1-1 By: Luna, Hochberg (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 2172
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999;
1-3 May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Education; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to school district compliance with special education laws.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Section 29.010, Education Code, is amended by
1-11 amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (e) and (f)
1-12 to read as follows:
1-13 (a) The agency shall adopt and implement a comprehensive
1-14 system for monitoring [monitor] school district compliance with
1-15 federal and state laws relating to special education. The
1-16 monitoring system must provide for ongoing analysis of district
1-17 special education data and of complaints filed with the agency
1-18 concerning special education services and for inspections of [by
1-19 inspecting each] school districts [district] at district [the
1-20 district's] facilities. The agency shall use the information
1-21 obtained through analysis of district data and from the complaints
1-22 management system to [may] determine the appropriate schedule for
1-23 and extent of the inspection.
1-24 (b) To complete the inspection, the agency must obtain
1-25 information from parents and teachers of students in special
1-26 education programs in the district.
1-27 (e) The agency's complaint management division shall develop
1-28 a system for expedited investigation and resolution of complaints
1-29 concerning a district's failure to provide special education or
1-30 related services to a student eligible to participate in the
1-31 district's special education program.
1-32 (f) This section does not create an obligation for or impose
1-33 a requirement on a school district or open-enrollment charter
1-34 school that is not also created or imposed under another state law
1-35 or a federal law.
1-36 SECTION 2. Section 39.053, Education Code, is amended to
1-37 read as follows:
1-38 Sec. 39.053. PERFORMANCE REPORT. (a) Each board of
1-39 trustees shall publish an annual report describing the educational
1-40 performance of the district and of each campus in the district that
1-41 includes uniform student performance and descriptive information as
1-42 determined under rules adopted by the commissioner. The annual
1-43 report must also include:
1-44 (1) campus performance objectives established under
1-45 Section 11.253 and the progress of each campus toward those
1-46 objectives, which shall be available to the public;
1-47 (2) [. The annual report must also include] the
1-48 performance rating for the district as provided under Section
1-49 39.072(a) and the performance rating of each campus in the district
1-50 as provided under Section 39.072(c); and
1-51 (3) the district's current special education
1-52 compliance status with the agency.
1-53 (b) Supplemental information to be included in the reports
1-54 shall be determined by the board of trustees. Performance
1-55 information in the annual reports on the indicators established
1-56 under Section 39.051 and descriptive information required by this
1-57 section shall be provided by the agency.
1-58 (c) [(b)] The board of trustees shall hold a hearing for
1-59 public discussion of the report. The board of trustees shall give
1-60 notice of the hearing to property owners in the district and
1-61 parents, guardians, conservators, and other persons having lawful
1-62 control of a district student. The notification must include
1-63 notice to a newspaper of general circulation in the district and
1-64 notice to electronic media serving the district. After the hearing
2-1 the report shall be widely disseminated within the district in a
2-2 manner to be determined under rules adopted by the commissioner.
2-3 (d) [(c)] The report must also include a comparison provided
2-4 by the agency of:
2-5 (1) the performance of each campus to its previous
2-6 performance and to state-established standards;
2-7 (2) the performance of each district to its previous
2-8 performance and to state-established standards; and
2-9 (3) the performance of each campus or district to
2-10 comparable improvement.
2-11 (e) [(d)] The report may include the following information:
2-12 (1) student information, including total enrollment,
2-13 enrollment by ethnicity, economic status, and grade groupings and
2-14 retention rates;
2-15 (2) financial information, including revenues and
2-16 expenditures;
2-17 (3) staff information, including number and type of
2-18 staff by sex, ethnicity, years of experience, and highest degree
2-19 held, teacher and administrator salaries, and teacher turnover;
2-20 (4) program information, including student enrollment
2-21 by program, teachers by program, and instructional operating
2-22 expenditures by program; and
2-23 (5) the number of students placed in an alternative
2-24 education program under Chapter 37.
2-25 (f) [(e)] The State Board of Education by rule shall
2-26 authorize the combination of this report with other reports and
2-27 financial statements and shall restrict the number and length of
2-28 reports that school districts, school district employees, and
2-29 school campuses are required to prepare.
2-30 (g) [(f)] The report must include a statement of the amount,
2-31 if any, of the school district's unencumbered surplus fund balance
2-32 as of the last day of the preceding fiscal year and the percentage
2-33 of the preceding year's budget that the surplus represents.
2-34 SECTION 3. Section 39.072(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-35 read as follows:
2-36 (b) The academic excellence indicators adopted under
2-37 Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (6) and the district's current
2-38 special education compliance status with the agency shall be the
2-39 main considerations [consideration] of the agency in the rating of
2-40 the district under this section. Additional criteria in the rules
2-41 may include consideration of:
2-42 (1) compliance with statutory requirements and
2-43 requirements imposed by rule of the State Board of Education under
2-44 specific statutory authority that relate to:
2-45 (A) reporting data through the Public Education
2-46 Information Management System (PEIMS);
2-47 (B) the high school graduation requirements
2-48 under Section 28.025; or
2-49 (C) an item listed in Sections
2-50 7.056(e)(3)(C)-(I) that applies to the district; and
2-51 (2) the effectiveness of the district's [programs in
2-52 special education based on the agency's most recent compliance
2-53 review of the district and] programs for special populations.
2-54 SECTION 4. Section 39.073, Education Code, is amended by
2-55 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
2-56 (e) In determining a district's accreditation rating, the
2-57 agency shall consider the district's current special education
2-58 compliance status with the agency.
2-59 SECTION 5. Section 39.182(a), Education Code, is amended to
2-60 read as follows:
2-61 (a) The agency shall prepare and deliver to the governor,
2-62 the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
2-63 representatives, each member of the legislature, the Legislative
2-64 Budget Board, and the clerks of the standing committees of the
2-65 senate and house of representatives with primary jurisdiction over
2-66 the public school system a comprehensive report covering the
2-67 preceding two school years and containing:
2-68 (1) an evaluation of the achievements of the state
2-69 educational program in relation to the statutory goals for the
3-1 public education system under Section 4.002;
3-2 (2) an evaluation of the status of education in the
3-3 state as reflected by the academic excellence indicators adopted
3-4 under Section 39.051;
3-5 (3) a summary compilation of overall student
3-6 performance on academic skills assessment instruments required by
3-7 Section 39.023, aggregated by grade level, subject area, campus,
3-8 and district, with appropriate interpretations and analysis and
3-9 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status;
3-10 (4) an evaluation of the correlation between student
3-11 grades and student performance on academic skills assessment
3-12 instruments required by Section 39.023;
3-13 (5) a statement of the dropout rate of students in
3-14 grade levels 7 through 12, expressed in the aggregate and by grade
3-15 level;
3-16 (6) a statement of the projected cross-sectional and
3-17 longitudinal dropout rates for grade levels 7 through 12 for the
3-18 next five years, assuming no state action is taken to reduce the
3-19 dropout rate;
3-20 (7) a description of a systematic plan for reducing
3-21 the projected cross-sectional and longitudinal dropout rates to
3-22 five percent or less for the 1997-1998 school year;
3-23 (8) a summary of the information required by Section
3-24 29.083 regarding grade level retention of students;
3-25 (9) a list of each school district or campus that does
3-26 not satisfy performance standards, with an explanation of the
3-27 actions taken by the commissioner to improve student performance in
3-28 the district or campus and an evaluation of the results of those
3-29 actions;
3-30 (10) an evaluation of the status of the curriculum
3-31 taught in public schools, with recommendations for legislative
3-32 changes necessary to improve or modify the curriculum required by
3-33 Section 28.002;
3-34 (11) a description of all funds received by and each
3-35 activity and expenditure of the agency;
3-36 (12) a summary and analysis of the compliance of
3-37 school districts with administrative cost ratios set by the
3-38 commissioner under Section 42.201, including any improvements and
3-39 cost savings achieved by school districts;
3-40 (13) a summary of the effect of deregulation,
3-41 including exemptions and waivers granted under Section 7.056 or
3-42 39.112;
3-43 (14) a statement of the total number and length of
3-44 reports that school districts and school district employees must
3-45 submit to the agency, identifying which reports are required by
3-46 federal statute or rule, state statute, or agency rule, and a
3-47 summary of the agency's efforts to reduce overall reporting
3-48 requirements; [and]
3-49 (15) a list of each school district that is not in
3-50 compliance with state special education requirements, including:
3-51 (A) the period for which the district has not
3-52 been in compliance;
3-53 (B) the manner in which the agency considered
3-54 the district's failure to comply in determining the district's
3-55 accreditation status; and
3-56 (C) an explanation of the actions taken by the
3-57 commissioner to ensure compliance and an evaluation of the results
3-58 of those actions; and
3-59 (16) any additional information considered important
3-60 by the commissioner or the State Board of Education.
3-61 SECTION 6. (a) Sections 2-4 of this Act apply beginning
3-62 with the 1999-2000 school year.
3-63 (b) The report required under Section 39.182(a), Education
3-64 Code, must include the information required by Section
3-65 39.182(a)(15), Education Code, as amended by this Act, beginning
3-66 with the first report the Texas Education Agency would regularly
3-67 make under Section 39.182(a), Education Code, after the effective
3-68 date of this Act.
3-69 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-5 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-6 passage, and it is so enacted.
4-7 * * * * *