LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 76th Regular Session
Revision 1
February 16, 1999
TO: Honorable Teel Bivins, Chair, Senate Committee on
Education
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: SB1 by Bivins (relating to the promotion of public
school students based on satisfactory performance on
certain assessment instruments and to programs to assist
students in achieving satisfactory performance),
Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
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* This bill has potentially significant fiscal cost impact to general *
* revenue. Many of the provisions of the bill cannot be implemented *
* unless state appropriations are made through the General *
* Appropriations Act. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
* *
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The bill reinforces early reading instruction and ends automatic
promotion for students who do not pass repeated TAAS administrations.
Districts must provide parental notification if children fall below grade
level in reading. The bill would add a new category to the Academic
Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) to reflect students promoted by grade
placement committees.
Students who fail TAAS tests a second time in one academic year would
require the attention of a local grade placement committee that would
determine appropriate accelerated reading instruction, the promotion
status of a student, and hear parental appeals. Retentions, and the
necessity for grade placement committees, would be phased in, beginning
with assessments in third grade in fiscal year 2003, fifth grade in
fiscal year 2005, and eighth grade in fiscal year 2008.
Sections of the bill are contingent on sufficient appropriations for the
administration of a reading instruction program for grades K-2,
accelerated instruction for students who fail TAAS tests in grades 3, 5 ,
and 8, and professional development for teachers who provide remedial
instruction as specified under the Act.
Due to additional testing requirements, the state would incur costs
through the design and administration of new TAAS tests. Under current
law, costs associated with the design and administration of assessment
instruments are set aside from the compensatory education allotment, a
calculation that creates lower weighted student counts and thus lowers
state aid through Tier II. Consequently, the state would experience a
net savings because of reduction in the compensatory education allotment.
The state would save $180,000 beginning in fiscal year 2001, rising to
$518,000 in fiscal year 2003.
The Texas Education Agency estimates that the costs of assessment design
and administration would be $365,094 in fiscal year 2001, $360,094 in
fiscal year 2002, ultimately rising to $1,068,513 in fiscal year 2003.
Costs increase as retentions are gradually phased in. The costs are
primarily for additional staff and professional services to design and
administer new assessment instruments, and would be funded by the
compensatory education allotment.
Test design and administration contract costs would be $250,000 in fiscal
year 2001, rising to $850,000 by fiscal year 2003.
Local Government Impact
Local costs would arise from the establishment of the grade placement
committees. At full implementation in fiscal year 2008, grade placement
committees would cost local districts $6.9 million. Estimates of
second-time failures are unavailable, but the assumption that one-half of
students who fail primary assessments would also fail a second test
yields 75,000 pupils who require committee attention. At full
implementation, the local committee workload would be equal to 100
full-time equivalent principal designees and 100 full-time equivalent
teachers. The $6.9 million figure is an estimate of the staff salary
costs necessary to maintain tasks put aside because of placement
committees. Due to the gradual introduction of retention over the next
five years, the first year to show local costs associated with placement
committees would be fiscal year 2003, with a statewide local cost of $1.8
million.
At full implementation in fiscal year 2008, parental notification in
grades 3, 5 and 8 would cost local districts $75,000.
Retentions would also create costs for school districts, although the
volume of retentions and costs would be determined by the eventual work
of the grade placement committees.
Source Agencies: 701 Texas Education Agency - Administration
LBB Staff: JK, CT, RN, CW, BB