Senate Moves to Abolish STAAR Test

By Addie Hovland | Texas Scorecard | August 12, 2025

Legislation eliminating the high-stakes STAAR test in government schools has been passed by Texas senators. The test has long been criticized by educators and parents alike.

Its fate, however, remains bleak in the House, where Democrats have fled to prevent a quorum.

Senate Bill 8 eliminates the use of the STAAR—State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness—test in government schools, and replaces it with a three-part adaptive assessment administered throughout the school year, enabling parents and teachers to track students’ progress.

The STAAR test has long been criticized for its unreliable measurement of learning and for dominating school priorities in ways that hurt genuine education.

“SB 8 creates an instructional, supportive assessment program, [and it] adds transparency and clarity to the process that measures students’ success in our schools,” explained State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R–Houston), author of SB 8, while laying out the legislation in committee.

Bettencourt explained that the test will be administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year, with the test at the beginning and middle of the year being adaptive level tests to provide individual actionable results for each student.

Senate Bill 8 ensures the release of school accountability ratings, continues the current A-F school rating system, and requires performance standards to be published before testing occurs.

“Texas parents deserve to know how their schools are doing,” Bettencourt added. “Students deserve to have a better way to show what they’ve learned.”

According to the bill text, government schools would start using the new test at the start of the 2027-2028 school year.

Jeramy Kitchen, president of Texas Policy Research, voiced several concerns, such as burdensome requirements, privacy concerns, and significant costs.

“We’re for meaningful education reform,” wrote Kitchen on X. “But SB 8 expands bureaucracy, increases testing, and erodes local control. It’s the wrong fix for the right problem.”

Kitchen also highlighted that the measure moves rulemaking power from the elected State Board of Education to the centralized control of the Texas Education Agency.

The measure was passed by the Senate in a vote of 22–6 nays, with two senators absent.

While the Senate has passed SB 8, the legislation will die in the House if the Democrats do not return before the end of the 30-day special session.

Most House Democrats fled the state to oppose a congressional redistricting proposal favoring Republicans. The House lacks the 100-member quorum needed to conduct business.

Addie Hovland

Addie Hovland is a journalist for Texas Scorecard. She hails from South Dakota and is passionate about spreading truth.