Don't Be Fooled By Texas "Mandate Relief" Bills - They Hurt Teachers, Classrooms and Students

Assault on the Classroom Comes to Texas House and Senate, Disguised as “Mandate Relief”

HB 400 and SB 12, two bills that would provide school districts with “mandate relief” at the expense of students and teachers, are coming to the floor of the House and Senate. But don't be fooled by the names, they are both wolves in sheep's clothing.  HB 400 by Rep. Rob Eissler, Republican of The Woodlands, will be on the House floor for a vote on Thursday. SB 12, by Republican Sen. Florence Shapiro of Plano, is on the Senate calendar and eligible for a vote as early as tomorrow, Wednesday, April 20.

If there's one message that the Texas working public should send to Congress, it's vote no on SB 12.


--SB 12 doesn’t “protect the classroom” as advertised. It does the opposite. It focuses budget cuts on the classroom teacher, through salary reductions, unpaid furloughs, and layoffs.

--SB 12 “solves” the structural deficit in state school funding on the backs of classroom teachers, letting districts cut teacher pay and lay off teachers for the indefinite future.

--SB 12 makes permanent, adverse changes in teachers’ contract safeguards for no good reason, allowing last-minute notice of non-renewal and inviting districts to target veteran teachers for layoffs.

HB 400 permanently eliminates the 22-to-1 cap on the size of K-4 classrooms, by changing the standard to a district-wide average, which can easily be gamed to increase class sizes. Both this average and a new 25-to-1 cap for individual classrooms also would be subject to waiver. The bill also wipes out special requirements of smaller class sizes for students at risk of failing standardized state tests.

HB 400 permanently eliminates the state minimum salary schedule for teachers, counselors, nurses, and librarians, replacing salary floors with a mandate to districts to institute test-driven ‘performance pay.’

HB 400 kills teachers’ contract safeguards. It takes away the right to an independent hearing before an impartial hearing examiner for a teacher faced with a mid-contract termination. It deprives term-contract teachers of timely notice of proposed non-renewal, shifting the notice date to the last day of instruction, so teachers must wait five extra, anxious weeks before they know if they are employed for the coming year.  Teachers on continuing contracts meanwhile lose one of the main benefits of those contracts: seniority protection in case of layoffs. This is an engraved invitation to target veteran teachers with the highest salaries for layoffs.

Is the Texas legislature trying to pave the way for privatization of education by overcrowding our schools?  Are they punishing our teachers and students for an ideological and greed based goal?  A temporary revenue crisis is no excuse for permanent repeal of all these educational quality standards and employee safeguards.