Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB 750 into law this week. The TCTA-initiated legislation requires districts to post their employment policies and the full text of any regulations referred to in the policies on their websites. Districts must make available any forms referenced in the policies either on an intranet website for district employees or, if the district does not have an intranet website, at a district administrative office. The law goes into effect Sept. 1.

In other legislative news this week, Abbott said Wednesday that he wants lawmakers to tackle critical race theory in an upcoming special session. "House Bill 3979 is a strong move to abolish critical race theory in Texas, but more must be done," Abbott said in a statement after signing the bill. "The issue will be added to a special session agenda." Click here to read more.

We hope you can join members of TCTA's lobby team for a wrap-up of the 87th session of the Texas Legislature at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 19 on Zoom. They'll go over key education legislation that passed and explain what it means for your classrooms in the coming year. They'll also save time for your questions. Click here to register and get the Zoom link and password.

During the hearing, the teacher explained that he resigned and took a lower paying job as a long-term substitute to be able to help his wife around the house while she recovered from a back injury. The administrative law judge concluded that the teacher had good cause to abandon his contract and recommended that SBEC not sanction his certification. However, SBEC members rejected that recommendation ordered that the teacher's credentials be suspended for one year. Click here to read more.

Several requirements of House Bill 3906 in 2019 are influencing a redesign of the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness that will be implemented in the 2022-23 school year. This redesign will include several components — transitioning to online assessments, adding writing to reading language arts assessments, capping the number of multiple-choice questions, and adding new item types. TEA said a stand-alone field test is necessary to properly integrate these new components into future state assessments. It will be administered online in February 2022 to the following grades and courses:

School districts and open-enrollment charter schools selected to participate will be notified by Aug. 23. Those districts may administer a stand-alone field test at any time during the Feb. 14-18 testing window. Click here to read more.

The policy is not likely to bring immediate, sweeping change but carries the possibility of federal sanctions against schools and colleges that fail to protect gay and transgender students from discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. Click here to read more.

Beach Park at Isla Blanca is now open on South Padre Island. Plan your trip and enjoy the family waterpark (formerly affiliated with Schlitterbahn), concerts and views of the Gulf of Mexico. TCTA members can save 15% on regular admission using this special link. Enter the discount code TCTA during the checkout process to apply your savings.