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: SB682 by Van de Putte (Relating to the implementation of a public education curriculum based on scientific research.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for * * SB682, As Introduced: negative impact of $(6,408,550) 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 $(6,294,275) * * 2003 (114,275) * * 2004 (114,275) * * 2005 (114,275) * * 2006 (114,275) * **************************************************** All Funds, Five-Year Impact: *************************************************************************** *Fiscal Probable Savings/(Cost) from Change in Number of State * * Year General Revenue Fund Employees from FY 2001 * * 0001 * * 2002 $(6,294,275) 2.0 * * 2003 (114,275) 2.0 * * 2004 (114,275) 2.0 * * 2005 (114,275) 2.0 * * 2006 (114,275) 2.0 * *************************************************************************** Fiscal Analysis The bill requires the State Board of Education to establish curriculum and graduation requirements based on scientific research. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) would be obliged to develop additional strategies for improvement of student performance that include instructional methods for addressing the needs of student groups not achieving their full potential, and staff development in reading, spelling, and mathematics for professional staff of the district. Education Service Centers ESC's would provide training to teachers in each subject area using methods based on scientific research. The bill requires that the first time a student is referred to the principal's office the student be given a reading and math placement test based on scientific research. The results of the test would then be used to place the student in a corrective educational program. The bill requires that a curriculum based on scientific research be used in juvenile justice alternative education programs (JJAEP's) and in adult education programs. The bill requires school districts to provide a description of the educational methods based on scientific research used in the district to all parents. Methodology TEA assumes that one study would be conducted on a contracted basis at a cost of $500,000 and an annual $114,275 would be needed for additional employees to assemble, review, and summarize all the relevant research so that it could be used to develop a curriculum based on "scientific research". The cost of developing the reading and math tests to be administered to a student the first time that he/she is sent to the principal's office is estimated to be $5.5 million. This cost is based on estimated costs for developing other standardized tests in the state testing program. Because this test is contained in Chapter 37 of the Education Code, and is not part of the statewide assessment program under Chapter 39 of the Education Code, it cannot be funded as a set aside from the compensatory education allotment. The cost of the study and the cost of test development are one-time expenditures for fiscal year 2002. TEA would also incur costs associated with convening curriculum-writing teams to develop the scientifically-based education curriculum. The agency would have one team for each subject area - reading, spelling, and mathematics -- and a related one time cost of $180,000 in fiscal year 2002. Local Government Impact TEA estimates that the cost to education service centers ESC's to provide training to the state's approximately 273,000 teachers, that would need to occur under this bill, to be at least $232 million. Some of this cost would be passed on to local school districts, which pay ESC's for their services. Districts may also incur some local costs in administering the reading and math assessment tests. The number of tests administered will depend upon the number of students in the district who are referred to the principal's office. Source Agencies: 665 Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, 705 State Board for Educator Certification, 701 Texas Education Agency LBB Staff: JK, CT, PF, RN