1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to optional career and technology education programs
1-3 offered by public school districts and a study of career and
1-4 technology education programs.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 29.187 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 29.187. DISTRICT CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM AND
1-9 CERTIFICATE. (a) In addition to the authority granted under
1-10 Section 29.183, the board of trustees of a school district may
1-11 develop and offer a program under which a student may receive
1-12 specific training in a career and technology profession and obtain
1-13 a career and technology certificate issued by the district. The
1-14 certificate is not in lieu of a diploma or certificate of
1-15 coursework completion issued under Section 28.025. In developing
1-16 the program, the board of trustees shall consider the state plan
1-17 for career and technology education required under Section 29.182.
1-18 (b) The board of trustees of a school district may contract
1-19 with an entity listed in Section 29.184(a) for assistance in
1-20 developing the program or providing instruction to district
1-21 students participating in the program.
1-22 (c) The board of trustees of a school district may also
1-23 contract with a local business or local workforce development board
1-24 for assistance in developing or operating a program under this
2-1 section. A program developed with the assistance of a local
2-2 business or local workforce development board may provide training
2-3 in areas of technology unique to the local area.
2-4 (d) The board of trustees of a school district may provide
2-5 insurance to protect a business that contracts with the district
2-6 under Subsection (c) against liability for a bodily injury
2-7 sustained by or the death of a district student while working for
2-8 the business as part of the program established under this section.
2-9 The amount of insurance the district provides must be reasonable
2-10 considering the financial condition of the district. The insurance
2-11 must be:
2-12 (1) from a reliable insurance company authorized to do
2-13 business in the state; and
2-14 (2) on a form approved by the commissioner of
2-15 insurance.
2-16 (e) The board of trustees of a school district must submit a
2-17 proposed program under this section to the agency in accordance
2-18 with criteria established by agency rule.
2-19 SECTION 2. (a) The Council on Workforce and Economic
2-20 Competitiveness, in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency and
2-21 the Texas Workforce Commission, shall conduct a study to determine
2-22 the effectiveness of career and technology education programs in
2-23 improving the academic and professional success of students. The
2-24 study must include:
2-25 (1) a review and evaluation of the impact of career
2-26 and technology education programs on retaining students in school;
2-27 (2) a review and evaluation of career and technology
3-1 education programs to determine which programs provide students
3-2 with the most effective transition into postsecondary education and
3-3 high-skill, high-wage jobs; and
3-4 (3) development of a catalog of career and technology
3-5 programs that effectively assist students with the transition into
3-6 postsecondary education and high-skill, high-wage jobs.
3-7 (b) The Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness,
3-8 in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas
3-9 Workforce Commission, shall submit a report of the results and
3-10 findings of the study required by this section to the governor, the
3-11 lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
3-12 representatives not later than December 1, 2000.
3-13 SECTION 3. (a) Section 29.187, Education Code, as added by
3-14 this Act, applies beginning with the 2000-2001 school year.
3-15 (b) Section 2 of this Act takes effect immediately.
3-16 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-21 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
3-22 terms, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1418 was passed by the House on May
4, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 136, Nays 4, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1418 on May 22, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 122, Nays
13, 2 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1418 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor