HBA-MPM, LCA H.B. 2172 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2172 By: Luna, Vilma 7/19/1999 7/19/1999 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 76th Legislature, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) conducted two types of monitoring visits. Accreditation monitoring was based on the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS), which assesses school performance according to standards set forth under Section 39.051, (Academic Excellence Indicators), Education Code. Compliance monitoring, conducted at different campuses on a six-year, fixed cycle, is known as District Effectiveness and Compliance, or DEC, and monitors only special programs. At present, those programs include special education, gifted and talented, migrant, and bilingual programs. A school district knows in advance of a DEC visit, and is assisted in preparing for the compliance visit. A DEC monitoring team includes some TEA staff, but primarily comprises contract employees. If a DEC team finds a district out of compliance with relevant state and federal requirements, TEA will issue a corrective action plan. However, districts often remain out of compliance with no consequences; further, sanctions against a district for noncompliance are rare. Accreditation monitoring measures campus performance using academic excellence indicators set forth under Chapter 39 (Public School System Accountability), Education Code. These indicators include attendance rates, dropout rates, and campus performance on the TAAS assessment instrument. Because most children in special education programs do not take the TAAS test, assessing special education programs using AEIS does not adequately measure the performance of a district's special education program administration. H.B. 2172 amends Chapter 39, Education Code, to require TEA to develop a monitoring system specifically for special education programs, which must provide for ongoing analysis of district special education data and complaints regarding special education services. This bill also requires TEA's complaint management division to develop a system for expedited investigation and resolution of complaints. H.B. 2172 also requires the annual performance report prepared by TEA for each district to include the district's current special education compliance status with TEA, and requires TEA to consider that status in determining a district's accreditation rating. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Sections 29.010, Education Code, by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (e) and (f), as follows: (a) Requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to adopt and implement a system for monitoring school district compliance with federal and state laws regarding special education. Provides that the monitoring system must provide for ongoing analysis of district special education data. Provides that the monitoring system must provide for analysis of complaints filed with TEA regarding special education services and for inspections of school districts at district facilities. Requires TEA to use the information from the monitoring system to determine a schedule for, and the extent of an inspection. (b) Provides that, to complete the inspection, TEA must obtain information from teachers, in addition to parents, of students in special education programs in a district. (e) Requires TEA's complaint management division to develop a system for expedited investigation and resolution of complaints concerning a district's failure to provide special education or related services to a student eligible to participate in a special education program. (f) Provides that this section does not create an obligation for or impose a requirement on a school district or open-enrollment charter school that is not also created or imposed under another state law or a federal law. SECTION 2. Amends Section 39.053, Education Code, as follows: (a) Creates Subdivisions (1) and (2) from existing text, and adds Subdivision (3), to provide that the annual report must include the district's current special education compliance status with TEA. Makes a conforming change. (b) Created from existing text. Redesignates Subsections (b)-(f) to Subsections (c)-(g). SECTION 3. Amends Section 39.072(b), Education Code, to require that the academic excellence indicators adopted under Sections 39.051 (b)(1) through (6), (Academic Excellence Indicators), requiring performance under this section to be compared to established state standards, and setting forth certain specified indicators along with the district's current special education compliance status with the agency, to be the main considerations of the agency in the rating of the district under this section. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 4. Amends Section 39.073, Education Code, by adding Subsection (e), to require TEA, when determining a district's accreditation rating, to consider the district's current special education compliance status with TEA.. SECTION 5. Amends Section 39.182(a), Education Code, to include, in the comprehensive report TEA is required to present to certain state officials, a list of each school district that is not in compliance with special education requirements, including the period of noncompliance; the manner in which TEA determined noncompliance; and an explanation of actions taken by the commissioner of education to ensure compliance and an evaluation of the results of such actions. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 6. (a) Makes Sections 2-4 of this Act applicable beginning with the 1999-2000 school year. (b) Provides that the report required under Section 39.182(a), Education Code, must include the information required by Section 39.182(a), as amended by this Act, beginning with the first report TEA would regularly make under that section after the effective date of this Act. SECTION 7. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.