Legislators are laying out their public education priorities as the bill filing deadline for the 84th Legislature approaches, with focus areas including school finance, safety, expanding pre-kindergarten, public school performance ratings and testing.

March 13 is this year's filing deadline. The House Public Education Committee convened for the first time Feb. 17.

We have got some heavy lifting to do this session, Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, said during the meeting, adding: I think were going to hear more about pre-K than we want to hear, but its important, and the Governor has made that [a priority] so were going to get that done.

A number of bills in the House and Senate have been heard in their respective committee meetings, while others are still being filed.

Subjects include:

  • Performance and reform: On March 3, Sen. Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood), who is chairman of the Senate Education Committee,filed SB 6 regarding A-F public school performance ratings. Taylor also filed SB 894, which aims to provide more flexibility for students to access digital educational content not offered by their schools, and SB 895 regarding opportunity school districts as a first step to addressing priority education reform.
  • Failing schools: Sen. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, co-authored SB 14 along with Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe. The so-called Parent Empowerment Bill would aim to allow parents of children in a failing school to petition for reconstitution, repurposing, alternative management, or campus closure after two years instead of the current five-year statute.
  • Calendar choice: In January, Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, filed SB 296, the School Calendar Choice Act. The bill would allow local public school districts to determine the first day of the school year.
  • Finance: Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, R-Killeen, is chairman of the House Public Education Committee. He filed HB 654, which would establish school finance districts that remove wealth disparities in the funding structure starting with the 2017-18 school year. Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, filed HB 256, which she said intends to enable districts to use compensatory allotment funds for child care items to help students who are pregnant or have a child stay in school.
  • HB 5 follow-up: A number of bills look to address the rollout of House Bill 5, passed last year. For example, Rep. Cecil Bell filed HB 181, which looks to eliminate the need to print endorsements in particular subjects on students individual diplomas.

Other bills include Huberty's HB 4, which aims to make high-quality pre-kindergarten education available to more children; HB 66, which would prevent the TEA commissioner from lowering performance ratings because of assessments of students with limited English proficiency; and HB 456, which would address student possession of vapor products on public school campuses.

Bills must go through a review process before becoming law.

"It is vital for lawmakers to bring all Texas students into the 21st Century by removing roadblocks and encouraging innovative and transformative learning tools," Sen. Larry Taylor said in a news release. "Embracing change is not a choice. Texas students and parents demand it."

Information about House Public Education Committee actions and Senate Education Committee information can be found online.