BILL ANALYSIS
By: Howard, Charlie
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Currently, students that are home-schooled and have completed college preparatory education are not allowed participation in Advance Placement or Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) testing at public schools. Advanced Placement tests give students credit for work they have done that is college level. Virginia passed such legislation requiring schools to make the testing known to home school students and to allow them to participate in the testing.
This bill requires public schools to make known to home school students Advance Placement (AP) testing as well as the PSAT/NMSQT testing which is made available to public school students. The bill also requires public schools to allow home-schooled students to participate in the testing.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Commissioner of Education in SECTION 1 of this bill.
ANALYSIS
The bill requires school districts to permit home-schooled students to attend public schools in the district to take the PSAT/NMSQT or a college advanced placement test offered by the district. A school district is not required to pay the cost for a home-schooled student to participate in such tests.
The bill also requires school districts to post on the district website or, if the school district does not maintain a website, publish in a local or county newspaper (in accordance with procedures specified in the bill), notification of the date that such tests will be administered. The notice must state that such tests are available for home-schooled students eligible to attend school in the district and describe the procedures for a home-schooled student to register for a test. The information must be posted or published at the same time and with the same frequency with which the information is provided to a student who attends a district school.
The bill provides that the Commissioner of Education may adopt rules to implement the provisions of Section 29.916, Education Code, as added by the bill.
The bill provides that the Act applies with the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The substitute adds a provision that a school district is not required to pay the cost for a home-schooled student to participate in such tests.
The original bill provides that information required to be posted or published under the bill must be posted or published not later than the 30th day before the date of the test. The substitute provides that the information must be published at the same time and with the same frequency with which the information is provided to a student who attends a district school.