1-1 By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1119
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1993; March 15, 1993, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 29, 1993,
1-4 reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 29, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-7 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-8 Ratliff x
1-9 Haley x
1-10 Barrientos x
1-11 Bivins x
1-12 Harris of Tarrant x
1-13 Luna x
1-14 Montford x
1-15 Shapiro x
1-16 Sibley x
1-17 Turner x
1-18 Zaffirini x
1-19 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1119 By: Zaffirini
1-20 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-21 AN ACT
1-22 relating to the educational rights of students who are deaf and/or
1-23 hard of hearing.
1-24 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-25 SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-26 Subchapter W to read as follows:
1-27 SUBCHAPTER W. EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS OF STUDENTS WHO ARE
1-28 DEAF AND/OR HARD OF HEARING
1-29 Sec. 21.801. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-30 (1) "Admission, review, and dismissal committee" means
1-31 the committee required by State Board of Education rules to develop
1-32 the individualized education program required by the federal
1-33 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400
1-34 et seq.) for any student needing special education.
1-35 (2) "English" includes writing, reading, speech,
1-36 speech reading, cued speech, and any English-based manual-visual
1-37 method of communication.
1-38 (3) "American Sign Language" means a complete, visual,
1-39 and manual language with its own grammar and syntax.
1-40 (4) "Unique or appropriate communication or language
1-41 modes" includes English and American Sign Language.
1-42 Sec. 21.802. FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that it
1-43 is essential for the well-being and growth of students who are deaf
1-44 and/or hard of hearing that educational programs recognize the
1-45 unique nature of deafness and the hard-of-hearing condition and
1-46 ensure that all students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing have
1-47 appropriate, ongoing, and fully accessible educational
1-48 opportunities. Students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing may
1-49 choose to use a variety of language modes and languages, including
1-50 oral and manual-visual language. Students who are deaf may choose
1-51 to communicate through the language of the deaf community, American
1-52 Sign Language, or through any of a number of English-based
1-53 manual-visual languages. Students who are hard of hearing may
1-54 choose to use spoken and written English, including speech reading
1-55 or lip reading, together with amplification instruments, such as
1-56 hearing aids, cochlear implants, or assistive listening systems, to
1-57 communicate with the hearing population. Students who are deaf
1-58 and/or hard of hearing may choose to use a combination of oral or
1-59 manual-visual language systems, including cued speech, manual
1-60 signed systems, and American Sign Language, or may rely exclusively
1-61 on the oral-aural language of their choice. Students who are deaf
1-62 and/or hard of hearing also may use other technologies to enhance
1-63 language learning.
1-64 (b) The legislature recognizes that students who are deaf
1-65 and/or hard of hearing should have the opportunity to develop
1-66 proficiency in English, including oral or manual-visual methods of
1-67 communication, and American Sign Language.
1-68 Sec. 21.803. UNIQUE COMMUNICATION. Students who are deaf
2-1 and/or hard of hearing must have an education in which their unique
2-2 communication mode is respected, used, and developed to an
2-3 appropriate level of proficiency.
2-4 Sec. 21.804. QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL. (a) Students who
2-5 are deaf and/or hard of hearing must have an education in which
2-6 teachers, psychologists, speech therapists, progress assessors,
2-7 administrators, and others involved in education understand the
2-8 unique nature of deafness and the hard-of-hearing condition.
2-9 Teachers of students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing either
2-10 must be proficient in appropriate language modes or use an
2-11 interpreter certified in appropriate language modes if
2-12 certification is available.
2-13 (b) Appropriate qualified staff shall be employed with
2-14 proficient communications skills, consistent with credentialing
2-15 requirements, to fulfill the responsibilities of the local school
2-16 district, and positive efforts must be made to employ qualified
2-17 individuals with disabilities.
2-18 (c) Regular and special personnel who work with students who
2-19 are deaf and/or hard of hearing must be adequately prepared to
2-20 provide educational instruction and services to those students.
2-21 Sec. 21.805. LANGUAGE MODE PEERS. If practicable and not in
2-22 conflict with any admission, review, and dismissal committee
2-23 recommendations, students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing must
2-24 have an education in the company of a sufficient number of peers
2-25 using the same language mode and with whom they can communicate
2-26 directly. If practicable, the peers must be of the same or
2-27 approximately the same age and ability.
2-28 Sec. 21.806. FAMILIAL AND ADVOCATE INVOLVEMENT. Students
2-29 who are deaf and/or hard of hearing must have an education in which
2-30 their parents or legal guardians and advocates for their parents or
2-31 legal guardians are involved in determining the extent, content,
2-32 and purpose of programs. Other individuals, including individuals
2-33 who are deaf and/or hard of hearing, may be involved at the
2-34 discretion of parents or legal guardians or the school district.
2-35 Sec. 21.807. ROLE MODELS. Students who are deaf and/or hard
2-36 of hearing shall be given the opportunity to be exposed to deaf or
2-37 hard-of-hearing role models.
2-38 Sec. 21.808. REGIONAL PROGRAMS. Regional programs for
2-39 students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing shall meet the unique
2-40 communication needs of students who can benefit from those
2-41 programs. Appropriate funding for those programs shall be
2-42 consistent with federal and state law, and money appropriated to
2-43 school districts for educational programs and services for students
2-44 who are deaf and/or hard of hearing may not be allocated or used
2-45 for any other program or service.
2-46 Sec. 21.809. COMPOSITION OF LOCAL SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY
2-47 COMMITTEE. If practicable, in a school district in which there are
2-48 students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing, the local special
2-49 education advisory committee required under State Board of
2-50 Education rule must include persons who are deaf and/or hard of
2-51 hearing and parents and legal guardians of students who are deaf
2-52 and/or hard of hearing.
2-53 Sec. 21.810. PROCEDURES AND MATERIALS FOR ASSESSMENT AND
2-54 PLACEMENT. (a) Procedures and materials for assessment and
2-55 placement of students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing shall be
2-56 selected and administered so as not to be racially, culturally, or
2-57 sexually discriminatory.
2-58 (b) A single assessment instrument may not be the sole
2-59 criterion for determining the placement of a child.
2-60 (c) The procedures and materials for the assessment and
2-61 placement of a student who is deaf and/or hard of hearing shall be
2-62 in the student's preferred mode of communication. All other
2-63 procedures and materials used with any student who is deaf and/or
2-64 hard of hearing who has limited English proficiency shall be in the
2-65 student's preferred mode of communication.
2-66 Sec. 21.811. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. (a) Educational
2-67 programs for students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing must be
2-68 coordinated with other public and private agencies, including:
2-69 (1) early childhood intervention programs;
2-70 (2) preschools;
3-1 (3) child development programs;
3-2 (4) nonpublic, nonsectarian schools;
3-3 (5) regional occupational centers and programs; and
3-4 (6) the Texas School for the Deaf.
3-5 (b) As appropriate, the programs must also be coordinated
3-6 with postsecondary and adult programs for persons who are deaf
3-7 and/or hard of hearing.
3-8 Sec. 21.812. PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING SERVICES. Appropriate
3-9 psychological counseling services for a student who is deaf and/or
3-10 hard of hearing shall be made available at the student's school
3-11 site in the student's primary mode of communication. In the case
3-12 of a student who is hard of hearing, appropriate auditory systems
3-13 to enhance oral communication shall be used if required by the
3-14 student's admission, review, and dismissal committee.
3-15 Sec. 21.813. EVALUATION OF PROGRAMS. Each school district
3-16 must provide continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of programs
3-17 of the district for students who are deaf and/or hard of hearing.
3-18 If practicable, evaluations shall follow program excellence
3-19 indicators established by the Central Education Agency.
3-20 Sec. 21.814. TRANSITION INTO REGULAR CLASS. In addition to
3-21 satisfying requirements of the admission, review, and dismissal
3-22 committee and to satisfying requirements under state and federal
3-23 law for vocational training, each school district shall develop and
3-24 implement a transition plan for the transition of a student who is
3-25 deaf and/or hard of hearing into a regular class program if the
3-26 student is to be transferred from a special class or center or
3-27 nonpublic, nonsectarian school into a regular class in a public
3-28 school for any part of the school day. The transition plan must
3-29 provide for activities:
3-30 (1) to integrate the student into the regular
3-31 education program and specify the nature of each activity and the
3-32 time spent on the activity each day; and
3-33 (2) to support the transition of the student from the
3-34 special education program into the regular education program.
3-35 SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 1993-1994
3-36 school year.
3-37 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-38 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-39 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-40 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-41 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-42 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-43 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-44 * * * * *
3-45 Austin,
3-46 Texas
3-47 April 29, 1993
3-48 Hon. Bob Bullock
3-49 President of the Senate
3-50 Sir:
3-51 We, your Committee on Education to which was referred S.B. No.
3-52 1119, have had the same under consideration, and I am instructed to
3-53 report it back to the Senate with the recommendation that it do not
3-54 pass, but that the Committee Substitute adopted in lieu thereof do
3-55 pass and be printed.
3-56 Ratliff,
3-57 Chairman
3-58 * * * * *
3-59 WITNESSES
3-60 FOR AGAINST ON
3-61 ___________________________________________________________________
3-62 Name: Dr. Jean Andrews x
3-63 Representing:
3-64 City: Beaumont
3-65 -------------------------------------------------------------------
3-66 Name: Carl D. Brininstool x
3-67 Representing: Nat'l Assoc. of the Deaf
3-68 City: Manchaca
3-69 -------------------------------------------------------------------
3-70 Name: Kathryn Caldcleugh x
4-1 Representing: Deaf Senior Citizens
4-2 City: Austin
4-3 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-4 Name: Lydia Cruzen x
4-5 Representing: Self Help For Hard Hearing People
4-6 City: Houston
4-7 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-8 Name: Gary Curtis x
4-9 Representing: TEA
4-10 City: Austin
4-11 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-12 Name: Gregg Davis x
4-13 Representing: Self
4-14 City: Austin
4-15 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-16 Name: Connie Ferguson x
4-17 Representing: Self
4-18 City: College Station
4-19 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-20 Name: Diane C. Hardy x
4-21 Representing: SHHH
4-22 City: Dallas
4-23 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-24 Name: Jerry Hassell x
4-25 Representing: Texas Deaf Caucus
4-26 City: Austin
4-27 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-28 Name: Fran Herrington-Borre x
4-29 Representing: Symposium Deaf & Hard Hear TXs.
4-30 City: Austin
4-31 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-32 Name: Ann H. Horn x
4-33 Representing: TSD-PTA/Parent
4-34 City: Austin
4-35 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-36 Name: Kent Kennedy x
4-37 Representing: Tx Assoc Deaf Symp. on Deafnes
4-38 City: Austin
4-39 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-40 Name: Ruby Kleberg x
4-41 Representing: Deaf Senior Citizen
4-42 City: Austin
4-43 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-44 Name: Rose Aird Minette x
4-45 Representing: Self
4-46 City: Austin
4-47 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-48 Name: Julius P. Seeger x
4-49 Representing: Travis Co. Assoc. Deaf Seniors
4-50 City: Austin
4-51 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-52 Name: Ruth M. Seeger x
4-53 Representing: Deaf Sr. Citizens Center
4-54 City: Austin
4-55 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-56 FOR AGAINST ON
4-57 ___________________________________________________________________
4-58 Name: Teri Wathen x
4-59 Representing: Houston Self Help/Hard Hearing
4-60 City: Stafford
4-61 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-62 Name: Tommie Wells x
4-63 Representing: S.H.H.H. Ft. Worth Chapter
4-64 City: Ft. Worth
4-65 -------------------------------------------------------------------
4-66 Name: Ralph H. White x
4-67 Representing: Self
4-68 City: Austin
4-69 -------------------------------------------------------------------