By:  Truan                                             S.B. No. 158
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to counseling public school students regarding higher
 1-3     education.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 33.007 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 33.007.  COUNSELING REGARDING HIGHER EDUCATION.
 1-8     (a)  Each counselor at an elementary, middle, or junior high
 1-9     school, including an open-enrollment charter school offering those
1-10     grades, shall advise students and their parents or guardians
1-11     regarding the importance of higher education, coursework designed
1-12     to prepare students for higher education, and financial aid
1-13     availability and requirements.
1-14           (b)  During the first school year a student is enrolled in a
1-15     high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment
1-16     charter school, and again during a student's senior year, a
1-17     counselor shall provide information about higher education to the
1-18     student and the student's parent or guardian.  The information must
1-19     include information regarding:
1-20                 (1)  the importance of higher education;
1-21                 (2)  the advantages of completing the recommended or
1-22     advanced high school program adopted under Section 28.025(a);
1-23                 (3)  financial aid eligibility;
1-24                 (4)  instruction on how to apply for federal financial
1-25     aid;
 2-1                 (5)  the center for financial aid information
 2-2     established under Section 61.0776;
 2-3                 (6)  the automatic admission of certain students to
 2-4     general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section
 2-5     51.803; and
 2-6                 (7)  the eligibility and academic performance
 2-7     requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M,
 2-8     Chapter 56, as added by Chapter 1590, Acts of the 76th Legislature,
 2-9     Regular Session, 1999.
2-10           SECTION 2.  Section 33.001, Education Code, is amended to
2-11     read as follows:
2-12           Sec. 33.001.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER.  This subchapter
2-13     applies only to a school district that receives funds as provided
2-14     by Section 42.152(i), except that Section 33.007 applies to all
2-15     school districts and open-enrollment charter schools.
2-16           SECTION 3.  Section 33.007, Education Code, as added by this
2-17     Act, applies beginning with the 2001-2002 school year.  The
2-18     commissioner of education shall adopt rules regarding the provision
2-19     of counseling regarding higher education as required by Subsection
2-20     (b), Section 33.007, Education Code, as added by this Act, to high
2-21     school students or open-enrollment charter school students other
2-22     than those for whom the 2001-2002 school year is the first or
2-23     senior year of high school.
2-24           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-25     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-26     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
 3-1     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
 3-2     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.