LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE 75th Regular Session April 15, 1997 TO: Honorable Teel Bivins, Chair IN RE: Senate Bill No. 1653 Committee on Education By: Nelson Senate Austin, Texas FROM: John Keel, Director In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on SB1653 ( Relating to campus or campus program charters.) this office has detemined the following: Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by SB1653-As Introduced No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill. Bill Summary The bill would amend Section 12.054 of the Texas Education Code (TEC) to add certain powers and duties to campuses that receive a campus charter. Among the delineated powers are the following: control over spending; the power to hire, organize, train, and release staff; control over instructional strategies and methodologies; freedom to organize the campus or program schedule and teacher and student assignments; freedom to extend performance standards beyond those required by the local school board or state; and freedom to devise specific means to demonstrate their accountability to their communities beyond those means required by the state or local school district. The bill would also add a new section to the TEC to allow a campus applying for a campus charter to appeal a decision of a local board of education to the commissioner of education. The governor would have the authority to overrule the commissioner s decision. This legislation would take effect September 1, 1997. State Fiscal Impact The Texas Education Agency would incur additional administrative costs related to the appeals process described above, but these costs are not anticipated to be significant and would be absorbed in the agency's existing budget. These costs are detailed as follows: The commissioner of education could rule on applications for campus charters. There are currently less than 10 campuses with a campus charter; however, the changes made in the bill to the delegated powers and duties of campus charters are expected to increase the number of campus charter requests. If 10 percent of the 6,600 campuses apply for a charter, and 10 percent of those are denied and file an appeal with the commissioner of education, TEA would process 66 appeals per year. This would not entail a significant additional cost burden to the state. No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. The financing of the campus charter program is fully integrated within the existing public school financing system and this bill would not affect this system. Source: Agencies: 701 Texas Education Agency - Administration LBB Staff: JK ,LP ,GJ