89th Legislative Session Recap

The 89th Legislative Session

Raise Your Hand Texas has always believed the future of Texas is in our public schools. Our 5.5 million public school students, their teachers, and our local communities are counting on us. Each legislative session since our founding, our commitment to Texas students, teachers, and our local public schools has been unwavering.

As we entered the 89th Legislative Session in 2025, we knew Texas must improve school funding, give teachers a pay raise, continue to invest in high-quality programs, and enhance public accountability. 

From the Capitol to the Classroom, in 2025, the best moments for public education occurred when lawmakers worked across the aisle and across chambers to respond to the concerns of their constituents and in support of public school students and teachers. 

Key education themes and results from the 89th Session include:

• $8.5 billion in new school funding, which is greatly appreciated support but still short of inflation-adjusted needs
• Investment in teachers and teacher preparation pipelines
• Movement on overhauling STAAR and A-F accountability with significant changes to high-stakes testing but without the more comprehensive improvements to the accountability system and a needed shift to norm-referenced tests. 
• Major new voucher program established
• Increase in state mandates for public school classrooms
• Focus on parental rights, DEI bans, and library materials
• Property tax relief continued to be a priority for the Legislature

Dig deeper into the 89th Legislative Session

Three key pieces of legislation were passed in 2025: increasing school funding, establishing a new Educational Savings Account voucher program, and changes to the state’s public school testing system. 

House Bill 2 (89th Regular Session): The Texas Legislature delivered $8.5 billion in new Texas public education funding for the 2025-2026 biennium. The vast majority of the funding flows to teacher pay raises based on district sizes and experience, additional funding for support staff, investments in special education, and new allotments to support operational costs were passed. Still, the investment falls short of the $19.6 billion needed to maintain 2019 purchasing power for Texas public schools. 

Senate Bill 2 (89th Regular Session): SB 2 established a new Education Savings Account (ESA) or school voucher program, allowing eligible students to receive public funds for private school tuition. Private schools and vendors are not subject to the same state academic or financial accountability systems that apply to public schools, and the Comptroller’s Office will administer the program, which is not expected to roll out until the 2026-27 school year.

House Bill 8 (2nd Called Session, 89th Legislature): During two special sessions called by Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Legislature revisited public school testing and accountability after an earlier bill that would have brought significant changes to the program died in the final days of the Session. The second attempt at testing and accountability reform fell short of the promise of HB 4 and instead created a new statewide Student Success Tool assessment system set to begin in the 2027–28 school year. The bill requires beginning- and middle-of-year tests from Texas Education Agency (TEA)-approved vendors, though these assessments will not factor into A–F ratings and are not norm-referenced. 

Despite these adjustments, the bill leaves the foundation of the A–F accountability system virtually unchanged, with most campuses (elementary and middle school) still rated almost entirely on standardized test scores. For students, parents, and teachers, nothing will change over the next two years, and even when the new system begins in 2027–28, the experience may feel similar, though tests are expected to be possibly shorter and with fewer benchmarks throughout the year. Ultimately, it will be up to future legislatures to decide whether Texas can move beyond relying on a single test to define school quality.