By: Grusendorf H.B. No. 2465
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an education freedom pilot program for certain children
in certain school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 29; Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter J to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER J. EDUCATION FREEDOM PROGRAM
Sec. 29.351. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Eligible district" means a school district in
which, during the 2001–2002 school year:
(A) a majority of the students were eligible for
the federal free and reduced price lunch program; and
(B) the enrollment was greater than 40,000.
(2) "Parent" includes a guardian or custodian.
(3) "Private school" means a nongovernmental
educational establishment that exists for the general education of
elementary and secondary students. The term does not include a
school that provides education in a home setting or by the parent or
that limits enrollment to relatives of the school's staff.
(4) "Program" means the education freedom program
described by this subchapter.
Sec. 29.352. PROGRAM. (a) An eligible child under Section
29.353 or 29.361, as applicable, may, at the option of the child's
parent:
(1) attend any public school in the child's district of
residence under Subchapter G, Chapter 29;
(2) subject to the limitations of Section 29.203,
attend a public school in another district under Subchapter G,
Chapter 29; or
(3) use a scholarship as provided by Section 29.354 to
pay the costs of attending a private school.
(b) Section 42.157 does not apply to a child who attends a
public school in another district under Subsection (a)(2).
Sec. 29.353. ELIGIBLE CHILD. (a) A child is eligible to
participate in the program if the child:
(1) resides in an eligible district;
(2) attended a public school during the preceding
regular full semester; and
(3) resides in a household that had, in their most
recently filed federal income tax return, an annual household
income not exceeding 200% of the qualifying income for the Federal
Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program.
(b) A child who establishes eligibility under Subsection
(a) is entitled to continue participating until the earlier of the
date on which the child graduates from high school or the child's
21st birthday.
Sec. 29.354. FINANCING; SCHOLARSHIP. (a) An eligible
child who attends a private school under this subchapter is
considered in determining the average daily attendance under
Section 42.005 of the child's district of residence.
(b) A child's scholarship is an amount equal to the average
funding per child for maintenance and operations, during the
preceding school year in the district in which the child resides,
from all sources other than:
(1) the available school fund;
(2) federal funds; and
(3) funds for special education programs under
Subchapter A.
(c) The comptroller shall adopt rules regarding the
calculation and distribution of payments for both public and
private schools.
(d) Upon application by the parent of an eligible child the
comptroller shall issue a scholarship certificate to the parent.
The parent shall promptly endorse and present the certificate to
the private school chosen by the parent.
(e) The private school the child attends must endorse and
present the child's scholarship certificate to the comptroller to
receive payment. On presentation of the evidence of the
scholarship, the comptroller shall distribute:
(1) to the district in which the child resides:
(A) the available school fund share attributable
to the child, notwithstanding Section 43.001, and
(B) 10 percent of the amount of the scholarship;
and
(2) to the private school the lesser of:
(A) 90 percent of the amount of the scholarship;
or
(B) the school's average annual cost per student.
(f) The comptroller may deduct an amount of the scholarship
from the scholarship share of the district in which a child resides
for costs of administering the program.
(g) The comptroller shall direct the distribution of funds
to the private school the child attends on a monthly pro rata basis
after education services have been provided. The payment shall be
made not later than the 30th day after the last day of each month of
the school year.
(h) The child's scholarship is the entitlement of the child,
under the supervision of the child's parent, and not that of any
school. Solely as a means of administrative convenience, the
comptroller shall pay the private school the child attends on
presentation of the evidence of the scholarship by the school.
(i) A private school may not share, refund, or rebate a
child's scholarship with the parent or child in any manner.
Sec. 29.355. ACCREDITATION. To participate in the program,
a private school must be accredited by or have filed an application
for accreditation by an accrediting association recognized by the
commissioner to accredit nongovernmental schools in this state.
Sec. 29.356. ADMISSIONS. (a) A private school chosen by an
eligible child's parent under Section 29.352 may not discriminate
on the basis of the child's race, national origin, or ethnicity.
(b) A private school that has more qualified scholarship
applicants for attendance under this subchapter than available
positions must fill the available scholarship positions by a random
selection process. However, to achieve continuity in education, a
school may give preference among scholarship applicants to
previously enrolled students and to other children residing in the
same household as previously enrolled students.
(c) A private school that accepts a child using a
scholarship is entitled to a copy of the child's complete academic
transcript, including past results on assessment instruments
administered under Section 39.023, from each school the child
previously attended. A public school releasing an academic
transcript under this section shall comply with any applicable
provision of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(20 U.S.C. Section 1232g) and its subsequent amendments.
Sec. 29.357. ACCOUNTABILITY. Each private school that
accepts a scholarship under this subchapter shall annually
administer in the spring either the appropriate assessment
instrument required under Section 39.023 or a norm-referenced
assessment instrument approved under Section 39.026 and shall make
the aggregated results of the assessment instrument available to
the public. Individual student results shall be made available,
with appropriate safeguards for student privacy, to researchers as
required under Section 29.364.
Sec. 29.358. TRANSPORTATION. A school district shall offer
each child attending a private school under this subchapter
transportation free of charge to and from the public school the
child would otherwise attend to the extent provided under Section
42.155 for an eligible child. A private school that accepts a
scholarship under this subchapter may use any public school as a
transportation collection location for the private school's
students.
Sec. 29.359. ADDITIONAL TUITION PROHIBITED. A parent or a
child using a scholarship under this subchapter may not be required
to pay tuition in addition to the child's scholarship.
Sec. 29.360. PRIVATE SCHOOL AUTONOMY. (a) A private school
that accepts a scholarship under this subchapter is not an agent or
arm of the state or federal government.
(b) The agency, the State Board of Education, the
commissioner, the comptroller, or any other state agency may not in
any way regulate the educational program of a private school that
accepts a scholarship under this subchapter.
(c) The purpose of this subchapter is to allow maximum
freedom to the private sector to respond to the educational needs of
the children of this state without governmental control, and this
subchapter shall be liberally construed to achieve that purpose.
Sec. 29.361. ELIGIBLE CHILD AND ELIGIBLE DISTRICT BEGINNING
WITH 2005-2006 SCHOOL YEAR. (a) Notwithstanding Section 29.351,
beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, "eligible district"
includes any school district whose board of trustees adopts a
resolution to participate in the program.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 29.353, beginning with the
2005-2006 school year, a child who resides in an eligible district
as defined by Subsection (a) is eligible to participate in the
program if the child attended a public school during the preceding
full semester.
(c) A child who establishes eligibility under Subsection
(b) is entitled to continue participating until the earlier of the
date on which the child graduates from high school or the child's
21st birthday.
Sec. 29.362. RULES. The comptroller shall adopt rules
necessary for the administration of the program and these rules
shall be binding on any other state and local governmental entity as
necessary in order to administer the program.
Sec. 29.363. SCHOOLS OF CHOICE RESOURCE CENTERS. (a) The
comptroller shall select one or more independently funded nonprofit
organizations to coordinate, provide staff for, and administer
schools of choice resource centers in each eligible district to;
(1) assist parents in learning how to be better
education consumers;
(2) provide information on education alternatives in
the area; and
(3) assist parents, schools, and school districts in
implementing and responding to the program.
(b) This section expires December 31, 2008.
Sec. 29.364. EVALUATION OF PROGRAM. (a) The comptroller in
conjunction with the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of
Texas at Austin shall:
(1) evaluate the program to determine the extent of
participation by eligible children who reside in eligible
districts; and
(2) contract with one or more qualified researchers
who have previous experience evaluating school choice programs to
fund, with funds other than state funds, and conduct a study of the
program.
(b) The study described by Subsection (a)(2) must assess:
(1) each participating student's performance on annual
assessment instruments before and after entering the program;
(2) the level of a participating student's
satisfaction with the program;
(3) the level of parent satisfaction with the program;
(4) the overall impact of the program on public school
students and on the districts and schools from which the
participating students transferred; and
(5) the impact of the program on public and private
school capacity, availability, and quality of service.
(c) the researchers who conduct the study shall apply
appropriate analytical and behavioral science methodologies to
ensure public confidence in the study.
(d) this section expires June 1, 2010.
SECTION 2. Section 29.202(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A student is eligible to receive a public education
grant or to attend another public school in the district in which
the student resides under this subchapter if the student is
assigned to attend a public school campus:
(1) at which 50 percent or more of the students did not
perform satisfactorily on an assessment instrument administered
under Section 39.023(a) or (c) in any two of the preceding three
years; [or]
(2) that was, at any time in the preceding three years,
identified as low-performing by the commissioner under Subchapter
D, Chapter 39; or
(3) that is in a district whose students may use an
education scholarship under Subchapter J, Chapter 29, and the
student is an eligible child under Section 29.353.
SECTION 3. (a) The comptroller shall implement the
education freedom program as provided by Subchapter J, Chapter 29,
Education Code, as added by this Act, beginning with the 2003-2004
school year.
(b) As soon as practicable the comptroller shall adopt rules
necessary for the administration of the program.
SECTION 4. 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.