LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
March 27, 2001
TO: Honorable Teel Bivins, Chair, Senate Committee on
Education
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: SB19 by Nelson (Relating to the improvement of
children's health through daily physical activity in
public schools and a coordinated approach by public
schools to prevent obesity and certain diseases.), As
Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* SB19, As Introduced: negative impact of $(5,600,000) 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. *
**************************************************************************
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $(2,800,000) *
* 2003 (2,800,000) *
* 2004 (2,800,000) *
* 2005 (2,800,000) *
* 2006 (2,800,000) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
*****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from *
* General Revenue Fund *
* 0001 *
* 2002 $(2,800,000) *
* 2003 (2,800,000) *
* 2004 (2,800,000) *
* 2005 (2,800,000) *
* 2006 (2,800,000) *
*****************************************************
Fiscal Analysis
The bill requires school districts to ensure that students in grades PK-8
participate in daily physical activity as part of the district's
physical education curriculum. It is estimated that this requirement
would necessitate the hiring of 1,446 FTE's at the district level,
resulting in additional state contributions to the Teacher Retirement
System (TRS) of $2,800,000 annually.
Methodology
According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the most common model for
elementary physical education instruction is a class rotation of 2 to 3
times a week. Assuming current practice satisfies on average about 3/5
(60 percent) of the time and effort required under the bill, an
additional (40 percent) would be needed to satisfy the requirements. For
grade levels that are not typically departmentalized
(pre-kindergarten-fifth grade and some sixth grade classrooms), it is
assumed districts could accommodate the requirement within the regular
classroom or reallocating staff rather than hiring additional staff.
For grades 6-8, preliminary data from the 2000-01 school year suggest
that about 4,337 full-time equivalent employees (FTE')s are currently
involved in providing physical education to students in departmentalized
arrangements. Of these FTE's, about 98 percent are certified teachers
and two percent are educational aides. If this is viewed as only 60
percent of the effort that would be required under the bill, increasing
effort, the remaining 40 percent would mean the hiring of 2,891
additional FTE's. Because districts have a great deal of flexibility in
the offering of elective courses at the 6th-8th grade levels and because
increased time devoted to physical activities would reduce the amount of
time available for students to take elective courses, it is assumed that
on a net basis 50 percent of the additional FTE's (1417 teachers and 29
educational aides) would actually need to be hired. Assuming an average
teacher salary of about $38,400 and an average aide salary of about
$14,025, the increased local cost associated with the additional FTE's
would be about $55,000,000.
The state contributes six percent of every teacher's salary, up to the
minimum salary level, for the retirement system (TRS), as well as 0.5
percent of all salary for TRS-Care, the retired teacher health insurance
program. Applying these percentages to the local annual salary cost of
$55,000,000 (minus an adjustment for the minimum salary level) yields an
annual state cost of approximately $2,800,000.
Local Government Impact
Local cost implications are difficult to assess due to the great
flexibility that districts currently have in implementing subjects in
the enrichment curriculum, particularly at the elementary level.
However, based on the above assumptions and analysis, the bill would
necessitate the hiring of about 1,446 FTE's, with an annual local salary
cost of approximately $55,000,000.
Source Agencies: 701 Texas Education Agency
LBB Staff: JK, CT, JM