Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico objected to requiring parental permission before students could take sex education while serving in the Texas House. During a July 2022 hearing on House Bill 1525 he warned the rule would cut the number of pupils who received those lessons, which he ranked among the most significant subjects taught in schools.

The legislation replaced an opt-out system with an opt-in process and required districts to tell parents exactly what the curriculum contained. Talarico voted for the overall education package even though he opposed its sex-education sections.

He almost never opposed large school-spending bills that sent public money to the diversity consulting firm where he worked and earned nearly six figures.