By: Grusendorf, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Shapiro) H.B. No. 4
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 22, 2005;
April 25, 2005, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 21, 2005, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0;
May 21, 2005, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 4 By: Shapiro
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of technology by public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Effective September 1, 2007, Section 32.005,
Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding
Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a) Each school district or open-enrollment charter school
is entitled to an allotment of $150 [$30] for each student in
average daily attendance or a different amount for any year
provided by appropriation.
(a-1) From the funds a school district receives under
Subsection (a), the district shall use an amount equal to $60 for
each student in average daily attendance to fund targeted
technology programs under Section 32.006. A school district shall
use funds for targeted technology programs in a manner that allows
each student and teacher assigned to a targeted campus, grade level
on a campus, or specific educational program to benefit from a
targeted technology program. The commissioner shall adopt rules
concerning the use of funds under this subsection.
SECTION 2. Effective September 1, 2007, Subchapter A,
Chapter 32, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 32.006 to
read as follows:
Sec. 32.006. TARGETED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS. (a) Each school
district shall use funds designated for targeted technology
programs under Section 32.005(a-1) in accordance with this section
and in a manner consistent with the long-range plan developed by the
State Board of Education under Section 32.001 and the district's
own technology plan. A school district may use funds from other
sources, including grants, donations, and state and federal funds,
to provide targeted technology programs.
(b) For each student and teacher at a targeted campus or
grade level on a targeted campus, a targeted technology program
must provide:
(1) systems or components of:
(A) wireless electronic mobile computing devices
or other technology devices that convey instruction;
(B) productivity hardware or software, including
writing, computation, presentation, and communication tools;
(C) electronic learning software aligned with
the essential skills and knowledge adopted by the State Board of
Education under Section 28.002;
(D) library and other research tools;
(E) electronic assessment tools;
(F) electronic learning tools to improve
communications among students, teachers, school administrators,
parents, and the community;
(G) classroom and school management systems; and
(H) portable electronic instructional material
devices capable of supporting instructional material for each
subject in the foundation and enrichment curriculum;
(2) professional development for educational
personnel responsible for direct instruction to integrate the tools
and solutions described by Subdivision (1); and
(3) additional infrastructure and technologies
necessary to support and enhance the tools and solutions described
by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 32, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 32.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.007. AGREEMENT WITH PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATION.
(a) The commissioner may enter into an agreement with a public
broadcasting station, or a consortium of public broadcasting
stations, under which the station or consortium will provide online
instructional content and educational materials.
(b) From funds appropriated to the agency, the commissioner
may, under an agreement entered into under Subsection (a), make
instructional materials available through public broadcasting
stations for purposes of instruction and professional development
and for use in providing adult-based education.
(c) An agreement entered into under Subsection (a) must, to
the extent practicable, provide access to instructional materials
and online content to persons located in all parts of this state.
(d) For purposes of providing high-quality online
instructional materials under this section, the commissioner may:
(1) use federal funds that may be used for those
purposes; or
(2) use unexpended balances of funds appropriated to
the agency for educational purposes, including adult education.
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 32.154, Education Code,
as added by Chapter 834, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 32.154. [DISTRICT OR] SCHOOL SELECTION.
SECTION 5. Section 32.154, Education Code, as added by
Chapter 834, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003,
is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (a-1)
to read as follows:
(a-1) In addition to school districts and schools selected
before September 1, 2005, for participation in the technology
immersion pilot project, the agency shall select for participation
in the pilot project for the 2005-2006 and subsequent school years:
(1) each high school to which a school district
regularly assigns students who were enrolled in grade eight during
the 2004-2005 school year at a district school participating in the
pilot project; and
(2) one middle or junior high school and one high
school in each state senatorial district.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1)(1), the [The]
agency shall select the participating [districts and] schools for
the pilot project based on each [district's or] school's need for
the pilot project. In selecting participants, the agency shall
consider the following criteria:
(1) whether the [district or] school has limited
access to educational resources that could be improved through the
use of wireless mobile computing devices and other technologies;
(2) whether the [district or] school has the following
problems and whether those problems can be mitigated through the
use of wireless mobile computing devices and other technologies:
(A) documented teacher shortages in critical
areas;
(B) limited access to advanced placement
courses;
(C) low rates of satisfactory performance on
assessment instruments under Subchapter B, Chapter 39; and
(D) high dropout rates;
(3) the [district's or] school's readiness to
incorporate technology into its classrooms;
(4) the possibility of obtaining a trained technology
support staff and high-speed Internet services for the [district
or] school; and
(5) the methods the [district or] school will use to
measure the progress of the pilot project in the district or school
in accordance with Section 32.155(e).
SECTION 6. Sections 32.154(a) and (c), Education Code, as
added by Chapter 834, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, are repealed.
SECTION 7. This Act applies beginning with the 2005-2006
school year, except that Section 32.005, Education Code, as amended
by this Act, and Section 32.006, Education Code, as added by this
Act, apply beginning with the 2007-2008 school year.
SECTION 8. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, 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, 2005, except as otherwise provided by this Act.
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