Texas Senate Bill SB 1447

Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

• Filed: 2/19/25
• Out of Senate Committee: 3/17/25
• Voted on by Senate: 3/24/25
• Out of House Committee: 5/22/25

Caption

Relating to standards adopted by the Texas Education Agency regarding the use of electronic devices and software applications by public schools.

Summary

SB 1447 directs the Texas Education Agency to adopt updated standards for the use of electronic devices and software applications by school districts and open-enrollment charter schools. The bill focuses on student privacy, parental consent, cybersecurity, online safety, and limits on the collection and use of student data by educational technology products. The bill would require TEA standards to minimize data collection on students, require direct and informed parental consent for most software applications, and prohibit software from conducting mental health or other non-curricular assessments without consent. It also requires schools to provide parents with cybersecurity and online safety resources, consider device deactivation periods for safety, evaluate age-appropriate classroom device use, and consider restrictions on student access to social media on district-issued devices. The bill includes exceptions for students with disabilities and requires schools to have complaint-handling procedures and oversight of software vendors’ compliance with existing law.

Impact

SB 1447 would amend Section 32.1021 of the Education Code and expand the Texas Education Agency’s rulemaking direction over school-issued electronic devices and software. It would affect public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools by imposing new standards for student data privacy, parental notification and consent, internet filtering, social media use, and vendor compliance, while preserving accommodations for students with disabilities under IEPs and Section 504 plans. The bill applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

Sentiment

The available legislative record suggests generally favorable treatment of the bill, with no recorded opposition in the provided vote snippets and the measure advancing to the House General State Calendar. The bill’s framing around student safety, parental rights, and privacy protections indicates broad support for tighter oversight of school technology use. No committee transcript was provided, so the discussion-based sentiment is inferred primarily from the bill’s progression and subject matter.

Contention

The main points of potential contention are the scope of parental consent requirements, the limits on educational software and social media use, and the practical burden on schools and vendors to comply with new standards. Privacy advocates and parents are likely to support stronger restrictions on data collection and mental health screening, while school districts and ed-tech providers may be concerned about implementation costs, reduced flexibility in classroom technology use, and the need to identify secure alternatives to social media applications. Another possible area of debate is how the standards will be applied across different age groups and how exceptions for disability accommodations will be administered.