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House Bill 3 |
House Author: Huberty et al. |
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Effective: See below |
Senate Sponsor: Taylor et al. |
House Bill 3 amends the Education Code, Government Code, Human Resources Code, Insurance Code, Penal Code, and Tax Code to revise the public school finance system and to make other changes relating to public education, property tax compression, and the enforcement of certain conduct standards for employees of public schools and related entities. Except as otherwise provided, the bill's provisions are effective September 1, 2019.
Public School Finance and Property Tax Compression
House Bill 3 changes the order in which funds are applied to finance the foundation school program by requiring state available school funds to be applied first. Effective January 1, 2020, the bill creates the tax reduction and excellence in education fund, which consists of certain dedicated funding sources and is to be used to pay the cost of tier one allotments or to reduce district maintenance and operation (M&O) tax rates.
House Bill 3 increases the basic allotment and requires a district, for any year in which the basic allotment is increased, to use a certain portion of the increase to increase compensation to full‑time employees other than administrators.
House Bill 3 makes changes to various student‑based allotments and other funding elements. Among other provisions, the bill:
· eliminates the gifted and talented student allotment, the high school allotment, and the small and mid‑sized district and cost of education adjustments to the basic allotment;
· creates the following:
o a small and mid-sized district allotment;
o a funding incentive for districts or charter schools offering certain additional instructional days;
o an allotment for certain special‑purpose school districts;
o a dyslexia allotment;
o an early education allotment for students who are educationally disadvantaged or of limited English proficiency;
o a college, career, or military readiness outcomes bonus;
o a fast growth allotment;
o a teacher incentive allotment to attract teachers to high needs and rural district campuses;
o a mentor program allotment for mentoring new classroom teachers; and
o a dropout recovery school and residential placement facility allotment;
· revises the special education allotment and compensatory education allotment, requires the establishment of an associated advisory committee for each of those allotments effective June 12, 2019, and requires the commissioner of education to reallocate certain funds, if necessary, to maintain the federally mandated level of state support for special education; and
· revises the bilingual, career and technology education, transportation, and new instructional facility allotments.
House Bill 3 sets the state compression percentage initially at 93 percent. Effective September 1, 2020, the bill redefines the state compression percentage as the percentage of the rate of $1.00 per $100 valuation of taxable property that is used to determine a district's maximum compressed tax rate and provides a method for calculating that percentage.
House Bill 3 sets the maximum maintenance tax rate per $100 of taxable value that may be adopted by a district as the sum of $0.17 and the district's maximum compressed tax rate. The bill sets a district's tier one M&O tax rate at the number of cents levied by the district for M&O purposes that does not exceed the district's maximum compressed tax rate and establishes that a district's enrichment tax rate consists of the following components:
· the first eight cents of additional M&O tax effort that exceeds the district's tier one M&O tax rate; and
· any cents of additional M&O tax effort that exceeds the sum of the district's tier one M&O tax rate and those first eight cents.
House Bill 3 prohibits a district from increasing its maintenance tax rate to create a revenue surplus for the purpose of paying the district's debt service and provides for the enforcement of this prohibition. Effective January 1, 2020, the bill requires a district board of trustees to conduct an efficiency audit before seeking voter approval to adopt an M&O tax rate. Effective September 1, 2020, the bill provides for a new method of calculating a district's maximum compressed tax rate and establishes a limitation mechanism under which one district's maximum compressed rate may not differ from another district's rate by more than 10 percent.
House Bill 3 revises the basis for calculating a district's tier two allotment as follows:
· converts the first two copper pennies to golden pennies so that there are eight golden pennies and nine copper pennies;
· removes language linking the golden penny yield to the tax revenue of the Austin Independent School District and sets the yield instead as 160 percent of the basic allotment, with a floor of the 96th percentile of wealth; and
· changes the copper penny yield from $31.95 to 80 percent of the basic allotment.
House Bill 3 repeals provisions relating to the equalized wealth level for purposes of state funding recapture and sets out provisions relating to the local revenue level in excess of entitlement for the same purposes. The bill establishes the nature and cost of the purchase of attendance credit for recapture purposes in terms of a dollar amount and eliminates the early agreement credit.
House Bill 3 requires an employing district or charter school to pay the state's contribution to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on the portion of a qualifying member's salary that exceeds the statutory minimum salary.
House Bill 3 revises provisions relating to a district's rollback tax rate, renamed as the voter‑approval tax rate, including requirements for associated ballot language and election dates, the standard calculation method, and certain alternate methods. Effective September 1, 2020, the bill simplifies the standard calculation method.
House Bill 3 revises the applicability of certain foundation school program adjustments and allotments to an open‑enrollment charter school. The bill revises and repeals certain provisions relating to the funding effects of a district's disaster remediation costs. The bill repeals provisions relating to certain school facilities standards, provisions relating to certain special‑purpose elements of state funding, and provisions requiring the Legislative Budget Board to adopt rules for the calculation of certain equalized funding elements and establishing a related reporting requirement.
Public Education
House Bill 3 requires each public school district and open‑enrollment charter school to adopt five‑year early childhood literacy and math proficiency plans that set quantifiable per‑campus performance goals. The bill sets out requirements regarding reading standards in kindergarten through third grade, including phonics instruction, certain educator training and strategic teacher placement, and the integration of reading diagnostic tests. The bill revises requirements for the adoption of certain such tests and requires a person seeking educator certification to teach prekindergarten through grade six to demonstrate proficiency in the science of teaching reading.
House Bill 3 requires free full‑day prekindergarten classes to be offered for eligible children age four and older and makes compliance with high quality prekindergarten standards mandatory. The bill eliminates the high‑quality prekindergarten grant program and sets out further requirements and conditions relating to prekindergarten provision.
House Bill 3 requires each district and charter school to adopt five‑year college, career, and military readiness plans that set quantifiable per‑campus performance goals. The bill requires each public high school student to submit a free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) or a Texas application for state financial aid (TASFA) before graduating and provides for certain opt‑out procedures. The bill establishes a grant program to support summer career and technology education, a blended learning grant program, and a high school equivalency examination subsidy program.
House Bill 3 authorizes district‑level adoption of local optional teacher designation systems, which may be based on a state‑recommended appraisal process and performance criteria or on a locally developed and adopted process and criteria. The bill provides for a memorandum of understanding between the commissioner of education and Texas Tech University for purposes of monitoring the quality and fairness of the teacher designation systems. The bill eliminates the previous subject‑specific master teacher certifications and related grant programs. The bill revises provisions relating to a district's assignment of a mentor teacher to a classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching experience.
House Bill 3 requires a district to annually certify its provision of a gifted and talented program and provides for a reduction in state funding for a noncompliant district. The bill requires a study of the statewide standardized tests administered to students in grades three through eight with regard to the appropriateness of each test's reading level and the extent to which test content aligns with state curriculum standards.
House Bill 3 establishes various reporting requirements and certain advisory committees. The bill's provisions relating to public education matters other than finance and employee misconduct are effective June 12, 2019.
Certain Misconduct of Employees or Prospective Employees of Public Educational Entities
House Bill 3 sets out provisions regarding employing, terminating, and reporting misconduct of public school and related entity personnel. Among other provisions, the bill requires TEA to create a do‑not‑hire registry of persons ineligible for employment by public schools and other applicable entities. Certain information obtained by a district or TEA through required criminal history record reviews or through notification of certain State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) disciplinary measures triggers a person's inclusion on the registry. The bill requires the SBEC and TEA to develop and maintain Internet portals for electronic filing of required reports regarding educators and noncertified staff, respectively, and requires the TEA portal to provide access to the registry. The bill harmonizes the requirements that apply to various types of educational entities and establishes penalties for noncompliant charter entities and districts of innovation. Implementation of these provisions by TEA or the SBEC is mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose.