HBA-LJP H.B. 1387 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1387
By: Dukes
Higher Education
3/5/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a high school student is automatically admitted to an
institution of higher education if the student graduates with a grade point
average in the top 10 percent of the student's high school graduating
class.  Because some high schools have special programs such as magnet
schools on the same campus, the method of calculating the class ranking of
students in a special program in relationship to the class ranking of the
other students of the high school has become an issue.  House Bill 1387
separates the class ranking of a special program that is on the same campus
as a high school from the class ranking of the other students of the high
school for the purposes of top 10 percent admissions. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1387 amends the Education Code to provide that for the purposes
of the automatic admissions policies of institutions of higher education, a
qualified high school magnet program, academy, or other special program
within a high school is treated as an independent high school with its own
graduating class separate from the graduating class of other students
attending the high school. The bill provides that for a program to be
treated separately, a student of the special program must be separate from
the other students of the high school in identification and admittance,
have a curriculum different from that of the other students of the high
school, and receive upon graduation, a high school diploma that includes a
reference to the special program. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.