By: Shapiro S.B. No. 900
(In the Senate - Filed March 5, 2003; March 11, 2003, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education; March 19, 2003,
reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0;
March 19, 2003, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to computation and reporting of the ratios of a school
district's expenditures and personnel relating to direct student
instruction.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 44, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 44.0071 to read as follows:
Sec. 44.0071. COMPUTATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL EXPENDITURES
RATIO AND INSTRUCTIONAL EMPLOYEES RATIO. (a) Each fiscal year, a
school district shall compute and report to the commissioner:
(1) the percentage of the district's total
expenditures for the preceding fiscal year that were used to fund
direct instructional activities; and
(2) the percentage of the district's full-time
equivalent employees during the preceding fiscal year whose only
job function was to directly provide classroom instruction to
students.
(b) At least annually a school district shall provide
educators employed by the district with a list of district
employees determined by the district for purposes of this section
to be engaged only in providing classroom instruction to students.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) a district's total expenditures include amounts
spent on physical plant construction or operation; and
(2) the computation of a district's expenditures used
to fund direct instructional activities may include the salary,
including any associated employment taxes, and value of any
benefits provided to a district employee only if the employee's
only job function was to provide classroom instruction to students.
(d) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 2. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 39.052,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The report card shall include the following information
[where applicable]:
(1) where applicable, the academic excellence
indicators adopted under Sections 39.051(b)(1) through (9);
(2) average class size by grade level and subject;
[and]
(3) the administrative and instructional costs per
student, computed in a manner consistent with Section 44.0071; and
(4) the district's instructional expenditures ratio
and instructional employees ratio computed under Section 44.0071,
and the statewide average of those ratios, as determined by the
commissioner.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt rules [for] requiring
dissemination of the information required under Subsection (b)(4)
and appropriate class size and student performance portions of
campus report cards annually to the parent, guardian, conservator,
or other person having lawful control of each student at the campus.
On written request, the school district shall provide a copy of a
campus report card to any other party.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 39.182, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than December 1 of each year, the agency shall
prepare and deliver to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, each member of the
legislature, the Legislative Budget Board, and the clerks of the
standing committees of the senate and house of representatives with
primary jurisdiction over the public school system a comprehensive
report covering the preceding school year and containing:
(1) an evaluation of the achievements of the state
educational program in relation to the statutory goals for the
public education system under Section 4.002;
(2) an evaluation of the status of education in the
state as reflected by the academic excellence indicators adopted
under Section 39.051;
(3) a summary compilation of overall student
performance on academic skills assessment instruments required by
Section 39.023 with the number and percentage of students exempted
from the administration of those instruments and the basis of the
exemptions, aggregated by grade level, subject area, campus, and
district, with appropriate interpretations and analysis, and
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic
status;
(4) a summary compilation of overall performance of
students placed in an alternative education program established
under Section 37.008 on academic skills assessment instruments
required by Section 39.023 with the number of those students
exempted from the administration of those instruments and the basis
of the exemptions, aggregated by district, grade level, and subject
area, with appropriate interpretations and analysis, and
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic
status;
(5) a summary compilation of overall performance of
students at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Section
29.081(d), on academic skills assessment instruments required by
Section 39.023 with the number of those students exempted from the
administration of those instruments and the basis of the
exemptions, aggregated by district, grade level, and subject area,
with appropriate interpretations and analysis, and disaggregated
by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status;
(6) an evaluation of the correlation between student
grades and student performance on academic skills assessment
instruments required by Section 39.023;
(7) a statement of the dropout rate of students in
grade levels 7 through 12, expressed in the aggregate and by grade
level, and a statement of the completion rates of students for grade
levels 9 through 12;
(8) a statement of:
(A) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and graduate not more than four years later;
(B) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and graduate, including students who require more
than four years to graduate;
(C) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and not more than four years later receive a high
school equivalency certificate;
(D) the completion rate of students who enter
grade level 9 and receive a high school equivalency certificate,
including students who require more than four years to receive a
certificate; and
(E) the number and percentage of all students who
have not been accounted for under Paragraph (A), (B), (C), or (D);
(9) a statement of the projected cross-sectional and
longitudinal dropout rates for grade levels 9 through 12 for the
next five years, assuming no state action is taken to reduce the
dropout rate;
(10) a description of a systematic, measurable plan
for reducing the projected cross-sectional and longitudinal
dropout rates to five percent or less for the 1997-1998 school year;
(11) a summary of the information required by Section
29.083 regarding grade level retention of students and information
concerning:
(A) the number and percentage of students
retained; and
(B) the performance of retained students on
assessment instruments required under Section 39.023(a);
(12) information, aggregated by district type and
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic
status, on:
(A) the number of students placed in an
alternative education program established under Section 37.008;
(B) the average length of a student's placement
in an alternative education program established under Section
37.008;
(C) the academic performance of students on
assessment instruments required under Section 39.023(a) during the
year preceding and during the year following placement in an
alternative education program; and
(D) the dropout rates of students who have been
placed in an alternative education program established under
Section 37.008;
(13) a list of each school district or campus that does
not satisfy performance standards, with an explanation of the
actions taken by the commissioner to improve student performance in
the district or campus and an evaluation of the results of those
actions;
(14) an evaluation of the status of the curriculum
taught in public schools, with recommendations for legislative
changes necessary to improve or modify the curriculum required by
Section 28.002;
(15) a description of all funds received by and each
activity and expenditure of the agency;
(16) a summary and analysis of the instructional
expenditures ratios and instructional employees ratios
[compliance] of school districts computed [with administrative
cost ratios set by the commissioner] under Section 44.0071 [42.201,
including any improvements and cost savings achieved by school
districts];
(17) a summary of the effect of deregulation,
including exemptions and waivers granted under Section 7.056 or
39.112;
(18) a statement of the total number and length of
reports that school districts and school district employees must
submit to the agency, identifying which reports are required by
federal statute or rule, state statute, or agency rule, and a
summary of the agency's efforts to reduce overall reporting
requirements;
(19) a list of each school district that is not in
compliance with state special education requirements, including:
(A) the period for which the district has not
been in compliance;
(B) the manner in which the agency considered the
district's failure to comply in determining the district's
accreditation status; and
(C) an explanation of the actions taken by the
commissioner to ensure compliance and an evaluation of the results
of those actions;
(20) a comparison of the performance of
open-enrollment charter schools and school districts on the
academic excellence indicators specified in Section 39.051(b) and
accountability measures adopted under Section 39.051(g), with a
separately aggregated comparison of the performance of
open-enrollment charter schools predominantly serving students at
risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Section 29.081(d),
with the performance of school districts; and
(21) any additional information considered important
by the commissioner or the State Board of Education.
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
SECTION 6. The repeal of Subchapter D, Chapter 42,
Education Code, by this Act does not affect the liability of a
school district for excess administrative costs during the
2002-2003 school year that the commissioner of education is
entitled to recover during the 2003-2004 school year under
Subsection (d), Section 42.201, Education Code, as that subsection
existed on January 1, 2003, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
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