LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 79TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
Revision 1
 
April 19, 2005

TO:
Honorable Kent Grusendorf, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB1668 by Eissler (Relating to the governor's award for teaching excellence program.), As Introduced



Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1668, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($2,300,000) through the biennium ending August 31, 2007.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.



Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2006 ($1,150,000)
2007 ($1,150,000)
2008 ($1,150,000)
2009 ($1,150,000)
2010 ($1,150,000)




Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from
GENERAL REVENUE FUND
1
2006 ($1,150,000)
2007 ($1,150,000)
2008 ($1,150,000)
2009 ($1,150,000)
2010 ($1,150,000)

Fiscal Analysis

This bill would create the Governor’s Award for Teaching Excellence program, establishing an annual awards program to recognize and honor classroom teachers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and excellence in teaching and assist efforts to attract new teachers to the state.
 
All certified public school classroom teachers would be eligible for the awards program.  District nominees would be considered by selection panels appointed by regional education service centers (RESCs).  RESCs would select nominees and forward their applications to the Texas Education Agency for final selection.  Agency-selected teachers each would receive a stipend of at least $10,000 and a reimbursement of travel expenses incurred by program participation.  To obtain the stipend, a selected individual would be required to share best practices with other teachers using communications networks or conferences, provide input regarding education issues and policies, and serve on an advisory council to the governor.  The commissioner would be granted rulemaking authority to implement the program.
 
The bill would take effect September 1, 2005.


Methodology

The bill does not specify a minimum or maximum number of participants that could be selected by the Texas Education Agency to receive stipends, although the language of the bill implies that multiple awards would be made each year.  For the purposes of this fiscal note, it is assumed that each service center would forward at least one application to the agency each year, with most regions forwarding 20-30 applications annually to represent teachers of various school levels and specialties.  If the agency selects 5 participants from each region per year, the total number of awards would be 100 annually.  Assuming this level of activity, costs for stipends would be anticipated to be $1.0 million annually, and travel costs would be anticipated to be approximately $150,000 annually.  A decision by the agency to select more or fewer teachers for the award would impact state costs accordingly.
 
The bill would have workload implications for agency administrative operations related to the selection of participants, payment of stipends and processing of travel reimbursement requests, but these are not assumed to be significant.

Technology

This bill has no identifiable effect on the Texas Education Agency's technology costs.

Local Government Impact

The bill would require participants to share best practices information and serve in policy and advisory roles with travel costs reimbursed by the state.  It is likely that some travel would occur during the school year and that local cost could be incurred for substitutes at these times.  While costs would vary from district to district, on a statewide basis the costs would not be anticipated to be significant.


Source Agencies:
701 Central Education Agency
LBB Staff:
JOB, CT, UP, JGM