The Texas Merit-Based Education & Workforce Reform Act (TX-MEWRA)

Texas state companion to MEWRA. Builds on the SB 2 (2025) Education Savings Account, Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 12 charter statute, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board performance-funding framework to route state education dollars to outcome-published providers.

THE TEXAS MERIT-BASED EDUCATION & WORKFORCE REFORM ACT (TX-MEWRA)

A Texas Bill to Route Texas Education and Training Dollars Through Measured Outcomes

Vehicle: State passage. Texas Legislature, regular session. Primary referral to the House Public Education Committee and Senate Education K-16 Committee; higher-education provisions to House Higher Education and Senate Subcommittee on Higher Education; fiscal provisions to House Appropriations and Senate Finance.

Relationship to federal MEWRA: Where federal MEWRA creates an Outcome-Based School Authorizer pathway and a National Labor-Market Feedback registry, this Act creates Texas’s companion authorizer and ties the Texas Education Savings Account Program under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 29 Subch. J (SB 2, 2025) and TWC Individual Training Accounts under Tex. Lab. Code Ch. 302 to outcome-published providers.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

This Act may be cited as the “Texas Merit-Based Education & Workforce Reform Act (TX-MEWRA).”

SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT

The Legislature finds that Texas has enacted one of the nation’s largest Education Savings Account programs under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 29 Subch. J (SB 2 of the 89th Legislature, 2025); operates an established charter-school authorization regime under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 12; publishes A-F school accountability ratings under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 39 Subch. C (Sec. 39.301 et seq.); funds the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 61 to administer performance-based postsecondary funding; operates the Texas Workforce Commission under Tex. Lab. Code Title 4; and maintains Texas Workforce Data Quality Initiative wage-record infrastructure. This Act builds on, and is coordinated with, these frameworks.

TITLE I — DEFINITIONS & COORDINATION WITH TEXAS LAW

Vehicle (Texas): Definitional.

Sec. 101. Definitions

For purposes of this Act:

(a) “Texas outcome-based school” means a provisional school authorized under Title II by the Texas Outcome-Based School Authorizer (“TX-OBSA”).
(b) “ESA” means the Education Savings Account Program established under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 29 Subch. J.
(c) “TWC ITA” means an Individual Training Account issued under Tex. Lab. Code Ch. 302 to a workforce-program participant.
(d) “Federal NLMF” means the National Labor-Market Feedback registry established under Title III of the federal Merit-Based Education & Workforce Reform Act.

Sec. 102. Coordination with Existing Texas Law

(a) This Act shall be construed consistently with:

Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 29 Subch. J (Education Savings Account Program).
Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 12 (charter schools).
Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 39 Subch. C (A-F accountability).
Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 61 (THECB) and the Building a Talent Strong Texas plan.
Tex. Lab. Code Title 4 (Texas Workforce Commission) and Ch. 302 (workforce training programs).
Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 2056 (strategic planning) and Ch. 2101 (reporting requirements).

TITLE II — TEXAS OUTCOME-BASED SCHOOL AUTHORIZER

Vehicle (Texas): Regular order. New authorization pathway within the Texas Education Agency using existing Ch. 12 charter rulemaking authority.

Sec. 201. Establishment of TX-OBSA

(a) The Commissioner of Education shall designate, within the Texas Education Agency, a Texas Outcome-Based School Authorizer (“TX-OBSA”).
(b) TX-OBSA shall authorize provisional schools without requiring accreditation by any regional accrediting body, provided the school meets the standard in Sec. 202.
(c) A school authorized under this Title shall be treated as an eligible education-service provider under Sec. 301 but shall not confer an accredited postsecondary degree absent separate Texas or federal accreditation.

Sec. 202. Outcome-Based Authorization Standard

(a) To be authorized, a school shall publish, in machine-readable form, the outcome metrics required by Sec. 401.
(b) The school shall satisfy the facilities, safety, and background-check standards applicable to open-enrollment charter schools under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 12 Subch. D.
(c) Authorization shall be for an initial term of four years, renewable based on satisfaction of the outcome thresholds published by TX-OBSA under Sec. 401.

TITLE III — EDUCATION-FUND PORTABILITY

Vehicle (Texas): Regular order with fiscal provisions. Extends existing ESA framework and TWC training-account mechanics.

Sec. 301. Education Savings Account Extension

(a) A Texas outcome-based school authorized under Title II is eligible to participate as an Approved Education Service Provider under the Education Savings Account Program under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 29 Subch. J, provided it meets all other provider-eligibility requirements under that Subchapter.
(b) The certified educational assistance organization administering the ESA Program under Ch. 29 Subch. J shall treat Title II-authorized schools on the same footing as other approved providers for administrative purposes.

Sec. 302. TWC Individual Training Accounts

(a) TWC shall ensure that, not later than 24 months after the effective date of this Act, at least 50 percent of TWC ITA disbursements flow to providers that publish outcome data in the TX-OBSA Registry under Sec. 401 or the Federal NLMF.
(b) This requirement shall be implemented through the existing Eligible Training Provider List under 29 U.S.C. Sec. 3152 and Tex. Lab. Code Ch. 302.

TITLE IV — PUBLISHED OUTCOME METRICS

Vehicle (Texas): Regular order. Extends existing A-F accountability and THECB performance-reporting infrastructure.

Sec. 401. Texas Outcome-Metrics Registry

(a) TX-OBSA shall publish a Texas Outcome-Metrics Registry that reports, for each authorized provisional school:

Completion rate.
One-year and three-year post-completion earnings medians.
Post-completion licensure, TRMC, or Federal FRAC attainment rate.

(b) Data sources shall include the Texas Education Research Center established under Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 1.005 and Sec. 61.048, and wage-record data maintained by TWC to the extent permitted by Texas and federal law.
(c) TX-OBSA shall publish the Registry in machine-readable form and update it at least annually.

Sec. 402. Coordination with the Federal NLMF

(a) TX-OBSA shall publish the Registry in a format crosswalked to the Federal NLMF so that a Texas outcome-based school appears in both Registries.
(b) Nothing in this Title shall be construed to authorize disclosure of personally identifiable student data except as permitted by Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 26 and 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g (FERPA).

TITLE V — ENFORCEMENT & REMEDIES

Vehicle (Texas): Regular order. Administrative remedies within existing TEA authority.

Sec. 501. Non-Compliant Provider Remedies

(a) A provisional school that fails to publish the required outcome metrics, or publishes materially false metrics, shall be subject to:

Suspension of ESA-provider eligibility under Sec. 301.
Suspension from the TX-OBSA Registry under Sec. 401.
Administrative penalty not to exceed $500,000 per willful violation, consistent with the schedule applicable to charter-school enforcement under Tex. Educ. Code Ch. 12 Subch. D.

(b) This Section does not create a private right of action.

TITLE VI — IMPLEMENTATION & GENERAL PROVISIONS

Vehicle (Texas): Structural.

Sec. 601. Severability

If any provision of this Act, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect the remainder of this Act.

Sec. 602. Effective Date

This Act shall take effect September 1 of the year following enactment, except that Title III shall apply to ESA and ITA disbursements made on or after the same date.

Canonical federal version: MEWRA. Other Texas bills: TX-ACSA, TX-GT&P, TX-AI-Workforce.