78R7300 CAS-D
By: Pitts H.B. No. 3171
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reducing compliance monitoring by the Texas Education
Agency of school districts and charter schools and programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 7.021(b)(1), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(1) The agency shall administer and monitor compliance
with education programs required by federal [or state] law,
including federal funding [and state funding] for those programs.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 7, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 7.027 to read as follows:
Sec. 7.027. LIMITATION ON COMPLIANCE MONITORING. Except as
provided by Sections 39.074 and 39.075, the agency shall monitor
campuses, programs, and schools granted charters under Chapter 12
and school districts only as necessary to ensure:
(1) compliance with federal law and regulations;
(2) financial accountability, including compliance
with grant requirements; and
(3) data integrity for purposes of:
(A) the Public Education Information Management
System (PEIMS); and
(B) accountability under Chapter 39.
SECTION 3. Section 29.001, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.001. STATEWIDE PLAN. The agency shall develop, and
modify as necessary, a statewide design, consistent with federal
law, for the delivery of services to children with disabilities in
this state that includes rules for the administration and funding
of the special education program so that a free appropriate public
education is available to all of those children between the ages of
three and 21. The statewide design shall include the provision of
services primarily through school districts and shared services
arrangements, supplemented by regional education service centers.
The agency shall also develop and implement a statewide plan with
programmatic content that includes procedures designed to:
(1) ensure state compliance with requirements for
supplemental federal funding for all state-administered programs
involving the delivery of instructional or related services to
students with disabilities;
(2) facilitate interagency coordination when other
state agencies are involved in the delivery of instructional or
related services to students with disabilities;
(3) periodically assess statewide personnel needs in
all areas of specialization related to special education and pursue
strategies to meet those needs through a consortium of
representatives from regional education service centers, local
education agencies, and institutions of higher education and
through other available alternatives;
(4) ensure that regional education service centers
throughout the state maintain a regional support function, which
may include direct service delivery and a component designed to
facilitate the placement of students with disabilities who cannot
be appropriately served in their resident districts;
(5) allow the agency to effectively monitor and
periodically conduct site visits of all school districts [to ensure
that rules adopted under this section are applied in a consistent
and uniform manner,] to ensure that districts are complying with
federal law and regulations [those rules,] and to ensure that
annual statistical reports filed by the districts and not otherwise
available through the Public Education Information Management
System under Section 42.006[,] are accurate and complete;
(6) ensure that appropriately trained personnel are
involved in the diagnostic and evaluative procedures operating in
all districts and that those personnel routinely serve on district
admissions, review, and dismissal committees;
(7) ensure that an individualized education program
for each student with a disability is properly developed,
implemented, and maintained in the least restrictive environment
that is appropriate to meet the student's educational needs;
(8) ensure that, when appropriate, each student with a
disability is provided an opportunity to participate in career and
technology and physical education classes, in addition to
participating in regular or special classes;
(9) ensure that each student with a disability is
provided necessary related services; and
(10) ensure that an individual assigned to act as a
surrogate parent for a child with a disability, as provided by 20
U.S.C. Section 1415(b) and its subsequent amendments, is required
to:
(A) complete a training program that complies
with minimum standards established by agency rule;
(B) visit the child and the child's school;
(C) consult with persons involved in the child's
education, including teachers, caseworkers, court-appointed
volunteers, guardians ad litem, attorneys ad litem, foster parents,
and caretakers;
(D) review the child's educational records;
(E) attend meetings of the child's admission,
review, and dismissal committee;
(F) exercise independent judgment in pursuing
the child's interests; and
(G) exercise the child's due process rights under
applicable state and federal law.
SECTION 4. Sections 29.010(a) and (c), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The agency shall adopt and implement a comprehensive
system for monitoring school district compliance with federal [and
state] laws relating to special education. The monitoring system
must provide for ongoing analysis of district special education
data and of complaints filed with the agency concerning special
education services and for inspections of school districts at
district facilities. The agency shall use the information obtained
through analysis of district data and from the complaints
management system to determine the appropriate schedule for and
extent of the inspection.
(c) The agency shall develop and implement a system of
sanctions for school districts whose most recent monitoring visit
shows a failure to comply with major requirements of the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1400
et seq.), federal regulations, [state statutes,] or agency
requirements necessary to carry out federal law or regulations [or
state law] relating to special education.
SECTION 5. Sections 29.062(a) and (e), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The legislature recognizes that compliance with this
subchapter is an imperative public necessity. Therefore, in
accordance with the policy of the state, the agency shall evaluate
the effectiveness of programs under this subchapter based on the
results of assessment instruments required under Subchapter B,
Chapter 39. The agency may combine evaluations under this section
with federal accountability measures concerning students of
limited English proficiency [monitor compliance with state rules by
inspecting each school district and open-enrollment charter school
on-site at least every three years].
(e) If a school district or open-enrollment charter school
fails to satisfy appropriate standards adopted by the commissioner
for purposes of Subsection (a) [or refuses to comply after proper
notification], the agency shall apply sanctions, which may include
the removal of accreditation, loss of foundation school funds, or
both.
SECTION 6. Section 29.123, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.123. STATE PLAN; ASSISTANCE. The State Board of
Education shall develop and periodically update a state plan for
the education of gifted and talented students to guide school
districts in establishing and improving programs for identified
students. The regional education service centers may assist
districts in implementing the state plan. In addition to obtaining
assistance from a regional education service center, a district may
obtain other assistance in implementing the plan. [The plan shall
be used for accountability purposes to measure the performance of
districts in providing services to students identified as gifted
and talented.]
SECTION 7. Section 29.154, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.154. EVALUATION OF PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS. The
commissioner of education, in consultation with the commissioner of
human services, shall [monitor and evaluate prekindergarten
programs as to their developmental appropriateness. The
commissioners shall also] evaluate the potential for coordination
on a statewide basis of prekindergarten programs with
government-funded early childhood care and education programs such
as child care administered under Chapter 44, Human Resources Code,
and federal Head Start programs. That evaluation shall use
recommendations contained in the report to the 71st Legislature
required by Chapter 717, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1987. For the purpose of providing cost-effective care for
children during the full workday with developmentally appropriate
curriculum, the commissioners shall investigate the use of existing
child-care program sites as prekindergarten sites. Following the
evaluation required by this section, the commissioners, in
cooperation with school districts and other program
administrators, shall integrate programs, staff, and program sites
for prekindergarten, child-care, and federal Head Start programs to
the greatest extent possible.
SECTION 8. Section 42.151(h), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(h) Funds allocated under this section, other than an
indirect cost allotment established under State Board of Education
rule, must be used in the special education program under
Subchapter A, Chapter 29. The annual audit of school district
fiscal accounts required under Section 44.008 must cover a
district's compliance with this subsection.
SECTION 9. Section 42.152(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) Funds allocated under this section shall be used [only]
to fund supplemental programs and services designed to eliminate
any disparity in performance on assessment instruments
administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, or disparity in the
rates of high school completion between students at risk of
dropping out of school, as defined by Section 29.081, and all other
students. The annual audit of school district fiscal accounts
required under Section 44.008 must cover a district's compliance
with this subsection. [Specifically, the funds, other than an
indirect cost allotment established under State Board of Education
rule, which may not exceed 15 percent, may be used only to meet the
costs of providing a compensatory, intensive, or accelerated
instruction program under Section 29.081 or an alternative
education program established under Section 37.008 or to support a
program eligible under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965, as provided by Pub. L. No. 103-382 and its
subsequent amendments, and by federal regulations implementing
that Act, at a campus at which at least 50 percent of the students
are educationally disadvantaged. In meeting the costs of providing
a compensatory, intensive, or accelerated instruction program
under Section 29.081, a district's compensatory education
allotment may be used only for costs supplementary to the regular
education program, such as costs for program and student
evaluation, instructional materials and equipment and other
supplies required for quality instruction, supplemental staff
expenses, salary for teachers of at-risk students, smaller class
size, and individualized instruction.] A home-rule school district
or an open-enrollment charter school must use funds allocated under
Subsection (a) for a purpose authorized in this subsection but is
not otherwise subject to Subchapter C, Chapter 29.
[Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section:
[(1) to ensure that a sufficient amount of the funds
allotted under this section are available to supplement
instructional programs and services, no more than 18 percent of the
funds allotted under this section may be used to fund disciplinary
alternative education programs established under Section 37.008;
and
[(2) the commissioner may waive the limitations of
Subdivision (1) upon an annual petition, by a district's board and a
district's site-based decision making committee, presenting the
reason for the need to spend supplemental compensatory education
funds on disciplinary alternative education programs under Section
37.008. The district shall in its petition report the number of
students in each grade level, by demographic subgroup, not making
satisfactory progress under the state's assessment system. The
commissioner will make this waiver request information available
annually to the public on the agency's website.]
SECTION 10. Section 42.153(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Funds allocated under this section, other than an
indirect cost allotment established under State Board of Education
rule, must be used in providing bilingual education or special
language programs under Subchapter B, Chapter 29[, and must be
accounted for under existing agency reporting and auditing
procedures]. The annual audit of school district fiscal accounts
required under Section 44.008 must cover a district's compliance
with this subsection.
SECTION 11. Section 42.154(c), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) Funds allocated under this section, other than an
indirect cost allotment established under State Board of Education
rule, must be used in providing career and technology education
programs in grades nine through 12 or career and technology
education programs for students with disabilities in grades seven
through 12 under Sections 29.182, 29.183, and 29.184. The annual
audit of school district fiscal accounts required under Section
44.008 must cover a district's compliance with this subsection.
SECTION 12. Section 42.156(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Funds allocated under this section, other than the
amount that represents the program's share of general
administrative costs, must be used in providing programs for gifted
and talented students under Subchapter D, Chapter 29, including
programs sanctioned by International Baccalaureate and Advanced
Placement, or in developing programs for gifted and talented
students. The annual audit of school district fiscal accounts
required under Section 44.008 must cover a district's compliance
with this subsection. [Each district must account for the
expenditure of state funds as provided by rule of the State Board of
Education. If by the end of the 12th month after receiving an
allotment for developing a program a district has failed to
implement a program, the district must refund the amount of the
allotment to the agency within 30 days.]
SECTION 13. Sections 7.055(b)(23), 29.062(b)-(d),
37.008(m), 42.152(d) and (q)-(s), and 42.154(d), Education Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 14. This Act applies beginning with the 2003-2004
school year.
SECTION 15. 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.