Texas Senate bill by Sen. Hughes reinforces parental rights and limits diversity instruction in schools

Passed bill authored by State Sen. Bryan Hughes aims to reinforce parental rights in public education and restrict certain school instructions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, seeking to establish clear guidelines for compliance and grievance procedures, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the Senate, 18 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 11 Democrats and one Republican opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the House, one Democrat and 84 Republicans voted in favor, while 54 Democrats voted against it.

Bryan Hughes introduced the bill in the Texas Senate on Friday, Aug. 15, during the 89(2) legislative session.

Hughes graduated from the University of Texas at Tyler with a BBA and again from Baylor University School of Law with a JD.

Hughes, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2017 to represent the state’s 1st Senate district, replacing previous state senator Kevin Eltife.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the duty of the attorney general to prosecute criminal offenses prescribed by the election laws of this state’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends the Texas Education Code to reinforce parental rights in public education, sets requirements and prohibitions on school instructions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion duties, and outlines consequences for noncompliance, including funding loss for public schools. It mandates schools comply with policies required by law, protects parental rights to make educational and health decisions for their children, and restricts instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity for students from prekindergarten through 12th grade. The bill prohibits the assignment of diversity duties unless required by law and mandates school districts to establish grievance procedures for parental complaints. School districts are also required to certify compliance with these regulations annually. The act takes effect for the 2025-26 school year.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Donna Campbell (Republican – District 25), Sen. Charles Schwertner (Republican – District 5), and Sen. Brandon Creighton (Republican – District 4), along with 11 other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Tuesday, Aug. 26, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, Sept. 19.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.