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By: Grusendorf, Marchant, Wilson, Hill, H.B. No. 5
Heflin, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school finance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 41.0021(a) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding Section 41.002, for the [2001-2002,
2002-2003, and] 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 school years, a school
district that in the 1999-2000 school year did not offer each grade
level from kindergarten through 12 may elect to have its wealth per
student determined under this section.
(e) This section expires September 1, 2005 [2004].
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.2516 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.2516. ADDITIONAL AID FOR 2003-2004 AND 2004-2005
SCHOOL YEARS. (a) For the 2003-2004 school year, in addition to
any other state aid to which a school district is entitled under
this chapter, a district is entitled to an amount equal to the
product of the number of students in average daily attendance in the
district multiplied by $150.
(b) For the 2004-2005 school year, in addition to any other
state aid to which a school district is entitled under this chapter,
a district is entitled to an amount equal to the product of the
number of students in average daily attendance in the district
multiplied by $150.
(c) A school district that is otherwise ineligible for state
aid under this chapter is entitled to state aid under this section.
A school district that is required to take action under Chapter 41
to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth level is
entitled to:
(1) a credit, in the amount of the state aid to which
the district is entitled under this section, against the total
amount required under Section 41.093 for the district to purchase
attendance credits; and
(2) if the amount of state aid to which the district is
entitled under this section exceeds the total amount required under
Section 41.093 for the district to purchase sufficient attendance
credits to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
level, state aid in an amount equal to the difference between the
state aid to which the district is entitled under this section and
the credit applied under Subdivision (1).
(d) In addition to any aid established by Subsection (a),
for the 2003-2004 school year, a school district with less than
5,000 students in average daily attendance and a wealth per student
that does not exceed the equalized wealth level under Section
41.002 is also entitled to additional funding determined as
follows: Multiply 0.65 times the amount calculated when $100 times
the district's average daily attendance is subtracted from $75
times the district's weighted average daily attendance.
(e) In addition to any aid established by Subsection (b),
for the 2004-2005 school year, a school district with less than
5,000 students in average daily attendance and a wealth per student
that does not exceed the equalized wealth level under Section
41.002 is also entitled to additional funding determined as
follows: Multiply 0.65 times the amount calculated when $200 times
the district's average daily attendance is subtracted from $150
times the district's weighted average daily attendance.
(f) This subsection applies only to a current employee of a
school district who is entitled to the minimum salary under Section
21.402, who was employed by that district during the 2002-2003
school year, and who received funds under Article 3.50-8, Insurance
Code, during the 2002-2003 school year. For the 2003-2004 school
year, a school district shall ensure that each employee to whom this
subsection applies and who is employed by the district receives the
difference, if any, between $1,000 and the amount per employee that
the district receives under other law for purposes of Article
3.50-8, Insurance Code, for employees to whom this subsection
applies. A district employee may not bring a cause of action
against a district under this subsection on the basis of the amount
paid to the employee under this subsection if the employee's total
salary for the 2003-2004 school year, including amounts paid for
purposes of Article 3.50-8, Insurance Code, is equal to or greater
than the employee's base salary for the 2002-2003 school year,
including any career ladder supplement, plus any money paid to or
used on behalf of the employee under Article 3.50-8, Insurance
Code.
SECTION 3. Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.2517 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.2517. EXCESS FUNDS FOR COST OF EDUCATION
ADJUSTMENT. (a) If the commissioner determines that the amount
appropriated for purposes of the Foundation School Program exceeds
the amount to which school districts are entitled under this
chapter, the commissioner may:
(1) adjust each district's cost of education
adjustment under Section 42.102 to reflect current uncontrollable
variations in the cost of education, particularly the cost of
providing salaries and benefits to classroom teachers; and
(2) provide funding under this chapter based on the
cost of education index adjusted under Subdivision (1).
(b) If the amount available under Subsection (a) is not
sufficient to provide funding based on the cost of education index
adjusted under Subsection (a)(1), the commissioner shall rank
districts by the increase in the cost of education adjustment
applicable to each district under this section and shall provide
funding under this section to districts in descending order of the
amount of increase in the cost of education adjustment applicable
to districts under this section, beginning with the district that
has the greatest increase in the cost of education adjustment,
until no funds are available for purposes of this section.
SECTION 4. Section 42.253(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by this subsection, the commissioner
shall base the determinations under Subsection (a) on the estimates
provided to the legislature under Section 42.254, or, if the
General Appropriations Act provides estimates for that purpose, on
the estimates provided under that Act, for each school district for
each school year. The commissioner shall reduce the entitlement of
each district that has a final taxable value of property [for the
second year of a state fiscal biennium] that is higher than the
estimate under Section 42.254 or the General Appropriations Act, as
applicable. A reduction under this subsection may not reduce the
district's entitlement below the amount to which it is entitled at
its actual taxable value of property. [The sum of the reductions
under this subsection may not be greater than the amount necessary
to fully fund the entitlement of each district.]
SECTION 5. Section 42.259, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) Notwithstanding Subsections (c)(8) and (d)(3), the
payment from the foundation school fund for August 2005 shall be
made on September 1, 2005.
SECTION 6. Chapter 4, Education Code, is amended by adding
Section 4.003 to read as follows:
Sec. 4.003. STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROVISION OF PUBLIC
EDUCATION. (a) It is the policy of this state that the provision of
public education is a state responsibility and that a thorough and
efficient system be provided and substantially financed through
state revenue sources so that each student enrolled in the public
school system shall have access to programs and services that are
appropriate to the student's educational needs and that are
substantially equal to those available to any similar student,
notwithstanding varying local economic factors.
(b) The public school finance system of this state shall
adhere to a standard of neutrality that provides for substantially
equal access to similar revenue per student at similar tax effort,
considering all state and local tax revenues of districts after
acknowledging all legitimate student and district cost
differences.
(c) It is the policy of this state that not later than
September 1, 2007, the legislature shall provide state funding in
an amount that constitutes at least 50 percent of the cost of
maintaining and operating the public school system.
SECTION 7. Section 46.033, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 46.033. ELIGIBLE BONDS. Bonds, including bonds issued
under Section 45.006, are eligible to be paid with state and local
funds under this subchapter if:
(1) the district made payments on the bonds during the
2002-2003 [2000-2001] school year or taxes levied to pay the
principal of and interest on the bonds were included in the
district's audited debt service collections for that school year;
and
(2) the district does not receive state assistance
under Subchapter A for payment of the principal and interest on the
bonds.
SECTION 8. Section 46.034(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) If the amount required to pay the principal of and
interest on eligible bonds in a school year is less than the amount
of payments made by the district on the bonds during the 2002-2003
[2000-2001] school year or the district's audited debt service
collections for that school year, the district may not receive aid
in excess of the amount that, when added to the district's local
revenue for the school year, equals the amount required to pay the
principal of and interest on the bonds.
SECTION 9. Section 46.034, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if
the appropriation to support newly eligible bonds for the 2003-2004
school year and the 2004-2005 school year is not sufficient to
provide the state aid that school districts are entitled to under
Section 46.032, the commissioner is directed to reduce the $35
guaranteed level of state and local support per student per cent of
tax effort for newly eligible debt only to the level necessary to
fund the sum of the allotments within the appropriated amount. The
guaranteed level for eligible debt through the 2000-2001 school
year is not affected by this adjustment. The commissioner shall
make this determination as soon as practicable, prior to the
beginning of the school year. The decision of the commissioner is
final and may not be appealed.
(e) Section 46.034(d) and this subsection expire effective
September 1, 2005.
SECTION 10. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.413 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.413. CLASSROOM SUPPLY REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM. (a)
The commissioner shall establish a reimbursement program under
which the commissioner provides funds to a school district for the
purpose of reimbursing classroom teachers in the district who
expend personal funds on classroom supplies. A school district
must match any funds provided to the district under the
reimbursement program with local funds to be used for the same
purpose.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules for the local
allocation of funds provided to a school district under the
reimbursement program. A school district shall allow each
classroom teacher in the district who is reimbursed under the
reimbursement program to use the funds in the teacher's discretion,
except that the funds must be used for the benefit of the district's
students. A school district may not use funds received under the
reimbursement program to replace local funds used by the district
for the same purpose.
(c) The commissioner shall identify state and federal funds
available for use under the reimbursement program, including funds
subject to the Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 (20
U.S.C. Section 5891a et seq.), and its subsequent amendments, as
well as consolidated administrative funds.
(d) The commissioner shall establish the reimbursement
program for implementation beginning not later than the 2005-2006
school year. The commissioner may implement the reimbursement
program only if funds are specifically appropriated by the
legislature for the program or if the commissioner identifies
available funds, other than general revenue funds, that may be used
for the program.
SECTION 11. The following provisions of the Education Code
are repealed:
(1) Chapters 41, 42, and 46; and
(2) Section 45.002.
SECTION 12. (a) The repeal by Section 11 of this Act of
Section 45.002, Education Code, does not impair any obligation
created by the issuance or execution of any lawful agreement or
evidence of indebtedness before September 1, 2004, that matures
after that date and that is payable from the levy and collection of
a maintenance tax under that section or another law, and an
independent school district may, on and after September 1, 2004,
levy, assess, and collect a maintenance tax, at a rate not greater
than the rate required to pay such obligations but only for so long
as those obligations remain outstanding and unpaid.
(b) Notwithstanding the repeal by Section 11 of this Act of
Chapters 41, 42, and 46, Education Code, and Section 45.002,
Education Code, a school district that, before September 1, 2004,
issues bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness under
Chapter 45, Education Code, or other applicable law or enters into a
lease-purchase agreement under Subchapter A, Chapter 271, Local
Government Code, may continue, before, on, and after September 1,
2004, to receive state assistance with respect to such payments to
the same extent the district would have been entitled to receive the
assistance under Chapter 42 or 46, Education Code, as those
chapters existed before repeal by this Act, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose. The commissioner of
education may adopt rules to implement this subsection.
(c) The repeal by Section 11 of this Act of Chapters 41, 42,
and 46, Education Code, and Section 45.002, Education Code, does
not limit, modify, or eliminate the authority of a school district
to:
(1) issue or execute bonds, public securities, or
other obligations under Chapter 45, Education Code, or other law,
either before, on, or after September 1, 2004; or
(2) levy, assess, and collect, before, on, or after
September 1, 2004, ad valorem taxes at the full rate and in the full
amount authorized by Section 45.002, Education Code, and necessary
to pay the bonds, public securities, or other obligations when due
and payable.
(d) Before September 1, 2004, the commissioner of education
may not refuse to grant assistance to a school district under
Chapter 42 or 46, Education Code, in connection with public
securities, lease-purchase agreements, credit agreements, or other
obligations, including those described by Subchapter A, Chapter
271, Local Government Code, on the basis that the district's
authority to levy a maintenance tax is repealed effective September
1, 2004.
SECTION 13. The commissioner of education shall adopt rules
and establish the classroom supply reimbursement program as
required by Section 21.413, Education Code, as added by this Act,
not later than August 1, 2005.
SECTION 14. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) Sections 6 and 11 of this Act take effect September 1,
2004, but only if, before that date:
(1) the legislature has enacted a school finance
system to replace the system established by Chapters 41, 42, 45, and
46, Education Code;
(2) the Act enacting a school finance system in
compliance with Subdivision (1) of this subsection affirmatively
states that the system is a comprehensive school finance system for
the entire state; and
(3) the school finance system enacted in compliance
with Subdivision (1) of this subsection has become law.