AUSTIN, TX – Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) has filed the landmark STAAR test replacement legislation, Senate Bill 8, in the 89th Special Session called by Governor Greg Abbott, identical to House Public Education Chair Representative Brad Buckley, House Bill 8. These bills replaces the STAAR test with 3 shorter, instructionally supportive assessments while strengthening Texas’ A–F school accountability system.

“This is the same solid, bipartisan Conference Committee Report, drafted with Chair Buckley and members last session, now improved for an even stronger start with identical bill filings SB 8/HB 8” Senator Bettencourt said. “The bottom line is that What Gets Measured Gets Fixed, and this bill measures student success in a fairer way while ending the era of STAAR stress tests and taxpayer-funded lawsuits against the public accountability system in Texas.”

The bill follows a second major legal victory for the state’s A–F system on July 8, when the 15th Court of Appeals unanimously ruled to release the 2023–2024 ratings, defeating ongoing “lawfare” from plaintiff ISD’s. This is the second loss at the 15th Court of Appeals for the 30 ISD’s that challenged it.

“With this bill, we begin the process of eliminating the STAAR test and replacing it with meaningful, student-centered assessments that are instructionally actionable and provide real insight for teachers and parents. SB 8/HB 8 shifts the emphasis away from teaching to a test and back to real learning in the classroom,” stated Chairman Buckley.

“I want to thank Senator Bettencourt for his leadership in the Texas Senate on education reform. His tireless work to strengthen the accountability system, especially through efforts to restore and clarify the A–F school accountability framework, shows a deep commitment to helping kids learn and succeed. By championing policies that bring transparency and fairness to how schools are evaluated, he is truly making a difference for students, families, and educators across our state.” Chairman Brad Buckley concludes.

Key Reforms in SB 8:

• Replaces STAAR for 3 shorter student support tests, Beginning, Middle, and End-of-Year.
• Delivers results in 48 hours and limits excessive benchmark testing to return classroom time to teachers in the BOY and MOY tests.
• Requires annual A–F ratings and bans statewide “Not Rated” designations.
• Refreshes cut scores every five years to ensure Texas is in the Top 5 states in 15 years.
• Prohibits taxpayer-funded lawsuits against state actions except in narrow cases.

“On top of the tremendous success for Texas Public Education Funding, ESA’s, and a host of other reforms, replacing STAAR will finish a transformative year for Texas public education” said Senate Education K-16 Chairman Brandon Creighton echoing support of SB 8/HB 8 bill filings.

“Texas parents deserve to know how their schools are doing, students deserve a better way to show what they’ve learned, and taxpayers deserve an end to these endless lawsuits,” Senator Bettencourt concludes. SB 8 has 12 bi-partisan Senate joint authors, Senators Creighton, Blanco, Hall, King, Campbell, Huffman, Middleton, Hagenbuch, Hughes, Paxton, Adam Hinojosa, Sparks.

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