Honorable Brad Buckley, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB651 by Allison (Relating to the inclusion of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and Leadership Officer Training Corps programs as public school career and technology education programs and the indicator of achievement for military readiness under the public school accountability system.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB651, As Introduced : a negative impact of ($58,078,869) through the biennium ending August 31, 2025.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five- Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2024
($29,066,123)
2025
($29,012,746)
2026
($29,217,586)
2027
($29,423,885)
2028
($29,631,653)
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from Foundation School Fund 193
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2023
2024
($28,566,331)
($499,792)
2.0
2025
($28,769,723)
($243,023)
2.0
2026
($28,974,563)
($243,023)
2.0
2027
($29,180,862)
($243,023)
2.0
2028
($29,388,630)
($243,023)
2.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would include Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and Leadership Officer Training Corps (LOTC) courses within career and technology education programs and make them eligible for weighted funding under the Foundation School Program (FSP). The bill would also incorporate Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery scores and Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program completion as indicators in the Student Achievement domain of the public-school accountability system.
Methodology
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) assumes there would be costs to the state to provide additional weighted funding for students who complete approved LOTC program courses and approved JROTC program courses. In the 2022-23 school year there were a total of 26,449 students enrolled in JROTC I, II, III, and IV. There is not currently a LOTC program. However, TEA assumes that once the program exists, approximately 20 percent of the current JROTC enrollment would participate in the LOTC program each year. The agency assumes that enrollment in these courses would grow 0.7 percent each year. The agency assumes that the cost of the additional weighted funding would be $28.6 million in fiscal year 2024, $28.8 million in fiscal year 2025, increasing to $29.4 million in fiscal year 2028.
The agency assumes there would be some administrative costs to TEA and the State Board of Education (SBOE) to implement the provisions of the bill. TEA indicates that the bill would require an additional 2.0 full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions to create new data collection for districts, process ASVAB scores, and incorporate results into accountability reports. This analysis assumes a total cost for these 2.0 FTEs of approximately $0.2 million per fiscal year.
This analysis also assumes that adoption of courses for JROTC and LOTC would require a five-day meeting of a task force at a cost of $56,340 in fiscal year 2024.
Technology
TEA indicates that development and implementation of provisions of the bill would require updates to the Texas Student Data System and the Foundation School Program application at a total cost of approximately $0.2 million.
Local Government Impact
Local Education Agencies could offer new courses for students in Junior Officer Training Corps and Leadership Officer Training Corps programs for additional funding.