80R4789 CAE-D

By: Patrick, Dan S.B. No. 550

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the percentage of available general fund revenue allocated by a school district for instructional activities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 44.0071, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:

(a) Each fiscal year, a school district shall compute and report to the commissioner:

(1) the percentage of the district's total available general fund revenue [expenditures] for the preceding fiscal year that was [were] used to fund direct instructional activities; and

(2) the percentage of the district's full-time equivalent employees during the preceding fiscal year whose job function was to directly provide classroom instruction to students, determined by dividing the number of hours spent by employees in providing direct classroom instruction by the total number of hours worked by all district employees.

(a-1) The commissioner by rule shall determine the manner in which a district's total available general fund revenue for purposes of this section is computed.

(c) For purposes of this section, the computation of a district's total available general fund revenue [expenditures] used to fund direct instructional activities shall include the salary, including any associated employment taxes, and value of any benefits provided to any district employee who directly provided classroom instruction to students, but only in proportion to the percentage of time spent by the employee in directly providing classroom instruction to students.

SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 44, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 44.012 to read as follows:

Sec. 44.012. EXPENDITURES FOR DIRECT INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES. (a) A school district shall allocate at least 65 percent of the district's total available general fund revenue to fund direct instructional activities in the district. The commissioner by rule shall determine the manner in which a district's total available general fund revenue for purposes of this section is computed. In adopting rules under this subsection, the commissioner may not include local school district revenue from sources other than taxes, including grants and donations, in computing a district's total available general fund revenue.

(b) For purposes of this section, whether an expenditure is an expenditure for direct instructional activities is determined in accordance with standards and definitions adopted by the National Center for Education Statistics of the United States Department of Education.

(c) The commissioner may adopt rules for purposes of this section in a manner consistent with Subsection (b) of this section, Section 44.0071, and standards used by the commissioner in submitting relevant data to the National Center for Education Statistics of the United States Department of Education for the 2002-2003 school year.

SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2007-2008 school year.

SECTION 4. 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, 2007.