By Delisi H.B. No. 726
76R4076 BDH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the provision of grants to public school districts to
1-3 support certain research by teachers.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 39.113 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 39.113. GRANTS FOR RESEARCH ON IMPROVEMENT OF STUDENT
1-8 PERFORMANCE. (a) The commissioner shall develop an application
1-9 and evaluation process for awarding grants to public school
1-10 districts to support research by classroom teachers on
1-11 understanding and improving student performance on accountability
1-12 measures and programs established under this chapter. Each school
1-13 year, the commissioner may, subject to funds appropriated for that
1-14 purpose from the state lottery account or from other available
1-15 resources, award grants to eligible districts. The commissioner, in
1-16 awarding grants under this section, shall give preference to
1-17 research projects that investigate and address student performance
1-18 more broadly than student performance on any single assessment
1-19 instrument or test.
1-20 (b) A school district, to be eligible for a grant under this
1-21 section, must submit to the agency not later than January 1 of a
1-22 school year:
1-23 (1) an objective proposal specifically describing:
1-24 (A) the process for selection of classroom
2-1 teachers to conduct the research project;
2-2 (B) the purpose and methodology of the proposed
2-3 research project, demonstrating a primary focus on understanding
2-4 and improving student performance on accountability measures and
2-5 programs; and
2-6 (C) a process for setting standards for and
2-7 following the progress of the research project, including the
2-8 establishment of a local advisory committee appointed by the board
2-9 of trustees of the district;
2-10 (2) a schedule of projected costs, including:
2-11 (A) teacher stipends, which may not be less than
2-12 $2,000;
2-13 (B) expert technical support costs, which may
2-14 not exceed 15 percent of the total cost to be paid from the grant;
2-15 and
2-16 (C) administrative costs, which may not exceed
2-17 10 percent of the total cost to be paid from the grant; and
2-18 (3) a written statement specifically describing a
2-19 process for reporting the results of the research project to the
2-20 local community, the regional education service, and the agency.
2-21 (c) A grant under this section may not exceed the total cost
2-22 of the research project as submitted by the district under
2-23 Subsection (b)(2).
2-24 (d) A local advisory committee established as required by
2-25 Subsection (b)(1)(C):
2-26 (1) shall provide oversight of a research project in
2-27 the district for which the district receives a grant under this
3-1 section;
3-2 (2) must include parents of students currently
3-3 enrolled in the district, classroom teachers, and administrators;
3-4 and
3-5 (3) may include persons able to provide expert
3-6 technical support in the collection, analysis, and presentation of
3-7 research data.
3-8 (e) In developing or conducting a research project, a school
3-9 district may use the resources available through regional education
3-10 service centers and institutions of higher education, including
3-11 centers for professional development of teachers.
3-12 (f) A school district that receives a grant under this
3-13 section shall report the results of the research project in
3-14 compliance with the process described in the district's
3-15 application. A district that fails to report the results of a
3-16 research project for which the district received a grant under this
3-17 section is ineligible for a grant under this section for the next
3-18 school year.
3-19 SECTION 2. The heading to Subchapter F, Chapter 39,
3-20 Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-21 SUBCHAPTER F. ADDITIONAL REWARDS AND GRANTS
3-22 SECTION 3. Section 466.355(b), Government Code, is amended
3-23 to read as follows:
3-24 (b) Money in the state lottery account may be used only for
3-25 the following purposes and shall be distributed as follows:
3-26 (1) the payment of prizes to the holders of winning
3-27 tickets;
4-1 (2) the payment of costs incurred in the operation and
4-2 administration of the lottery, including any fees received by a
4-3 lottery operator, provided that the costs incurred in a fiscal
4-4 biennium may not exceed an amount equal to 12 percent of the gross
4-5 revenue accruing from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
4-6 (3) the establishment of a pooled bond fund, lottery
4-7 prize reserve fund, unclaimed prize fund, and prize payment
4-8 account; [and]
4-9 (4) the transfer to the Texas Education Agency of any
4-10 amount appropriated for the current state fiscal year for grants
4-11 for research on improvement of student performance under Section
4-12 39.113, Education Code; and
4-13 (5) the balance, after creation of a reserve
4-14 sufficient to pay the amounts needed or estimated to be needed
4-15 under Subdivisions (1) through (4) [(3)], to be transferred to the
4-16 foundation school fund, on or before the 15th day of each month.
4-17 SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 1999-2000
4-18 school year.
4-19 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-25 passage, and it is so enacted.