By Oliveira                                            H.B. No. 970
         77R3536 CAS-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to compensatory education and accelerated instruction in
 1-3     public schools.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 29.081, Education Code, is amended by
 1-6     amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsections (g) and (h)
 1-7     to read as follows:
 1-8           (c)  Each school district shall evaluate and document the
 1-9     effectiveness of the accelerated instruction in reducing any
1-10     disparity between students at risk of dropping out of school and
1-11     all other district students in:
1-12                 (1)  performance on assessment instruments administered
1-13     under Subchapter B, Chapter 39; and
1-14                 (2)  the rates of high school completion or receipt of
1-15     a high school equivalency certificate [the dropout rate and in
1-16     increasing achievement in the categories of students listed under
1-17     Subsection (d)].
1-18           (d)  For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
1-19     dropping out of school" includes[:]
1-20                 [(1)]  each student [in grade levels 7 through 12] who
1-21     is under 21 years of age, is not eligible for a district's special
1-22     education program under Section 29.003, and [who]:
1-23                 (1) [(A)]  was not advanced from one grade level to the
1-24     next for two or more school years;
 2-1                 (2) [(B)]  has mathematics or reading skills that are
 2-2     two or more years below grade level;
 2-3                 (3) [(C)]  did not maintain an average equivalent to 70
 2-4     on a scale of 100 in two or more courses in the foundation
 2-5     curriculum as prescribed under Section 28.002 during a semester in
 2-6     the preceding school year[,] or does [is] not maintain
 2-7     [maintaining] such an average in two or more courses in the
 2-8     foundation curriculum during a semester in the current school year
 2-9     [semester, and is not expected to graduate within four years of the
2-10     date the student begins ninth grade];
2-11                 (4) [(D)]  did not perform satisfactorily on an
2-12     assessment instrument administered to the student under Section
2-13     39.023(a), (b), (c), or (l) during a school year and, during the
2-14     two following school years, did not achieve a score equal to at
2-15     least 105 percent of the score considered  to be satisfactory
2-16     performance on one of those assessment instruments;
2-17                 (5)  [under Subchapter B, Chapter 39; or]
2-18                       [(E)] is pregnant or is a parent;
2-19                 (6)  is a [(2) each] student in prekindergarten,
2-20     kindergarten, or [through] grade one, two, or three [6] who[:]
2-21                       [(A)]  did not perform satisfactorily on a
2-22     readiness test or assessment instrument administered during [at the
2-23     beginning of] the school year;
2-24                 (7) [(B)  did not perform satisfactorily on an
2-25     assessment instrument administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39;]
2-26                       [(C)]  is a student of limited English
2-27     proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052;
 3-1                 (8)  is a [(D) is sexually, physically, or
 3-2     psychologically abused; or]
 3-3                       [(E)  engages in conduct described by Section
 3-4     51.03(a), Family Code; and]
 3-5                 [(3)  each] student who, in the preceding school year
 3-6     resided or in the current school year [is not disabled and who]
 3-7     resides, in a residential placement facility [in a district in
 3-8     which the student's parent or legal guardian does not reside],
 3-9     including a detention facility, substance abuse treatment facility,
3-10     emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital, halfway house, or foster
3-11     family group home;
3-12                 (9)  was, in the preceding school year, or is, in the
3-13     current school year, removed to an alternative education program
3-14     under Section 37.006 or expelled under Section 37.007;
3-15                 (10)  is currently released on parole or under
3-16     supervision, placed under community supervision or on probation,
3-17     placed on deferred adjudication, or released under another type of
3-18     conditional release;
3-19                 (11)  has been reported in the Public Education
3-20     Information Management System (PEIMS) as being a dropout or as
3-21     having failed during the preceding school year or failing during
3-22     the current school year to attend a class for at least 90 percent
3-23     of the days the class is offered without an exemption under Section
3-24     25.086 or an excuse accepted under Section 25.087;
3-25                 (12)  is in the custody or care of the Department of
3-26     Protective and Regulatory Services or, during the current school
3-27     year, is referred to that department by a school or law enforcement
 4-1     official or a juvenile court officer; or
 4-2                 (13)  is homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section
 4-3     11302 and its subsequent amendments.
 4-4           (g)  A student eligible for a special education program under
 4-5     Section 29.003 is entitled to receive services and participate in a
 4-6     program under this section as determined by the committee
 4-7     established under Section 29.005.
 4-8           (h)  In addition to the criteria provided under this section,
 4-9     the board of trustees of a school district  may adopt criteria for
4-10     identifying students eligible for programs or services under this
4-11     section.  Not more than 10 percent of the number of students
4-12     identified during the preceding school year under Subsection (d) as
4-13     students at risk of dropping out of school may be identified as
4-14     eligible for programs or services under this section using the
4-15     criteria adopted under this subsection.  A student identified using
4-16     the criteria adopted under this subsection is not considered to be
4-17     educationally disadvantaged or a student at risk of dropping out of
4-18     school for purposes of Section 39.051(b), 39.053(d), 39.182(a), or
4-19     42.152(a).
4-20           SECTION 2. Section 39.051(b), Education Code, as amended by
4-21     Chapters 396, 397, and 1422, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
4-22     Session, 1999, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
4-23           (b)  Performance on the indicators adopted under this section
4-24     shall be compared to state-established standards.  The degree of
4-25     change from one school year to the next in performance on each
4-26     indicator adopted under this section shall also be considered.  The
4-27     indicators must be based on information that is disaggregated with
 5-1     respect to race, ethnicity, sex, [and] socioeconomic status, and
 5-2     identification as a student at risk of dropping out of school as
 5-3     determined under Section 29.081(d) and must include:
 5-4                 (1)  the results of assessment instruments required
 5-5     under Sections 39.023(a), (c), and (l), aggregated by grade level
 5-6     and subject area;
 5-7                 (2)  dropout rates;
 5-8                 (3)  student attendance rates;
 5-9                 (4)  the percentage of graduating students who attain
5-10     scores on the secondary exit-level assessment instruments required
5-11     under Subchapter B that are equivalent to a passing score on the
5-12     test instrument required under Section 51.306;
5-13                 (5)  the percentage of graduating students who meet the
5-14     course requirements established for the recommended high school
5-15     program by State Board of Education rule;
5-16                 (6)  the results of the Scholastic Assessment Test
5-17     (SAT), the American College Test, articulated postsecondary degree
5-18     programs described by Section 61.852, and certified workforce
5-19     training programs described by Chapter 311, Labor Code;
5-20                 (7)  the number of students, aggregated by grade level,
5-21     provided accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211(c), the
5-22     results of assessments administered under that section, the number
5-23     of students promoted through the grade placement committee process
5-24     under Section 28.0211, the subject of the assessment instrument on
5-25     which each student failed to perform satisfactorily, and the
5-26     performance of those students in the school year following that
5-27     promotion on the assessment instruments required under Section
 6-1     39.023;
 6-2                 (8)  for students who have failed to perform
 6-3     satisfactorily on an assessment instrument required under Section
 6-4     39.023(a) or (c), the numerical progress of those students on
 6-5     subsequent assessment instruments required under those sections,
 6-6     aggregated by grade level and subject area;
 6-7                 (9)  the percentage of students exempted, by exemption
 6-8     category, from the assessment program generally applicable under
 6-9     this subchapter; and
6-10                 (10)  any other indicator the State Board of Education
6-11     adopts.
6-12           SECTION 3. Section 39.053, Education Code, as amended by
6-13     Chapters 510 and 1417, Acts of the 76th Legislature, Regular
6-14     Session, 1999, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
6-15           Sec. 39.053.  PERFORMANCE REPORT. (a)  Each board of trustees
6-16     shall publish an annual report describing the educational
6-17     performance of the district and of each campus in the district that
6-18     includes uniform student performance and descriptive information as
6-19     determined under rules adopted by the commissioner.  The annual
6-20     report must also include:
6-21                 (1)  campus performance objectives established under
6-22     Section 11.253 and the progress of each campus toward those
6-23     objectives, which shall be available to the public;
6-24                 (2)  the performance rating for the district as
6-25     provided under Section 39.072(a) and the performance rating of each
6-26     campus in the district as provided under Section 39.072(c); [and]
6-27                 (3)  the district's current special education
 7-1     compliance status with the agency;
 7-2                 (4)  [.  In addition, the annual report must include] a
 7-3     statement of the number, rate, and type of violent or criminal
 7-4     incidents that occurred on each district campus, to the extent
 7-5     permitted under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of
 7-6     1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g);
 7-7                 (5)  [,] information concerning school violence
 7-8     prevention and violence intervention policies and procedures that
 7-9     the district is using to protect students; [,] and
7-10                 (6)  the findings that result from evaluations
7-11     conducted under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act
7-12     of 1994 (20 U.S.C. Section 7101 et seq.)  and its subsequent
7-13     amendments.
7-14           (b)  Supplemental information to be included in the reports
7-15     shall be determined by the board of trustees.  Performance
7-16     information in the annual reports on the indicators established
7-17     under Section 39.051 and descriptive information required by this
7-18     section shall be provided by the agency.
7-19           (c)  The board of trustees shall hold a hearing for public
7-20     discussion of the report.  The board of trustees shall give notice
7-21     of the hearing to property owners in the district and parents,
7-22     guardians, conservators, and other persons having lawful control of
7-23     a district student.  The notification must include notice to a
7-24     newspaper of general circulation in the district and notice to
7-25     electronic media serving the district.  After the hearing the
7-26     report shall be widely disseminated within the district in a manner
7-27     to be determined under rules adopted by the commissioner.
 8-1           (d)  The report must also include a comparison provided by
 8-2     the agency of:
 8-3                 (1)  the performance of each campus to its previous
 8-4     performance and to state-established standards;
 8-5                 (2)  the performance of each district to its previous
 8-6     performance and to state-established standards; and
 8-7                 (3)  the performance of each campus or district to
 8-8     comparable improvement.
 8-9           (e)  The report may include the following information:
8-10                 (1)  student information, including total enrollment,
8-11     enrollment by ethnicity or socioeconomic[, economic] status, the
8-12     number of students identified as students at risk of dropping out
8-13     of school as determined under Section 29.081(d), and grade
8-14     groupings and retention rates;
8-15                 (2)  financial information, including revenues and
8-16     expenditures;
8-17                 (3)  staff information, including number and type of
8-18     staff by sex, ethnicity, years of experience, and highest degree
8-19     held, teacher and administrator salaries, and teacher turnover;
8-20                 (4)  program information, including student enrollment
8-21     by program, teachers by program, and instructional operating
8-22     expenditures by program; and
8-23                 (5)  the number of students placed in an alternative
8-24     education program under Chapter 37.
8-25           (f)  The State Board of Education by rule shall authorize the
8-26     combination of this report with other reports and financial
8-27     statements and shall restrict the number and length of reports that
 9-1     school districts, school district employees, and school campuses
 9-2     are required to prepare.
 9-3           (g)  The report must include a statement of the amount, if
 9-4     any, of the school district's unencumbered surplus fund balance as
 9-5     of the last day of the preceding fiscal year and the percentage of
 9-6     the preceding year's budget that the surplus represents.
 9-7           SECTION 4. Section 39.182(a), Education Code, is amended to
 9-8     read as follows:
 9-9           (a)  The agency shall prepare and deliver to the governor,
9-10     the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
9-11     representatives, each member of the legislature, the Legislative
9-12     Budget Board, and the clerks of the standing committees of the
9-13     senate and house of representatives with primary jurisdiction over
9-14     the public school system a comprehensive report covering the
9-15     preceding two school years and containing:
9-16                 (1)  an evaluation of the achievements of the state
9-17     educational program in relation to the statutory goals for the
9-18     public education system under Section 4.002;
9-19                 (2)  an evaluation of the status of education in the
9-20     state as reflected by the academic excellence indicators adopted
9-21     under Section 39.051;
9-22                 (3)  a summary compilation of overall student
9-23     performance on academic skills assessment instruments required by
9-24     Section 39.023, aggregated by grade level, subject area, campus,
9-25     and district, with appropriate interpretations and analysis and
9-26     disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, [and] socioeconomic status,
9-27     and identification as a student at risk of dropping out of school
 10-1    as determined under Section 29.081(d);
 10-2                (4)  an evaluation of the correlation between student
 10-3    grades and student performance on academic skills assessment
 10-4    instruments required by Section 39.023;
 10-5                (5)  a statement of the dropout rate of students in
 10-6    grade levels 7 through 12, expressed in the aggregate and by grade
 10-7    level;
 10-8                (6)  a statement of the projected cross-sectional and
 10-9    longitudinal dropout rates for grade levels 7 through 12 for the
10-10    next five years, assuming no state action is taken to reduce the
10-11    dropout rate;
10-12                (7)  a description of a systematic plan for reducing
10-13    the projected cross-sectional and longitudinal dropout rates to
10-14    five percent or less for the 1997-1998 school year;
10-15                (8)  a summary of the information required by Section
10-16    29.083 regarding grade level retention of students;
10-17                (9)  a list of each school district or campus that does
10-18    not satisfy performance standards, with an explanation of the
10-19    actions taken by the commissioner to improve student performance in
10-20    the district or campus and an evaluation of the results of those
10-21    actions;
10-22                (10)  an evaluation of the status of the curriculum
10-23    taught in public schools, with recommendations for legislative
10-24    changes necessary to improve or modify the curriculum required by
10-25    Section 28.002;
10-26                (11)  a description of all funds received by and each
10-27    activity and expenditure of the agency;
 11-1                (12)  a summary and analysis of the compliance of
 11-2    school districts with administrative cost ratios set by the
 11-3    commissioner under Section 42.201, including any improvements and
 11-4    cost savings achieved by school districts;
 11-5                (13)  a summary of the effect of deregulation,
 11-6    including exemptions and waivers granted under Section 7.056 or
 11-7    39.112;
 11-8                (14)  a statement of the total number and length of
 11-9    reports that school districts and school district employees must
11-10    submit to the agency, identifying which reports are required by
11-11    federal statute or rule, state statute, or agency rule, and a
11-12    summary of the agency's efforts to reduce overall reporting
11-13    requirements;
11-14                (15)  a list of each school district that is not in
11-15    compliance with state special education requirements, including:
11-16                      (A)  the period for which the district has not
11-17    been in compliance;
11-18                      (B)  the manner in which the agency considered
11-19    the district's failure to comply in determining the district's
11-20    accreditation status; and
11-21                      (C)  an explanation of the actions taken by the
11-22    commissioner to ensure compliance and an evaluation of the results
11-23    of those actions; and
11-24                (16)  any additional information considered important
11-25    by the commissioner or the State Board of Education.
11-26          SECTION 5.  Section 42.152(c), Education Code, is amended to
11-27    read as follows:
 12-1          (c)  Funds allocated under this section may be used only to
 12-2    fund supplemental programs and services designed to eliminate
 12-3    disparity between students at risk of dropping out of school, as
 12-4    defined by Section 29.081(d), and all other district students in
 12-5    performance on assessment instruments administered under Subchapter
 12-6    B, Chapter 39, or in the rates of high school completion or receipt
 12-7    of a high school equivalency certificate.  Specifically, the funds,
 12-8    other than an indirect cost allotment established under State Board
 12-9    of Education rule, which may not exceed 15 percent, may be used
12-10    only to provide [in providing] compensatory education and
12-11    accelerated instruction programs under Section 29.081, operate
12-12    alternative education programs under Section 37.008, or support
12-13    programs eligible for funding under Title I of the Elementary and
12-14    Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.)
12-15    and its subsequent amendments and may only be spent to improve and
12-16    enhance programs and services funded under the regular education
12-17    program.  A district's compensatory education allotment may be used
12-18    for costs supplementary to the regular program, such as costs for
12-19    program and student evaluation, instructional materials and
12-20    equipment and other supplies required for quality instruction,
12-21    supplemental staff expenses, salary for teachers of at-risk
12-22    students, smaller class size, and individualized instruction.  A
12-23    home-rule school district or an open-enrollment charter school must
12-24    use funds allocated under Subsection (a) to provide compensatory
12-25    education services but is not otherwise subject to Subchapter C,
12-26    Chapter 29.
12-27          SECTION 6.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
 13-1    section, this Act applies beginning with the 2001-2002 school year.
 13-2          (b)  Section 39.051(b), Education Code, as amended by this
 13-3    Act, applies beginning with the 2002-2003 school year.
 13-4          SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
 13-5    a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
 13-6    provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
 13-7    Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
 13-8    Act takes effect September 1, 2001.