79R7450 KKA-D
By: Anderson H.B. No. 2067
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to required curriculum in the public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 28.002(a), (c), (e), (k), and (n),
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Each school district that offers kindergarten through
grade 12 shall offer, as a required curriculum:
(1) a [foundation] curriculum for kindergarten
through grade 3 that includes:
(A) English language arts and reading;
(B) mathematics;
(C) [science; and
[(D) social studies, consisting of Texas,]
United States[,] and world history; and
(D) [, government, and] geography; [and]
(2) a curriculum for grades 4 through 6 [an enrichment
curriculum] that includes:
(A) the subjects listed in Subdivision (1);
(B) science;
(C) to the extent possible, languages other than
English;
(D) [(B)] health and[;
[(C)] physical education;
(E) [(D)] fine arts; and
(F) Texas history; and
(3) a curriculum for grades 7 through 12 that
includes:
(A) the subjects listed in Subdivisions (1) and
(2);
(B) [(E)] economics, with emphasis on the free
enterprise system and its benefits;
(C) government;
(D) [(F)] career and technology education; and
(E) [(G)] technology applications.
(c) The State Board of Education, with the direct
participation of educators, parents, business and industry
representatives, and employers shall by rule identify the essential
knowledge and skills of each subject of the required curriculum
that all students should be able to demonstrate and that will be
used in evaluating textbooks under Chapter 31 and addressed on the
assessment instruments required under Subchapter B, Chapter 39.
The essential knowledge and skills for each subject must be clearly
expressed, grade specific, and provide for instruction with
increased depth and complexity from one grade level to the next. As
a condition of accreditation, the board shall require each district
to provide instruction in the essential knowledge and skills at
appropriate grade levels.
(e) American Sign Language is a language for purposes of
Subsection (a)(2)(C) [(a)(2)(A)]. A public school may offer an
elective course in the language.
(k) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
Texas Department of Health and the Texas Diabetes Council, shall
develop a diabetes education program that a school district may use
in the health and physical education curriculum under Subsection
(a)(2)(D) [(a)(2)(B)].
(n) The State Board of Education may by rule develop and
implement a plan designed to incorporate [foundation] curriculum
requirements for other subjects into the career and technology
education curriculum under Subsection (a)(3)(D) [(a)(2)(F)].
SECTION 2. Section 28.003(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) In this section, "educational program" means a course or
series of courses in the required curriculum under Section 28.002,
other than a fine arts course under Section 28.002(a)(2)(E)
[28.002(a)(2)(D)] or a career and technology course under Section
28.002(a)(3)(D) [28.002(a)(2)(F)].
SECTION 3. Section 28.022(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The board of trustees of each school district shall
adopt a policy that:
(1) provides for a conference between parents and
teachers;
(2) requires the district, at least once every 12
weeks, to give written notice to a parent of a student's performance
in each class or subject; and
(3) requires the district, at least once every three
weeks, or during the fourth week of each nine-week grading period,
to give written notice to a parent or legal guardian of a student's
performance in a subject included in the required [foundation]
curriculum under Section 28.002(a) [28.002(a)(1)] if the student's
performance in the subject is consistently unsatisfactory, as
determined by the district.
SECTION 4. Section 29.081(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) For purposes of this section, "student at risk of
dropping out of school" includes each student who is under 21 years
of age and who:
(1) was not advanced from one grade level to the next
for one or more school years;
(2) if the student is in grade 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12,
did not maintain an average equivalent to 70 on a scale of 100 in two
or more subjects in the required [foundation] curriculum during a
semester in the preceding or current school year or is not
maintaining such an average in two or more subjects in the required
[foundation] curriculum in the current semester;
(3) did not perform satisfactorily on an assessment
instrument administered to the student under Subchapter B, Chapter
39, and who has not in the previous or current school year
subsequently performed on that instrument or another appropriate
instrument at a level equal to at least 110 percent of the level of
satisfactory performance on that instrument;
(4) if the student is in prekindergarten,
kindergarten, or grade 1, 2, or 3, did not perform satisfactorily on
a readiness test or assessment instrument administered during the
current school year;
(5) is pregnant or is a parent;
(6) has been placed in a disciplinary [an] alternative
education program in accordance with Section 37.006 during the
preceding or current school year;
(7) has been expelled in accordance with Section
37.007 during the preceding or current school year;
(8) is currently on parole, probation, deferred
prosecution, or other conditional release;
(9) was previously reported through the Public
Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to have dropped out
of school;
(10) is a student of limited English proficiency, as
defined by Section 29.052;
(11) is in the custody or care of the Department of
Family and Protective [and Regulatory] Services or has, during the
current school year, been referred to the department by a school
official, officer of the juvenile court, or law enforcement
official;
(12) is homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section
11302[, and its subsequent amendments]; or
(13) resided in the preceding school year or resides
in the current school year in a residential placement facility in
the district, including a detention facility, substance abuse
treatment facility, emergency shelter, psychiatric hospital,
halfway house, or foster group home.
SECTION 5. Section 31.022(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The board shall organize the cycle required by
Subsection (a) [for subjects in the foundation curriculum] so that
not more than one-sixth of the textbooks for subjects in the
required [foundation] curriculum are reviewed each year. The board
shall adopt rules to provide for a full and complete investigation
of textbooks for each subject in the required [foundation]
curriculum at least every six years. The adoption of textbooks for
a subject in the required [foundation] curriculum may be extended
beyond the six-year period only if the content of textbooks for a
subject is sufficiently current.
SECTION 6. Section 31.101(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Each year, during a period established by the State
Board of Education, the board of trustees of each school district
and the governing body of each open-enrollment charter school
shall[:
[(1) for a subject in the foundation curriculum,]
notify the State Board of Education of the textbooks selected by the
board of trustees or governing body for the following school year
from among the textbooks on the appropriate conforming or
nonconforming list[; or
[(2) for a subject in the enrichment curriculum:
[(A) notify the State Board of Education of each
textbook selected by the board of trustees or governing body for the
following school year from among the textbooks on the appropriate
conforming or nonconforming list; or
[(B) notify the State Board of Education that the
board of trustees or governing body has selected a textbook that is
not on the conforming or nonconforming list].
SECTION 7. Sections 31.022(c) and 31.101(b), (c), and (d),
Education Code, are repealed.
SECTION 8. This Act applies beginning with the 2006-2007
school year.
SECTION 9. 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.