2003S0667-1 03/14/03
By: Williams S.B. No. 1789
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to curbing the practice of teaching to the test in public
schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.0235 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.0235. OVEREMPHASIS OF TESTING. The State Board of
Education shall develop guidelines for ensuring that public school
teachers do not overemphasize standardized testing at the expense
of a thorough and well-rounded education.
SECTION 2. Section 11.202, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 11.202. PRINCIPALS. (a) The principal of a school is
the instructional leader of the school and shall be provided with
adequate training and personnel assistance to assume that role.
(b) Each principal shall:
(1) except as provided by Subsection (f) [(d)],
approve all teacher and staff appointments for that principal's
campus from a pool of applicants selected by the district or of
applicants who meet the hiring requirements established by the
district, based on criteria developed by the principal after
informal consultation with the faculty;
(2) set specific education objectives for the
principal's campus, through the planning process under Section
11.253;
(3) develop budgets for the principal's campus;
(4) assume the administrative responsibility and
instructional leadership, under the supervision of the
superintendent, for discipline at the campus;
(5) assign, evaluate, [and] promote, and demote
personnel assigned to the campus;
(6) recommend to the superintendent the termination or
suspension of an employee assigned to the campus or the nonrenewal
of the term contract of an employee assigned to the campus; [and]
(7) implement the guidelines developed by the State
Board of Education under Section 39.0235 for ensuring that teachers
do not overemphasize standardized testing at the expense of a
thorough and well-rounded education; and
(8) perform other duties assigned by the
superintendent pursuant to the policy of the board of trustees.
(c) The board of trustees of a school district shall adopt a
policy for the selection of a campus principal that includes
qualifications required for that position.
(d) A school district may not compensate a principal in a
manner that is dependent, in whole or in part, on student
performance on assessment instruments established and administered
under Chapter 39. A school principal may not be subjected to an
adverse employment action on the sole basis of student performance
on assessment instruments established and administered under
Chapter 39. For purposes of this subsection, "adverse employment
action" includes termination, demotion, a reduction in job
responsibilities, or a decrease in compensation.
(e) In exercising the duties assigned under Subsections
(b)(5) and (6) with respect to teachers, a principal shall, to the
extent possible, consider whether the teacher has substantially
complied with the guidelines developed by the State Board of
Education under Section 39.0235, for ensuring that teachers do not
overemphasize standardized testing at the expense of a thorough and
well-rounded education.
(f) The superintendent or the person designated by the
superintendent has the final placement authority for a teacher
transferred because of enrollment shifts or program changes in the
district.
SECTION 3. Subsection (d), Section 11.253, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) Each campus improvement plan must:
(1) assess the academic achievement for each student
in the school using the academic excellence indicator system as
described by Section 39.051;
(2) set the campus performance objectives based on the
academic excellence indicator system, including objectives for
special needs populations, including students in special education
programs under Subchapter A, Chapter 29;
(3) incorporate the guidelines developed by the State
Board of Education under Section 39.0235 for ensuring that teachers
do not overemphasize standardized testing at the expense of a
thorough and well-rounded education;
(4) identify how the campus goals will be met for each
student;
(5) [(4)] determine the resources needed to implement
the plan;
(6) [(5)] identify staff needed to implement the plan;
(7) [(6)] set timelines for reaching the goals;
(8) [(7)] measure progress toward the performance
objectives periodically to ensure that the plan is resulting in
academic improvement;
(9) [(8)] include goals and methods for violence
prevention and intervention on campus; and
(10) [(9)] provide for a program to encourage parental
involvement at the campus.
SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 21.357, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall design an objective system to
evaluate principals that:
(1) is based on types of information available as of
January 1, 1995, through the Public Education Information
Management System (PEIMS) and the state's public school
accountability system;
(2) focuses on gain at a principal's campus and
includes a statistical analysis comparing current campus
performance to previous performance; [and]
(3) is not solely or primarily based on student scores
on standardized tests; and
(4) does not include subjective items.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.