LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
April 16, 2001
TO: Honorable Paul Sadler, Chair, House Committee on Public
Education
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB1292 by Garcia (Relating to size limits for special
education classes in public schools.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB1292, As Introduced: negative impact of $(4,000,000) through *
* the biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* 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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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $(2,000,000) *
* 2003 (2,000,000) *
* 2004 (2,000,000) *
* 2005 (2,000,000) *
* 2006 (2,000,000) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
*****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from *
* General Revenue Fund *
* 0001 *
* 2002 $(2,000,000) *
* 2003 (2,000,000) *
* 2004 (2,000,000) *
* 2005 (2,000,000) *
* 2006 (2,000,000) *
*****************************************************
Fiscal Analysis
The bill limits class enrollment in special education classes to no more
than ten students. It is estimated that school districts would need to
hire about 995 additional full-time teachers to meet the requirements of
the bill. State costs for contributions to the Teacher Retirement
System (TRS) on this new teacher salary are estimated to be
approximately $2,000,000 annually.
Methodology
The Texas Education Agency analyzed PEIMS data on special education
classes from the 2000-01 school year. The total number of students was
aggregated, then divided by twelve to determine the number of additional
sections. Twelve was used instead of ten based on the fact that current
law makes allowances, either through waiver or in statute, to prevent
only one or two students from causing the creation of an additional
class.
Based on this analysis, it is estimated that about 995 additional
teachers would be needed. The state makes contributions to TRS at a
rate of 6 percent of teacher salary, up to the minimum salary schedule
amount. The state also contributes 0.5 percent of all teacher salary
for TRS-Care, a health insurance program for retired teachers. 995
teachers with an average salary of $38,400 (the current statewide
average) would be $38,208,000 in additional salary costs to school
districts; 6.5 percent of this amount, adjusted downward to account for
the minimum salary schedule limit, is approximately $2,000,000 in TRS
costs annually.
Local Government Impact
It is estimated that school districts would be required to hire about 995
additional teachers. Annual salary costs are estimated to be
$38,208,000 and benefit costs would be $2,865,600. Additionally,
districts would need facilities to house the additional special
education sections. It is assumed that new construction would cost $100
per square foot, and that each additional teacher would necessitate 1000
square feet of classroom, hallways, restrooms and support space.
Therefore, it is estimated that long-term facilities costs to school
districts would be approximately $99,500,000. However, this would
likely be financed through debt, which would significantly lower the
cash outlays in the short term.
Source Agencies: 701 Texas Education Agency
LBB Staff: JK, CT, JM