By Jones of Dallas                              H.B. No. 1832

      75R5449 ESH-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to successful schools awards for schools showing

 1-3     improvement in students' reading.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 39.092, Education Code, is amended to

 1-6     read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 39.092.  TYPES OF AWARDS.  (a)  The governor may present

 1-8     a financial award to:

 1-9                 (1)  the schools or districts that the commissioner

1-10     determines have demonstrated the highest levels of sustained

1-11     success or the greatest improvement in achieving the education

1-12     goals; or

1-13                 (2)  the schools that the commissioner determines have

1-14     demonstrated the greatest improvement in students' reading.

1-15           (b)  For each student in average daily attendance, each of

1-16     those schools or districts is entitled to an amount set for an

1-17     [the] award under Subsection (a) for which the school or district

1-18     is selected by the commissioner, subject to any limitation set by

1-19     the commissioner on the total amount that may be awarded to a

1-20     school or district.

1-21           (c) [(b)]  The governor may present proclamations or

1-22     certificates to additional schools and districts determined to have

1-23     met or exceeded the education goals.

1-24           (d) [(c)]  The commissioner may establish additional

 2-1     categories of awards and award amounts for a school or district

 2-2     determined to be successful under Subsection (a) or (c) [(b)] that

 2-3     are contingent on the school's or district's involvement with

 2-4     paired, lower-performing schools.

 2-5           SECTION 2.  Section 39.093(a), Education Code, is amended to

 2-6     read as follows:

 2-7           (a)  Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, the

 2-8     [The] criteria that the commissioner shall use to select successful

 2-9     schools and districts must be related to the goals in Section 4.002

2-10     and must include consideration of performance on the academic

2-11     excellence indicators adopted under Section 39.051.    The

2-12     commissioner shall select schools for awards under Section

2-13     39.092(a)(2) based solely on the performance of students on the

2-14     assessment instrument adopted under Section 39.023(a) in reading.

2-15     For purposes of selecting schools and districts under Section

2-16     39.092(a), each school's performance shall be compared to state

2-17     standards and to its previous performance.

2-18           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-19           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.