A legislative measure to replace the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Test in public schools is now headed to the Texas State Senate. That follows a Texas House vote on Tuesday, August 26, in which lawmakers approved House Bill 8 by a vote of 82-56, with most Democrats voting no.
As Texas Public Radio reports, testing would be replaced by three shorter tests throughout the school year, instead of just once in spring, and would take effect in the 2027-2028 school year.
Some Democrats are now asking whether the replacement for STAAR will ease pressures of testing on students or exacerbate them. They also fear this new direction gives the Texas Education Agency too much power in creating and grading in the new testing system.
Before Texas House members gave the green light to HB 8, six amendments were debated on the House floor for several hours. Democratic Dallas area Representative Rafael Anchia successfully pushed for an amendment on rescoring the tests. Currently the state pays for rescores that result in any changes. House Bill 8 would have changed that. But the amendment maintains the existing arrangement. “If the school district is right, you don't pay. If this, if the state is right, the school district pays. That's what I'm trying to get back to at the with this amendment.” Rescoring comes at the cost of 50 dollars per test, which can become costly to school districts.
Democratic Representative Gina Hinojosa of the Austin area argued for an amendment to reduce testing subjects to what is required federally. “There is too much testing we can all agree. Some of that yes comes from the federal government but not all of it.” The amendment was not adopted.
