By Luna, Hochberg H.B. No. 2172
76R13794 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to school district compliance with special education laws.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 29.010, Education Code, is amended by
1-5 amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (e) and (f)
1-6 to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The agency shall adopt and implement a comprehensive
1-8 system for monitoring [monitor] school district compliance with
1-9 federal and state laws relating to special education. The
1-10 monitoring system must provide for ongoing analysis of district
1-11 special education data and of complaints filed with the agency
1-12 concerning special education services and for inspections of [by
1-13 inspecting each] school districts [district] at district [the
1-14 district's] facilities. The agency shall use the information
1-15 obtained through analysis of district data and from the complaints
1-16 management system to [may] determine the appropriate schedule for
1-17 and extent of the inspection.
1-18 (b) To complete the inspection, the agency must obtain
1-19 information from parents and teachers of students in special
1-20 education programs in the district.
1-21 (e) The agency's complaint management division shall develop
1-22 a system for expedited investigation and resolution of complaints
1-23 concerning a district's failure to provide special education or
1-24 related services to a student eligible to participate in the
2-1 district's special education program.
2-2 (f) This section does not create an obligation for or impose
2-3 a requirement on a school district or open-enrollment charter
2-4 school that is not also created or imposed under another state law
2-5 or a federal law.
2-6 SECTION 2. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended to
2-7 read as follows:
2-8 Sec. 39.053. PERFORMANCE REPORT. (a) Each board of
2-9 trustees shall publish an annual report describing the educational
2-10 performance of the district and of each campus in the district that
2-11 includes uniform student performance and descriptive information as
2-12 determined under rules adopted by the commissioner. The annual
2-13 report must also include:
2-14 (1) campus performance objectives established under
2-15 Section 11.253 and the progress of each campus toward those
2-16 objectives, which shall be available to the public;
2-17 (2) [. The annual report must also include] the
2-18 performance rating for the district as provided under Section
2-19 39.072(a) and the performance rating of each campus in the district
2-20 as provided under Section 39.072(c); and
2-21 (3) the district's current special education
2-22 compliance status with the agency.
2-23 (b) Supplemental information to be included in the reports
2-24 shall be determined by the board of trustees. Performance
2-25 information in the annual reports on the indicators established
2-26 under Section 39.051 and descriptive information required by this
2-27 section shall be provided by the agency.
3-1 (c) [(b)] The board of trustees shall hold a hearing for
3-2 public discussion of the report. The board of trustees shall give
3-3 notice of the hearing to property owners in the district and
3-4 parents, guardians, conservators, and other persons having lawful
3-5 control of a district student. The notification must include
3-6 notice to a newspaper of general circulation in the district and
3-7 notice to electronic media serving the district. After the hearing
3-8 the report shall be widely disseminated within the district in a
3-9 manner to be determined under rules adopted by the commissioner.
3-10 (d) [(c)] The report must also include a comparison provided
3-11 by the agency of:
3-12 (1) the performance of each campus to its previous
3-13 performance and to state-established standards;
3-14 (2) the performance of each district to its previous
3-15 performance and to state-established standards; and
3-16 (3) the performance of each campus or district to
3-17 comparable improvement.
3-18 (e) [(d)] The report may include the following information:
3-19 (1) student information, including total enrollment,
3-20 enrollment by ethnicity, economic status, and grade groupings and
3-21 retention rates;
3-22 (2) financial information, including revenues and
3-23 expenditures;
3-24 (3) staff information, including number and type of
3-25 staff by sex, ethnicity, years of experience, and highest degree
3-26 held, teacher and administrator salaries, and teacher turnover;
3-27 (4) program information, including student enrollment
4-1 by program, teachers by program, and instructional operating
4-2 expenditures by program; and
4-3 (5) the number of students placed in an alternative
4-4 education program under Chapter 37.
4-5 (f) [(e)] The State Board of Education by rule shall
4-6 authorize the combination of this report with other reports and
4-7 financial statements and shall restrict the number and length of
4-8 reports that school districts, school district employees, and
4-9 school campuses are required to prepare.
4-10 (g) [(f)] The report must include a statement of the amount,
4-11 if any, of the school district's unencumbered surplus fund balance
4-12 as of the last day of the preceding fiscal year and the percentage
4-13 of the preceding year's budget that the surplus represents.
4-14 SECTION 3. Section 39.072(b), Education Code, is amended to
4-15 read as follows:
4-16 (b) The academic excellence indicators adopted under
4-17 Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (6) and the district's current
4-18 special education compliance status with the agency shall be the
4-19 main considerations [consideration] of the agency in the rating of
4-20 the district under this section. Additional criteria in the rules
4-21 may include consideration of:
4-22 (1) compliance with statutory requirements and
4-23 requirements imposed by rule of the State Board of Education under
4-24 specific statutory authority that relate to:
4-25 (A) reporting data through the Public Education
4-26 Information Management System (PEIMS);
4-27 (B) the high school graduation requirements
5-1 under Section 28.025; or
5-2 (C) an item listed in Sections
5-3 7.056(e)(3)(C)-(I) that applies to the district; and
5-4 (2) the effectiveness of the district's [programs in
5-5 special education based on the agency's most recent compliance
5-6 review of the district and] programs for special populations.
5-7 SECTION 4. Section 39.073, Education Code, is amended by
5-8 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
5-9 (e) In determining a district's accreditation rating, the
5-10 agency shall consider the district's current special education
5-11 compliance status with the agency.
5-12 SECTION 5. Section 39.182(a), Education Code, is amended to
5-13 read as follows:
5-14 (a) The agency shall prepare and deliver to the governor,
5-15 the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
5-16 representatives, each member of the legislature, the Legislative
5-17 Budget Board, and the clerks of the standing committees of the
5-18 senate and house of representatives with primary jurisdiction over
5-19 the public school system a comprehensive report covering the
5-20 preceding two school years and containing:
5-21 (1) an evaluation of the achievements of the state
5-22 educational program in relation to the statutory goals for the
5-23 public education system under Section 4.002;
5-24 (2) an evaluation of the status of education in the
5-25 state as reflected by the academic excellence indicators adopted
5-26 under Section 39.051;
5-27 (3) a summary compilation of overall student
6-1 performance on academic skills assessment instruments required by
6-2 Section 39.023, aggregated by grade level, subject area, campus,
6-3 and district, with appropriate interpretations and analysis and
6-4 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status;
6-5 (4) an evaluation of the correlation between student
6-6 grades and student performance on academic skills assessment
6-7 instruments required by Section 39.023;
6-8 (5) a statement of the dropout rate of students in
6-9 grade levels 7 through 12, expressed in the aggregate and by grade
6-10 level;
6-11 (6) a statement of the projected cross-sectional and
6-12 longitudinal dropout rates for grade levels 7 through 12 for the
6-13 next five years, assuming no state action is taken to reduce the
6-14 dropout rate;
6-15 (7) a description of a systematic plan for reducing
6-16 the projected cross-sectional and longitudinal dropout rates to
6-17 five percent or less for the 1997-1998 school year;
6-18 (8) a summary of the information required by Section
6-19 29.083 regarding grade level retention of students;
6-20 (9) a list of each school district or campus that does
6-21 not satisfy performance standards, with an explanation of the
6-22 actions taken by the commissioner to improve student performance in
6-23 the district or campus and an evaluation of the results of those
6-24 actions;
6-25 (10) an evaluation of the status of the curriculum
6-26 taught in public schools, with recommendations for legislative
6-27 changes necessary to improve or modify the curriculum required by
7-1 Section 28.002;
7-2 (11) a description of all funds received by and each
7-3 activity and expenditure of the agency;
7-4 (12) a summary and analysis of the compliance of
7-5 school districts with administrative cost ratios set by the
7-6 commissioner under Section 42.201, including any improvements and
7-7 cost savings achieved by school districts;
7-8 (13) a summary of the effect of deregulation,
7-9 including exemptions and waivers granted under Section 7.056 or
7-10 39.112;
7-11 (14) a statement of the total number and length of
7-12 reports that school districts and school district employees must
7-13 submit to the agency, identifying which reports are required by
7-14 federal statute or rule, state statute, or agency rule, and a
7-15 summary of the agency's efforts to reduce overall reporting
7-16 requirements; [and]
7-17 (15) a list of each school district that is not in
7-18 compliance with state special education requirements, including:
7-19 (A) the period for which the district has not
7-20 been in compliance;
7-21 (B) the manner in which the agency considered
7-22 the district's failure to comply in determining the district's
7-23 accreditation status; and
7-24 (C) an explanation of the actions taken by the
7-25 commissioner to ensure compliance and an evaluation of the results
7-26 of those actions; and
7-27 (16) any additional information considered important
8-1 by the commissioner or the State Board of Education.
8-2 SECTION 6. (a) Sections 2-4 of this Act apply beginning
8-3 with the 1999-2000 school year.
8-4 (b) The report required under Section 39.182(a), Education
8-5 Code, must include the information required by Section
8-6 39.182(a)(15), Education Code, as amended by this Act, beginning
8-7 with the first report the Texas Education Agency would regularly
8-8 make under Section 39.182(a), Education Code, after the effective
8-9 date of this Act.
8-10 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
8-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-16 passage, and it is so enacted.