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.