SB 1962 - Streamlines school testing, adds oversight

SB 1962 restructures how public school students are tested in Texas by phasing out the STAAR exam and implementing a shorter, multi-stage assessment designed to better reflect student learning and progress. The bill also significantly shifts control of assessment and accountability systems away from the elected State Board of Education and places it under the Texas Education Agency—an unelected bureaucracy. It enhances the state’s A–F school rating system, expands indicators for college, career, and military readiness, and limits the ability of school districts to use taxpayer funds to sue the state over accountability systems. The bill also creates a grant program to help districts develop local accountability systems and limits excessive benchmark testing.

The bill contains several commendable elements, such as reducing burdensome testing, involving teachers in scoring, and aiming to make assessments more instructional. However, the transfer of broad authority to an unelected agency is deeply concerning and reduces public accountability. The bill also expands state spending by more than $36 million over five years and grows TEA’s bureaucracy by 16 new employees, with no clear sunset or performance measures. The bill should be amended to cap new spending, include automatic audits, and return authority to the SBOE.