1-1 By: Barrientos, et al. S.B. No. 1561
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 26, 1999,
1-4 reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 1; April 26, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1561 By: West
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to students who drop out of public school.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 5.001, Education Code, is amended to read
1-12 as follows:
1-13 Sec. 5.001. Definitions. In this title:
1-14 (1) "Agency" means the Texas Education Agency.
1-15 (2) "Annual event dropout rate" means a rate computed
1-16 as a percentage of dropouts over a one-year period measured against
1-17 a cohort of students who entered the same grade level at the same
1-18 time as the dropouts.
1-19 (3) "Classroom teacher" means an educator who is
1-20 employed by a school district and who, not less than an average of
1-21 four hours each day, teaches in an academic instructional setting
1-22 or a career and technology instructional setting. The term does
1-23 not include a teacher's aide or a full-time administrator.
1-24 (4) [(3)] "Commissioner" means the commissioner of
1-25 education.
1-26 (5) "Dropout" means a student enrolled in a public
1-27 school in this state:
1-28 (A) who withdraws from school without earning a
1-29 high school diploma or the necessary credits to graduate from high
1-30 school; and
1-31 (B) whose enrollment in another school in this
1-32 country that grants high school diplomas or graduate equivalency
1-33 certificates has not been verified and recorded by a school
1-34 district in this state or by the agency.
1-35 (6) [(4)] "Educationally disadvantaged" means eligible
1-36 to participate in the national free or reduced-price lunch program
1-37 established under 42 U.S.C. Section 1751 et seq.
1-38 (7) [(5)] "Educator" means a person who is required to
1-39 hold a certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
1-40 (8) "Longitudinal dropout rate" means a rate computed
1-41 as a percentage of dropout over a four-year period measured against
1-42 a cohort of students who entered the ninth grade at the same time
1-43 as the dropouts.
1-44 (9) [(6)] "Open-enrollment charter school" means a
1-45 school that has been granted a charter under Subchapter D, Chapter
1-46 12.
1-47 (10) [(7)] "Regional education service centers" means
1-48 a system of regional and educational services established in
1-49 Chapter 8.
1-50 SECTION 2. Section 39.051, Education Code, is amended by
1-51 adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
1-52 (g) Beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, a campus or
1-53 district may not be rated acceptable unless its annual event
1-54 dropout rate is five percent or less. The commissioner shall
1-55 report to the legislature in January, 2001, with a plan to
1-56 incrementally decrease the annual event dropout rate so that an
1-57 acceptable rating may be set by a school year stated in that plan
1-58 which provides a campus and a district longitudinal dropout rate of
1-59 five percent.
1-60 SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 39.182, Education Code,
1-61 is amended to read as follows:
1-62 (a) The agency shall prepare and deliver to the governor,
1-63 the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
1-64 representatives, each member of the legislature, the Legislative
2-1 Budget Board, and the clerks of the standing committees of the
2-2 senate and house of representatives with primary jurisdiction over
2-3 the public school system a comprehensive report covering the
2-4 preceding two school years and containing:
2-5 (1) an evaluation of the achievements of the state
2-6 educational program in relation to the statutory goals for the
2-7 public education system under Section 4.002;
2-8 (2) an evaluation of the status of education in the
2-9 state as reflected by the academic excellence indicators adopted
2-10 under Section 39.051;
2-11 (3) a summary compilation of overall student
2-12 performance on academic skills assessment instruments required by
2-13 Section 39.023, aggregated by grade level, subject area, campus,
2-14 and district, with appropriate interpretations and analysis and
2-15 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, and socioeconomic status;
2-16 (4) an evaluation of the correlation between student
2-17 grades and student performance on academic skills assessment
2-18 instruments required by Section 39.023;
2-19 (5) a statement of the annual event dropout rate of
2-20 students:
2-21 (A) in grade levels 7 through 12, expressed in
2-22 the aggregate; and
2-23 (B) in grade levels 9 through 12, expressed in
2-24 the aggregate and by grade level and disaggregated by sex and by
2-25 the number of students who have also been retained at a grade
2-26 level;
2-27 (6) a statement of the projected cross-sectional and
2-28 longitudinal dropout rates for grade levels 7 through 12 for the
2-29 next five years based on the most recent annual event dropout rate,
2-30 assuming no state action is taken to reduce the dropout rate;
2-31 (7) a description of a measurable systematic plan for
2-32 reducing the projected cross-sectional and longitudinal dropout
2-33 rates to five percent or less beginning with [for] the 2004-2005
2-34 [1997-1998] school year;
2-35 (8) a summary of the information required by Section
2-36 29.083 regarding grade level retention of students;
2-37 (9) a list of each school district or campus that does
2-38 not satisfy performance standards, with an explanation of the
2-39 actions taken by the commissioner to improve student performance in
2-40 the district or campus and an evaluation of the results of those
2-41 actions;
2-42 (10) an evaluation of the status of the curriculum
2-43 taught in public schools, with recommendations for legislative
2-44 changes necessary to improve or modify the curriculum required by
2-45 Section 28.002;
2-46 (11) a description of all funds received by and each
2-47 activity and expenditure of the agency;
2-48 (12) a summary and analysis of the compliance of
2-49 school districts with administrative cost ratios set by the
2-50 commissioner under Section 42.201, including any improvements and
2-51 cost savings achieved by school districts;
2-52 (13) a summary of the effect of deregulation,
2-53 including exemptions and waivers granted under Section 7.056 or
2-54 39.112;
2-55 (14) a statement of the total number and length of
2-56 reports that school districts and school district employees must
2-57 submit to the agency, identifying which reports are required by
2-58 federal statute or rule, state statute, or agency rule, and a
2-59 summary of the agency's efforts to reduce overall reporting
2-60 requirements; and
2-61 (15) any additional information considered important
2-62 by the commissioner or the State Board of Education.
2-63 SECTION 4. Section 42.152, Education Code, is amended by
2-64 adding Subsections (s) and (t) to read as follows:
2-65 (s) From the total amount of funds appropriated for
2-66 allotments under this section, the commissioner shall, each fiscal
2-67 year, withhold $250,000 or a greater amount as determined in the
2-68 General Appropriations Act and out of that amount distribute:
2-69 (1) $10,000 or a greater amount as determined in the
3-1 General Appropriations Act to each of the 20 high school campuses
3-2 that achieved the greatest annual reduction in the longitudinal
3-3 dropout rate for the preceding school year; and
3-4 (2) $50,000 or a greater amount as determined by the
3-5 General Appropriations Act among other districts selected by the
3-6 commissioner according to guidelines adopted by the commissioner to
3-7 be used for instructional materials or program replication based on
3-8 programs used to lower the dropout rate in districts described
3-9 under Subdivision (1).
3-10 (t) After deducting the amount withheld under Subsection (s)
3-11 from the total amount appropriated for the allotment under
3-12 Subsection (a), the commissioner shall reduce each district's
3-13 allotments in the same manner described for a reduction in
3-14 allotments under Section 42.253.
3-15 SECTION 5. Section 29.081, Education Code, is amended by
3-16 adding Subsections (j) and (k) to read as follows:
3-17 (j) A school district shall determine and document the
3-18 educational status of each student who:
3-19 (1) does not resume attendance in the district at the
3-20 beginning of a school year after attending school in the district
3-21 during the preceding school year, unless the student graduated at
3-22 the end of the preceding school year; or
3-23 (2) is absent from school for 10 or more consecutive
3-24 school days, if the absences are unexcused.
3-25 (k) A school district shall take and document all possible
3-26 steps to encourage or require appropriate students identified under
3-27 Subsection (j) to return to school.
3-28 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-29 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
3-30 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-31 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-32 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-33 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-34 * * * * *