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                                                                  H.B. No. 591




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.




______________________________              ______________________________
 
   President of the Senate                               Speaker of the House      

	I certify that H.B. No. 591 was passed by the House on April 
10, 2003, by the following vote:  Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not 
voting.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                     Chief Clerk of the House   

	I certify that H.B. No. 591 was passed by the Senate on May 
20, 2003, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                     Secretary of the Senate    



APPROVED:  _____________________                                            
 
                   Date                                                      




 
          _____________________                                          
 
                 Governor