By Luna H.B. No. 2172
76R6760 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 Subsection (e) to read
1-6 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 district at the district's facilities. The
1-14 agency shall use the information obtained through analysis of
1-15 district data and from the complaints management system to [may]
1-16 determine the appropriate schedule for and extent of the
1-17 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 shall develop a system for expedited
1-22 investigation and resolution of complaints concerning a district's
1-23 failure to provide special education or related services to a
1-24 student eligible to participate in the district's special education
2-1 program.
2-2 SECTION 2. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended to
2-3 read as follows:
2-4 Sec. 39.053. PERORMANCE REPORT. (a) Each board of trustees
2-5 shall publish an annual report describing the educational
2-6 performance of the district and of each campus in the district that
2-7 includes uniform student performance and descriptive information as
2-8 determined under rules adopted by the commissioner. The annual
2-9 report must also include:
2-10 (1) campus performance objectives established under
2-11 Section 11.253 and the progress of each campus toward those
2-12 objectives, which shall be available to the public;
2-13 (2)[. The annual report must also include] the
2-14 performance rating for the district as provided under Section
2-15 39.072(a) and the performance rating of each campus in the district
2-16 as provided under Section 39.072(c); and
2-17 (3) the most recent compliance monitoring report of
2-18 the district's special education program, including the progress of
2-19 the district toward implementing any resulting corrective action,
2-20 which shall be available to the public.
2-21 (b) Supplemental information to be included in the reports
2-22 shall be determined by the board of trustees. Performance
2-23 information in the annual reports on the indicators established
2-24 under Section 39.051 and descriptive information required by this
2-25 section shall be provided by the agency.
2-26 (c) [(b)] The board of trustees shall hold a hearing for
2-27 public discussion of the report. The board of trustees shall give
3-1 notice of the hearing to property owners in the district and
3-2 parents, guardians, conservators, and other persons having lawful
3-3 control of a district student. The notification must include
3-4 notice to a newspaper of general circulation in the district and
3-5 notice to electronic media serving the district. After the hearing
3-6 the report shall be widely disseminated within the district in a
3-7 manner to be determined under rules adopted by the commissioner.
3-8 (d) [(c)] The report must also include a comparison provided
3-9 by the agency of:
3-10 (1) the performance of each campus to its previous
3-11 performance and to state-established standards;
3-12 (2) the performance of each district to its previous
3-13 performance and to state-established standards; and
3-14 (3) the performance of each campus or district to
3-15 comparable improvement.
3-16 (e) [(d)] The report may include the following information:
3-17 (1) student information, including total enrollment,
3-18 enrollment by ethnicity, economic status, and grade groupings and
3-19 retention rates;
3-20 (2) financial information, including revenues and
3-21 expenditures;
3-22 (3) staff information, including number and type of
3-23 staff by sex, ethnicity, years of experience, and highest degree
3-24 held, teacher and administrator salaries, and teacher turnover;
3-25 (4) program information, including student enrollment
3-26 by program, teachers by program, and instructional operating
3-27 expenditures by program; and
4-1 (5) the number of students placed in an alternative
4-2 education program under Chapter 37.
4-3 (f) [(e)] The State Board of Education by rule shall
4-4 authorize the combination of this report with other reports and
4-5 financial statements and shall restrict the number and length of
4-6 reports that school districts, school district employees, and
4-7 school campuses are required to prepare.
4-8 (g) [(f)] The report must include a statement of the amount,
4-9 if any, of the school district's unencumbered surplus fund balance
4-10 as of the last day of the preceding fiscal year and the percentage
4-11 of the preceding year's budget that the surplus represents.
4-12 SECTION 3. Section 39.072(b), Education Code, is amended to
4-13 read as follows:
4-14 (b) The academic excellence indicators adopted under
4-15 Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (6) and the effectiveness of the
4-16 district's special education program based on the agency's most
4-17 recent compliance review of the district shall be the main
4-18 considerations [consideration] of the agency in the rating of the
4-19 district under this section. Additional criteria in the rules may
4-20 include consideration of:
4-21 (1) compliance with statutory requirements and
4-22 requirements imposed by rule of the State Board of Education under
4-23 specific statutory authority that relate to:
4-24 (A) reporting data through the Public Education
4-25 Information Management System (PEIMS);
4-26 (B) the high school graduation requirements
4-27 under Section 28.025; or
5-1 (C) an item listed in Sections
5-2 7.056(e)(3)(C)-(I) that applies to the district; and
5-3 (2) the effectiveness of the district's [programs in
5-4 special education based on the agency's most recent compliance
5-5 review of the district and] programs for special populations.
5-6 SECTION 4. Sections 39.073(a) and (d), Education Code, are
5-7 amended to read as follows:
5-8 (a) The agency shall annually review the performance of each
5-9 district and campus on the indicators adopted under Sections
5-10 39.051(b)(1) through (6) and the effectiveness of the district's
5-11 special education program based on the agency's most recent
5-12 compliance review of the district and determine if a change in the
5-13 accreditation status of the district is warranted.
5-14 (d) The commissioner shall notify a district that is rated
5-15 academically unacceptable that the performance of the district or a
5-16 campus in the district is below each standard under Subsection (b)
5-17 or that the effectiveness of the district's special education
5-18 program is unacceptable and shall require the district to notify
5-19 property owners and parents in the district of the lowered
5-20 accreditation rating and its implication.
5-21 SECTION 5. Section 39.182(a), Education Code, is amended to
5-22 read as follows:
5-23 (a) The agency shall prepare and deliver to the governor,
5-24 the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
5-25 representatives, each member of the legislature, the Legislative
5-26 Budget Board, and the clerks of the standing committees of the
5-27 senate and house of representatives with primary jurisdiction over
6-1 the public school system a comprehensive report covering the
6-2 preceding two school years and containing:
6-3 (1) an evaluation of the achievements of the state
6-4 educational program in relation to the statutory goals for the
6-5 public education system under Section 4.002;
6-6 (2) an evaluation of the status of education in the
6-7 state as reflected by the academic excellence indicators adopted
6-8 under Section 39.051;
6-9 (3) a summary compilation of overall student
6-10 performance on academic skills assessment instruments required by
6-11 Section 39.023, aggregated by grade level, subject area, campus,
6-12 and district, with appropriate interpretations and analysis and
6-13 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status;
6-14 (4) an evaluation of the correlation between student
6-15 grades and student performance on academic skills assessment
6-16 instruments required by Section 39.023;
6-17 (5) a statement of the dropout rate of students in
6-18 grade levels 7 through 12, expressed in the aggregate and by grade
6-19 level;
6-20 (6) a statement of the projected cross-sectional and
6-21 longitudinal dropout rates for grade levels 7 through 12 for the
6-22 next five years, assuming no state action is taken to reduce the
6-23 dropout rate;
6-24 (7) a description of a systematic plan for reducing
6-25 the projected cross-sectional and longitudinal dropout rates to
6-26 five percent or less for the 1997-1998 school year;
6-27 (8) a summary of the information required by Section
7-1 29.083 regarding grade level retention of students;
7-2 (9) a list of each school district or campus that does
7-3 not satisfy performance standards, with an explanation of the
7-4 actions taken by the commissioner to improve student performance in
7-5 the district or campus and an evaluation of the results of those
7-6 actions;
7-7 (10) an evaluation of the status of the curriculum
7-8 taught in public schools, with recommendations for legislative
7-9 changes necessary to improve or modify the curriculum required by
7-10 Section 28.002;
7-11 (11) a description of all funds received by and each
7-12 activity and expenditure of the agency;
7-13 (12) a summary and analysis of the compliance of
7-14 school districts with administrative cost ratios set by the
7-15 commissioner under Section 42.201, including any improvements and
7-16 cost savings achieved by school districts;
7-17 (13) a summary of the effect of deregulation,
7-18 including exemptions and waivers granted under Section 7.056 or
7-19 39.112;
7-20 (14) a statement of the total number and length of
7-21 reports that school districts and school district employees must
7-22 submit to the agency, identifying which reports are required by
7-23 federal statute or rule, state statute, or agency rule, and a
7-24 summary of the agency's efforts to reduce overall reporting
7-25 requirements; [and]
7-26 (15) a list of each school district that is not in
7-27 compliance with state special education requirements, including:
8-1 (A) the period for which the district has not
8-2 been in compliance;
8-3 (B) the manner in which the agency considered
8-4 the district's failure to comply in determining the district's
8-5 accreditation status; and
8-6 (C) an explanation of the actions taken by the
8-7 commissioner to ensure compliance and an evaluation of the results
8-8 of those actions; and
8-9 (16) any additional information considered important
8-10 by the commissioner or the State Board of Education.
8-11 SECTION 6. (a) Sections 2-4 of this Act apply beginning
8-12 with the 1999-2000 school year.
8-13 (b) The report required under Section 39.182(a), Education
8-14 Code, must include the information required by Section
8-15 39.182(a)(15), Education Code, as amended by this Act, beginning
8-16 with the first report the Texas Education Agency would regularly
8-17 make under Section 39.182(a), Education Code, after the effective
8-18 date of this Act.
8-19 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
8-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-25 passage, and it is so enacted.