The education system in Texas has been on the decline for a while now, as districts continue suffering financially, and teachers become less and less qualified. But, as the new Legislative Session begins in 2025, there is new hope for reforming the system, and getting schools back to a passing grade.
Houston area State Senator Paul Bettencourt has pre-filed bills, which he has deemed 'Sensible 4,' aimed at enhancing public education. Embedded in that are four key elements: Special Education, Truancy, Virtual Learning, and School Safety. All four of which seem pretty sensible indeed.
Senator Bettencourt says of all of these, focusing in on truancy rates is maybe the most important. But he says it will be done 'civilly.'
"Give the schools the ability to have parents come to conferences at school...if that fails, go knock on their door and find out why kids are skipping school," he says.
On average in Texas, about 100,000 students are caught skipping school. The problem is that it is just allowed, with no real safeguards against it, and no real power for schools to stop it.
The truancy focus can also tie into school safety. In the case of the Santa Fe High School shooter in 2018, he had a tremendous spike in truancy rates before committing the act, which can serve as a potential warning sign.
Reforming education though cannot just be done with one fell swoop. It is going to be a long-haul process, and the Sensible 4 helps take the first baby steps.
"There is not one bill that fixes this or improves it...it will be a series and that is what this is all about," says Sen. Bettencourt.
Another big part of the bill is aiding Special Education programs. It will include hundreds of millions of dollars to help these schools in assisting special needs children, especially in their evaluations.
The bill is not just smoke and mirrors either, it is garnering some big support along both sides of the aisle, with about half a dozen co-authors.
"They are all part of the education committee, and they are bipartisan...so I would expect we get these bills out of the Senate and over to the House," he says.
In a chaotic legislature in Austin, bipartisanship can be a rare thing. But this bill goes beyond politicking. It is just sensible, as its name states.
"There is no reason not to improve Special Education...there is no reason not to restart the truancy process," he says. "We can have virtual education at a better level, and there is always a continued need to make sure our schools are safe."
Bettencourt adds that this package is right below school choice in its importance, and he expects the bill to pass through both chambers. The first three bills of the package were passed in the last session, but not the fourth.
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