By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
AUSTIN – In January 2027, the 90th legislation session in Austin will be underway.
Much of the work is being done now however, and it is important for Texans to realize this is their chance to be heard.
During the committee hearings taking place right now these meetings will define the upcoming session.
For those who are concerned about education (and that seems to be a lot of Texans these days) this is your chance to make your voice heard at the Texas House Education Committee Interim public hearing on May 11 at 10 a.m.
Being part of this meeting and interacting with the Texas House Education Committee will mean your thoughts on the state of education in Texas regarding technology and AI issues in the Texas education system will be heard.
The hearing is part of the committee’s studying of the current state of education in Texas.
Items that will be discussed and that constituents are urged to have a voice regarding include “academic outcomes, enrollment trends pertaining to the stability of the school finance system, school safety, and the role of technology in artificial intelligence.”
In March, the San Antonio Express published an article relating to artificial intelligence in the classroom.
The article noted that “educators and administrators” were looking for ways to “integrate the rapidly developing technology into classrooms.”
Conversations have revolved around training teachers to use AI as a tool not a replacement.
At a SXSW Education seminar Adeel Khan, owner of an AI company and a former principal suggested artificial intelligence will offer firsthand experiences for student learning in the next five years relating to tutoring, lesson plans, and more.
“I think there’s a big opportunity there,” Khan said during a keynote address. “Basically, student persistence through the platform and understanding the students’ ability levels through perhaps third-party test scores, internal diagnostics that we might do in the platform, basically having a baseline, like what the student’s academic abilities are.”
The bigger concern for parents, however, should be a dangerous reliance on technology in the classroom.
The interim committee hearings like the one on May 11 or other meetings held relating to topics Texans are concerned about allow constituents to have a voice.
In the case of the Texas House Education Committee this group will be identifying emerging challenges and they cannot access this reality without real world knowledge.
This will also be a chance to discuss opportunities and best practices to sustain and expand high-performing schools across Texas while also exploring ways to streamline statutory and regulatory provisions to improve efficiency in district operations.
Also highlighted will be HB 1481 from the 89th legislative session. That house bill is related to school district and open-enrollment charter school policies regarding student use of personal communication devices. That law went into effect June 20, 2025, and school systems had to have a written policy in place no later than September 18, 2025.
Rita Cook is a world traveler and writer/editor who specializes in writing on travel, auto, crime and politics. A correspondent for Texas Metro News, she has published 11 books and has also produced low-budget films.
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