78R8092 KKA-D
By: Delisi, Chavez, Jones of Bexar, Hupp, H.B. No. 591
Seaman
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school admission of military personnel and
dependents under reciprocity agreements between states.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.005, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 25.005. RECIPROCITY AGREEMENTS REGARDING MILITARY
PERSONNEL AND DEPENDENTS. (a) To facilitate the transfer of
military personnel and their dependents to and from the public
schools of this state, the agency shall [may] pursue reciprocity
agreements with other states governing the terms of those
transfers.
(b) A reciprocity agreement must:
(1) address procedures for:
(A) transferring student records;
(B) [(2) address procedures for] awarding credit
for completed course work; and
(C) permitting a student to satisfy the
requirements of Section 39.025 through successful performance on
comparable exit-level assessment instruments administered in
another state; and
(2) [(3)] include appropriate criteria developed by
the agency.
SECTION 2. (a) In implementing Section 25.005, Education
Code, as amended by this Act, the Texas Education Agency shall give
priority to pursuing reciprocity agreements with Florida, Georgia,
North Carolina, and Virginia.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2004, the Texas Education
Agency shall report the results of its efforts to enter into
reciprocity agreements in compliance with Section 25.005,
Education Code, as amended by this Act, to the presiding officers of
the Senate Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations
and the House of Representatives Committee on Defense Affairs and
State-Federal Relations. If the agency has been unable to enter
into a reciprocity agreement with each state identified in
Subsection (a) of this section by the date of the report, the report
must include, for each state with which the agency did not enter
into an agreement:
(1) a detailed description of the agency's efforts to
reach an agreement; and
(2) an explanation of each factor contributing to the
failure to reach an agreement.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.