Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 742	House Author:  Strama et al.
Effective:  9-1-13	Senate Sponsor:  Watson et al.

            House Bill 742 amends the Education Code to require the commissioner of education to establish and administer a competitive grant program for up to 10 school districts with majorities of their enrollments consisting of educationally disadvantaged students to provide both summer instruction primarily for such students in prekindergarten through eighth grade and summer teaching opportunities for high-performing, new, and student teachers. The bill sets out specific goals for the program's design, conditions of eligibility for district participation in the program, and program funding provisions and requires the commissioner, in accordance with commissioner rule and based on the amount available for the program, to determine the amount of each grant awarded. The bill also requires each district participating in the program to submit an annual report to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on local program participation data, requires TEA to contract with a third-party program evaluator to prepare a report on the program's effectiveness, and requires TEA to submit a biennial report to each member of the legislature describing program results.