By Seaman H.B. No. 1418
76R5608 BDH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to optional career and technology education programs
1-3 offered by public school districts.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 29.187 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 29.187. DISTRICT CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM AND
1-8 CERTIFICATE. (a) In addition to the authority granted under
1-9 Section 29.183, the board of trustees of a school district may
1-10 develop and offer a program under which a student may receive
1-11 specific training in a career and technology profession and obtain
1-12 a career and technology certificate issued by the district in
1-13 addition to a diploma or certificate of coursework completion under
1-14 Section 28.025. In developing the program, the board of trustees
1-15 shall consider the state plan for career and technology education
1-16 required under Section 29.182.
1-17 (b) The board of trustees of a school district may contract
1-18 with an entity listed in Section 29.184(a) for assistance in
1-19 developing the program or providing instruction to district
1-20 students participating in the program. A student who receives
1-21 career and technology instruction under the program at another
1-22 school under a contract authorized by this subsection is included
1-23 in the average daily attendance of the district in which the
1-24 student is regularly enrolled.
2-1 (c) The board of trustees of a school district may also
2-2 contract with a local business or local workforce development board
2-3 for assistance in developing or operating a program under this
2-4 section. A program developed with the assistance of a local
2-5 business or local workforce development board shall provide
2-6 training in areas of technology unique to the local area.
2-7 (d) The board of trustees of a school district annually may
2-8 grant a tax credit to a business that pays property taxes in the
2-9 district and contracts with the district under Subsection (c). The
2-10 annual tax credit may not exceed the total value of goods,
2-11 services, equipment, and facilities provided by the business to the
2-12 district for the fiscal year.
2-13 (e) The board of trustees of a school district may provide
2-14 insurance to protect a business that contracts with the district
2-15 under Subsection (c) against liability for a bodily injury
2-16 sustained by or the death of a district student while working for
2-17 the business as part of the program established under this section.
2-18 The amount of insurance the district provides must be reasonable
2-19 considering the financial condition of the district. The insurance
2-20 must be:
2-21 (1) from a reliable insurance company authorized to do
2-22 business in the state; and
2-23 (2) on a form approved by the commissioner of
2-24 insurance.
2-25 (f) The board of trustees of a school district must submit a
2-26 proposed program under this section to the State Board of Education
2-27 for approval.
3-1 SECTION 2. (a) The Council on Workforce and Economic
3-2 Competitiveness, in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency and
3-3 the Texas Workforce Commission, shall conduct a study to determine
3-4 the effectiveness of career and technology education programs in
3-5 improving the academic and professional success of at-risk students
3-6 and school dropouts. The study must include:
3-7 (1) a review and evaluation of the impact of career
3-8 and technology education programs on retaining at-risk students in
3-9 school;
3-10 (2) a review and evaluation of career and technology
3-11 education programs to determine which programs provide at-risk
3-12 students and school dropouts with the most effective transition
3-13 into postsecondary education and high-skill, high-wage jobs; and
3-14 (3) development of a catalog of career and technology
3-15 programs that effectively assist at-risk students and school
3-16 dropouts with the transition into postsecondary education and
3-17 high-skill, high-wage jobs.
3-18 (b) The Council on Workforce and Economic Competitiveness,
3-19 in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency and the Texas
3-20 Workforce Commission, shall submit a report of the results and
3-21 findings of the study required by this section to the governor, the
3-22 lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
3-23 representatives not later than September 1, 2000.
3-24 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-2 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-3 passage, and it is so enacted.