LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session March 15, 2001 TO: Honorable Teel Bivins, Chair, Senate Committee on Education FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: SB1327 by Bivins (Relating to improvement of the mathematics skills of public school students.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for * * SB1327, As Introduced: negative impact of $(42,888,686) 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 $(18,298,222) * * 2003 (24,590,464) * * 2004 (27,177,219) * * 2005 (32,632,219) * * 2006 (35,092,219) * **************************************************** All Funds, Five-Year Impact: ************************************************************************** *Fiscal Probable Probable Change in Number of * * Year Savings/(Cost) from Savings/(Cost) from State Employees from * * General Revenue Fund Certification and FY 2001 * * 0001 Assessment Fees * * (General Revenue * * Fund) * * 0751 * * 2002 $(18,298,222) $0 7.0 * * 2003 (24,668,359) 77,895 7.0 * * 2004 (27,265,221) 88,002 3.0 * * 2005 (32,720,221) 88,002 3.0 * * 2006 (35,180,221) 88,002 3.0 * ************************************************************************** Fiscal Analysis The bill has a number of requirements: (1.) The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) would be required to establish a master mathematics teacher certificate and develop a related course of study. (2.) The Texas Education Agency (TEA) would be required to establish the master mathematics teacher grant program, providing $5,000 stipends to qualified teachers. (3.) TEA would be required to develop professional development institutes for mathematics teachers and to develop training materials. (4.) TEA would be required to develop and make available to school districts assessment instruments that can be used to diagnose student mathematics skills. (5.) The bill authorizes a state-funded after-school or summer intensive mathematics instruction program. (6) For the master mathematics teacher grant program, the professional development institutes, and the after-school/summer instruction program, the bill includes provisions to adjust the programs should state funding be insufficient to fully fund the programs. Methodology This estimate is based upon information provided by TEA and SBEC. The master mathematics teacher certification exam is estimated to have a contracted cost $363,000 and require one additional employee to oversee the development of the exam and the course of instruction. The number of teachers earning certificates in 2003 is assumed to be 435, which is based on the actual number of teachers earning master reading teacher certificates in 2001. The number of new teachers earning certificates for each year thereafter is assumed to increase by 491 for each year thereafter, until 2006 when the cumulative number of teachers eligible for a master mathematics teacher grant stabilizes at the Texas Education Agency's estimate of 2,400. The estimated cost of the master mathematics teacher grant program is based on $5,000 stipends for 435 teachers (actual master reading teacher total) for a total of $2,175,000 in fiscal year 2003. It is assumed that grant-receiving teachers will remain eligible for the stipend in future years. It is assumed that an additional 491 teachers will be certified to receive the stipend in fiscal year 2004 and each fiscal year thereafter, increasing the grant cost by $2,455,000. It is assumed that the total number of certified teachers will stabilize at 2,400 in fiscal year 2006. The professional development institutes are estimated to serve about 28,741 teachers of mathematics. It is assumed that half the teachers (14,370) would be trained in each of the first two year at a cost of $600 each for stipends, and that each 360 training sessions would cost $10,000 to provide. Initial course material and development costs are estimated at $1,500,000, for a total cost of $13,735,275 for each of the first two years. These costs would decrease after the first two-year period. The cost of diagnostic instruments is an estimated contracted cost of $150,000 per grade per year and three additional state employees for a two-year development period. These costs and the additional personnel would not be needed after fiscal year 2003. The after-school/summer instruction program and its grants are estimated to increase a four-year period, from $5,000,000 in fiscal year 2002 to $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2005. The funding at $20,000,000 would be sufficient to provide services to about 30,000 students for a thirty-day time period. Local Government Impact No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. School districts must pay stipends to qualified master mathematics teachers beginning in 2002-03, as well as report to TEA information on these teachers. It is estimated that these requirements should have minimal fiscal impact to school districts. Source Agencies: 701 Texas Education Agency, 705 State Board for Educator Certification LBB Staff: JK, CT, JM