AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Senate has passed Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) by Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) in a 22–6-2 bipartisan vote, replacing the STAAR exam with three shorter, instructionally supportive assessments while restoring annual A–F public school accountability ratings. SB 8, identical to HB 8 by House Public Education Chair Rep. Brad Buckley, is designed to measure student success fairly, return classroom time to teachers, and protect taxpayers from costly public school accountability ratings lawsuits.

“This is the same solid, bipartisan Conference Committee Report, drafted with Chair Buckley and members last session to put students, parents and teachers first,” Senator Bettencourt said. “The bottom line is What Gets Measured Gets Fixed, and SB 8 ends the STAAR stress era and measures what matters, student success, in a fairer way while ending 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. The second loss at the 15 th Court of Appeals for the 30 ISD’s that challenged it.

House Education Chair Rep. Buckley on SB 8/ HB 8: “By replacing STAAR with actionable, student-centered tests and protecting the A–F framework it provides real insight for teachers and parents, and shifts the emphasis away from teaching to a test and back to real learning in the classroom. I want to thank Senator Bettencourt for his leadership in the Senate on this. His tireless work to strengthen the accountability system, especially 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 Texas.”

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 bill passage.

“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. The bill now heads to the Texas House.

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