Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 1518 amends the Education Code to require a school district's evaluation of the effectiveness of accelerated instruction in reducing certain disparities between at-risk students and all other students to include an analysis of the effectiveness of each program described in the campus and district improvement plans for reducing those disparities. The bill also requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to evaluate systematically the effectiveness of accelerated instruction and support programs for at-risk students and to organize and share information collected during its evaluation with local districts. The bill requires the Legislative Budget Board, the office of the state auditor, and the comptroller to review TEA standards and definitions for dropouts and students completing school before the agency implements those standards and definitions.

            The bill also requires the commissioner of education to adopt rules for exempting a school district that consistently achieves significant reductions in the disparity between at-risk students and other students from a state audit of its expenditures of compensatory education funds, and it prohibits exemption of a district that does not make consistent significant progress in reducing its dropout rate.

            Reason Given for Veto: "House Bill No. 1518 would require the review of the Texas Education Agency's dropout data definitions by the Comptroller of Public Accounts, the State Auditor and the Legislative Budget Board. However, I am signing Senate Bill No. 186, which will require the Texas Education Agency to use the federal dropout definitions adopted by the National Center for Education Statistics. Senate Bill No. 186 removes all state agency discretion regarding the adoption of dropout definitions for use in the state's education accountability system, eliminating the need for a review of the state's dropout definitions.

                "The bill also seeks to grant mandate relief to school districts relating to compensatory education funding audits. However, I have signed House Bill No. 3459 and Senate Bill No. 894 to provide greater opportunities for relief from compensatory education audits by exempting school districts that succeed in improving the performance of students at-risk of dropping out of school. The approach taken by these bills is consistent with my desire to provide mandate relief to school districts and my High School Completion Initiative's goal of ensuring that students do not drop out on life by dropping out of school.