texas colleges in an uncertain situation moving forward. Several organizations have filed motions to intervene against the ruling.
Texas is now facing a significant shift in its higher education landscape. SB 37 undermines the academic expertise of faculty, while the repeal of the Texas Dream Act undermines Texas’ commitment to providing equal educational opportunities for all Texas students.
Privatize: Despite Warnings, Legislature Passes Voucher Program
Leading into the session, state leadership made it clear they wanted to establish a school voucher program. Although hundreds of parents, students, researchers and advocates warned of the consequences to student learning, school funding and the state budget, lawmakers passed SB 2, Texas’ first school voucher program. The measure is the largest school voucher program in the country, with $1 billion designated just to launch the program. The program is expected to quickly balloon well past $10 billion in its first five years.
IDRA has long stood in opposition to school vouchers because they divert vital public funds from public schools into the private sector to support a small number of students already attending private schools (Wright, 2025).
IDRA worked closely with lawmakers to push for accountability in student achievement, spending and transparency for parents. However, supporters of SB 2 advocated their “no strings attached” version of the bill, which offers very few protections for students and families, and lacks transparency regarding the program’s effectiveness.
IDRA will monitor the impact of the new program and continue to push for increased data collection, transparency and guardrails that protect Texas students. IDRA will never stop fighting to keep the public in public education.
The next regular legislative session in the state opens in January 2027. But Governor Abbott has called a special session to begin July 21. At this time, none of the measures on his agenda relate to education. But IDRA will watch in case something affecting Texas students arises.
During the entire interim period until the next regular session, we will continue to stand alongside our partners and community members to defend the right to an equitable, inclusive and well-funded education for every student.
Resources
Duggins-Clay, P. (March 22, 2023). Children Need Education and Support, Not Zero Tolerance Discipline – IDRA Testimony Against SB 9 Submitted to the Texas House Public Education Committee.
Griffith, M., & Burns, D. (2024). Understanding the Cost of Universal School Vouchers: An Analysis of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account Program. Learning Policy Institute.
Wright, K. (March 11, 2025). Education Saving Accounts Harm Efforts to Fully Fund Public Schools – TLEEC Testimony against HB 3 Submitted to the Texas House Public Education Committee.
Kaci Wright, M.Ed., and Vivek Datla, MPA, are IDRA Education Policy Fellows. Comments and questions may be directed to them at contact@idra.org.
[© 2025, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the June-July edition of the IDRA Newsletter. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]
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