By Seaman, Solis, Keffer, Zbranek, H.B. No. 660
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to career and technology education and training.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 4.001(b), Education Code, is amended to
1-5 read as follows:
1-6 (b) The objectives of public education are:
1-7 OBJECTIVE 1: Parents will be full partners with educators in
1-8 the education of their children.
1-9 OBJECTIVE 2: Students will be encouraged and challenged to
1-10 meet their full educational potential.
1-11 OBJECTIVE 3: Through enhanced dropout prevention efforts,
1-12 all students will remain in school until they obtain a high school
1-13 diploma.
1-14 OBJECTIVE 4: A well-balanced and appropriate curriculum will
1-15 be provided to all students.
1-16 OBJECTIVE 5: Qualified and highly effective personnel will
1-17 be recruited, developed, and retained.
1-18 OBJECTIVE 6: The state's students will demonstrate exemplary
1-19 performance in comparison to national and international standards.
1-20 OBJECTIVE 7: School campuses will maintain a safe and
1-21 disciplined environment conducive to student learning.
1-22 OBJECTIVE 8: Educators will keep abreast of the development
1-23 of creative and innovative techniques in instruction and
1-24 administration using those techniques as appropriate to improve
1-25 student learning.
2-1 OBJECTIVE 9: Technology will be implemented and used to
2-2 increase the effectiveness of student learning, instructional
2-3 management, staff development, and administration.
2-4 OBJECTIVE 10: School districts will offer programs of study
2-5 for broad career concentrations in areas of agriculture science
2-6 technology, arts and communication, business education, family and
2-7 consumer science, health occupations technology, trade and
2-8 industry, and technology education that will prepare students for
2-9 continued learning and postsecondary education in employment
2-10 settings.
2-11 SECTION 2. Section 11.251(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-12 read as follows:
2-13 (b) The board shall adopt a policy to establish a
2-14 district- and campus-level planning and decision-making process
2-15 that will involve the professional staff of the district, parents,
2-16 and community members in establishing and reviewing the district's
2-17 and campuses' educational plans, goals, performance objectives, and
2-18 major classroom instructional programs. The board shall establish
2-19 a procedure under which meetings are held regularly by
2-20 district- and campus-level planning and decision-making committees
2-21 that include representative professional staff, parents of students
2-22 enrolled in the district, business and industry representatives,
2-23 and community members. The committees shall include a business and
2-24 industry representative [representatives,] without regard to
2-25 whether the [a business] representative resides in the district or
2-26 whether the business or industry the person represents is located
2-27 in the district. The board, or the board's designee, shall
3-1 periodically meet with the district-level committee to review the
3-2 district-level committee's deliberations.
3-3 SECTION 3. Section 28.002(d), Education Code, is amended to
3-4 read as follows:
3-5 (d) The State Board of Education, after consulting with
3-6 educators, parents, business and industry representatives, and
3-7 employers, shall by rule identify the essential knowledge and
3-8 skills of each subject of the enrichment curriculum that all
3-9 students should be able to demonstrate. Each district shall use
3-10 the essential knowledge and skills identified by the board as
3-11 guidelines in providing instruction in the enrichment curriculum.
3-12 Each district may include in the career and technology education
3-13 curriculum required under Subsection (a)(2)(F) instruction in
3-14 career awareness as provided by this subsection and by State Board
3-15 of Education rule. A district is not required to develop a new
3-16 course or purchase additional textbooks in providing instruction in
3-17 career awareness under this subsection. Any instruction in career
3-18 awareness provided to students at the middle or junior high school
3-19 level must:
3-20 (1) emphasize the manner in which the academic
3-21 curriculum is relevant to career goals;
3-22 (2) enable each student to develop preliminary
3-23 educational and career objectives based on the student's interests
3-24 and career goals;
3-25 (3) enable each student to develop a high school
3-26 graduation plan that includes the academic and career and
3-27 technology courses and the sequence of those courses that the
4-1 student should take to achieve educational and career goals; and
4-2 (4) ensure that each student's choices of academic and
4-3 career and technology courses will:
4-4 (A) permit the student to achieve the student's
4-5 postsecondary education and career goals; and
4-6 (B) provide the student with the education and
4-7 skills necessary to meet or exceed business or industry standards.
4-8 SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
4-9 amended by adding Section 29.1821 to read as follows:
4-10 Sec. 29.1821. CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION ADVISORY
4-11 BOARD. (a) The Career and Technology Education Advisory Board
4-12 consists of nine members appointed by the commissioner.
4-13 (b) The board must include:
4-14 (1) one representative from the agency;
4-15 (2) one representative from the Texas Workforce
4-16 Commission;
4-17 (3) two members who represent the business and
4-18 industry community;
4-19 (4) three members who represent educators,
4-20 administrators, or parents; and
4-21 (5) two members who represent institutions of higher
4-22 education.
4-23 (c) A member of the board serves at the pleasure of the
4-24 commissioner.
4-25 (d) A member of the board may not:
4-26 (1) receive compensation for service on the board; or
4-27 (2) be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred while
5-1 conducting the business of the board.
5-2 (e) The board shall:
5-3 (1) assist the agency in developing the state plan for
5-4 career and technology education required under Section 29.182; and
5-5 (2) on request, assist school districts in developing
5-6 career and technology programs under this subchapter.
5-7 SECTION 5. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
5-8 amended by adding Section 29.187 to read as follows:
5-9 Sec. 29.187. AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN CAREER
5-10 AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION; PROGRAM. (a) In addition to the
5-11 authority granted under Section 29.183, the board of trustees of a
5-12 school district may develop and offer a program under which a
5-13 student may:
5-14 (1) receive specific education in a career and
5-15 technology profession that:
5-16 (A) leads to postsecondary education; or
5-17 (B) meets or exceeds business or industry
5-18 standards; and
5-19 (2) obtain from the district an award for
5-20 distinguished achievement in career and technology education and a
5-21 stamp or other notation on the student's transcript that indicates
5-22 receipt of the award.
5-23 (b) An award granted under this section is not in lieu of a
5-24 diploma or certificate of coursework completion issued under
5-25 Section 28.025.
5-26 (c) In developing a program under this section, the board of
5-27 trustees of a school district shall consider the state plan for
6-1 career and technology education required under Section 29.182.
6-2 (d) The board of trustees of a school district may contract
6-3 with an entity listed in Section 29.184(a) for assistance in
6-4 developing the program or providing instruction to district
6-5 students participating in the program.
6-6 (e) The board of trustees of a school district may also
6-7 contract with a local business or a local institution of higher
6-8 education for assistance in developing or operating a program under
6-9 this section. A program may provide education in areas of
6-10 technology unique to the local area.
6-11 (f) The board of trustees of a school district may provide
6-12 insurance to protect a business that contracts with the district
6-13 under Subsection (e) against liability for a bodily injury
6-14 sustained by or the death of a district student while working for
6-15 the business as part of a program established under this section.
6-16 The amount of insurance the district provides must be reasonable
6-17 considering the financial condition of the district. The insurance
6-18 must be:
6-19 (1) obtained from a reliable insurer authorized to
6-20 engage in business in the state; and
6-21 (2) submitted on a form approved by the commissioner
6-22 of insurance.
6-23 (g) The board of trustees of a school district must submit a
6-24 proposed program under this section to the commissioner in
6-25 accordance with criteria established by the commissioner.
6-26 SECTION 6. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
6-27 amended by adding Section 29.188 to read as follows:
7-1 Sec. 29.188. RECOGNITION OF SUCCESSFUL CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY
7-2 EDUCATION PROGRAM. The governor is encouraged to present a
7-3 proclamation or certificate to each member of the business and
7-4 industry community that the Texas Workforce Commission, in
7-5 cooperation with the agency, determines has successfully assisted
7-6 in the provision of a career and technology education program under
7-7 this subchapter.
7-8 SECTION 7. Section 61.077(b), Education Code, is amended to
7-9 read as follows:
7-10 (b) The purposes of this committee shall include the
7-11 following:
7-12 (1) to advise the two boards on the coordination of
7-13 postsecondary career and technology education and the articulation
7-14 between postsecondary career and technology education and secondary
7-15 career and technology education;
7-16 (2) to facilitate the transfer of responsibilities for
7-17 the administration of postsecondary career and technology education
7-18 from the State Board of Education to the board in accordance with
7-19 Section 111(a)(I) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act,
7-20 Public Law 98-524;
7-21 (3) to cooperate with [advise] the Career and
7-22 Technology Education Advisory Board, the commissioner of higher
7-23 education, and the State Board of Education, when it acts as the
7-24 State Board for Career and Technology Education, on the following:
7-25 (A) the transfer of federal funds to the board
7-26 for allotment to eligible public postsecondary institutions of
7-27 higher education;
8-1 (B) the career and technology education funding
8-2 for projects and institutions as determined by the board when the
8-3 State Board for Career and Technology Education is required by
8-4 federal law to endorse such determinations;
8-5 (C) the development and updating of the state
8-6 plan for career and technology education and the evaluation of
8-7 programs, services, and activities of postsecondary career and
8-8 technology education and such amendments to the state plan for
8-9 career and technology education as may relate to postsecondary
8-10 education;
8-11 (D) other matters related to postsecondary
8-12 career and technology education; and
8-13 (E) the coordination of curricula, instructional
8-14 programs, research, and other functions as appropriate, including
8-15 areas listed in Section 61.076 of this code, school-to-work and
8-16 school-to-college transition programs, and professional development
8-17 activities; and
8-18 (4) to advise the Council on Workforce and Economic
8-19 Competitiveness on educational policy issues related to workforce
8-20 preparation.
8-21 SECTION 8. Section 41.123, Education Code, is amended to
8-22 read as follows:
8-23 Sec. 41.123. WADA COUNT. For purposes of Chapter 42,
8-24 students served under an agreement under this subchapter are
8-25 counted only in the weighted average daily attendance of the
8-26 district providing the services, except that students served under
8-27 an agreement authorized by Section 41.125 are counted in a manner
9-1 determined by the commissioner.
9-2 SECTION 9. Subchapter E, Chapter 41, Education Code, is
9-3 amended by adding Section 41.125 to read as follows:
9-4 Sec. 41.125. CAREER AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION PROGRAMS. (a)
9-5 The board of trustees of a school district with a wealth per
9-6 student that exceeds the equalized wealth level may reduce the
9-7 district's wealth per student by executing an agreement to provide
9-8 students of one or more other districts with career and technology
9-9 education through a program designated as an area program for
9-10 career and technology education.
9-11 (b) The agreement is not effective unless the commissioner
9-12 certifies that:
9-13 (1) implementation of the agreement will not result in
9-14 any of the affected districts' wealth per student being greater
9-15 than the equalized wealth level; and
9-16 (2) the agreement requires the district with a wealth
9-17 per student that exceeds the equalized wealth level to make
9-18 expenditures benefiting students from other districts in an amount
9-19 at least equal to the amount that would be required for the
9-20 district to purchase the number of attendance credits under
9-21 Subchapter D necessary, in combination with any other actions taken
9-22 under this chapter other than an action under this section, to
9-23 reduce the district's wealth per student to a level that is equal
9-24 to or less than the equalized wealth level.
9-25 (c) The board of trustees of the school district shall
9-26 obtain voter approval of the agreement in the manner provided by
9-27 Section 41.122, except that the ballot shall be printed to permit
10-1 voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the board of
10-2 trustees of _________ School District to provide career and
10-3 technology education to students of other school districts with
10-4 local tax revenues."
10-5 SECTION 10. Subchapter D, Chapter 301, Labor Code, is amended
10-6 by adding Section 301.0611 to read as follows:
10-7 Sec. 301.0611. COORDINATION OF CERTAIN AWARDS AND
10-8 INCENTIVES. The commission, in cooperation with the Texas Education
10-9 Agency, the comptroller, and the Texas Higher Education
10-10 Coordinating Board, shall prepare and make available to the public
10-11 a list of all awards and incentives available for business
10-12 participation in:
10-13 (1) a school district's career and technology
10-14 education program under Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code;
10-15 or
10-16 (2) any other career and technology education
10-17 training.
10-18 SECTION 11. Section 481.156(a), Government Code, is amended
10-19 to read as follows:
10-20 (a) The following may apply for a grant under this
10-21 subchapter:
10-22 (1) one or more employers to secure training;
10-23 (2) one or more employers acting in partnership with
10-24 an employer organization, labor organization, or community-based
10-25 organization to secure training; [or]
10-26 (3) one or more employers acting in partnership with a
10-27 consortium composed of more than one provider to secure training;
11-1 or
11-2 (4) a provider, to the extent consistent with Section
11-3 481.155.
11-4 SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, except
11-5 that Sections 1, 2, and 5 take effect immediately and apply
11-6 beginning with the 2001-2002 school year if this Act receives a
11-7 vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
11-8 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
11-9 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect,
11-10 Sections 1, 2, and 5 take effect September 1, 2001.