80R13245 PAM-D

By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 2053

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to authorizing a pilot program to establish education benchmarks as a prerequisite to certain education funding for certain public schools.

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

SECTION 1. Section 61.076, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:

(c) The co-chairs may appoint three additional members who are education professionals, agency representatives, business representatives, or other members of the community, including parents of children currently attending public school. Members appointed to the council under this subsection serve two-year terms expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year.

(e-1) The council shall adopt a regional plan for school districts that establishes short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals to be attained by campuses and school districts in the region regarding each area identified under Subsection (e). The regional boundaries under this subsection are coextensive with the boundaries of the regions served by the regional education service centers established under Chapter 8.

SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 61.0764 to read as follows:

Sec. 61.0764. PILOT PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING ADDITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING BASED ON BENCHMARK PERFORMANCE. (a) In this section, "additional funding" means funds provided to a school district under the following programs and funding sources:

(1) a regional day school program for the deaf under Subchapter D, Chapter 30;

(2) the engineering and science recruitment fund under Subchapter M, Chapter 51;

(3) a state program for students with visual impairments under Section 30.002;

(4) the Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program under Subchapter C, Chapter 28;

(5) the MATHCOUNTS program as provided by Section 42.156(f);

(6) the Communities In Schools program under Subchapter E, Chapter 33;

(7) an extended year program under Section 29.082;

(8) an after-school and summer intensive mathematics program under Section 29.088;

(9) an after-school and summer intensive science program under Section 29.090;

(10) an intensive reading and language intervention pilot program under Section 29.094;

(11) a program to promote early childhood school readiness under Subchapter E, Chapter 29;

(12) kindergarten and prekindergarten grant programs under Section 29.155;

(13) the master reading teacher grant program under Section 21.410;

(14) the master mathematics teacher grant program under Section 21.411;

(15) the master science teacher grant program under Section 21.413;

(16) a program related to the student success initiative grade advancement requirements under Section 28.0211, including a program under that section for students of limited English proficiency;

(17) adult education programs under Subchapter H, Chapter 29;

(18) the investment capital fund under Section 7.024;

(19) a comprehensive high school reform program;

(20) a life skills program for student parents under Section 29.085;

(21) a teacher mentoring grant program under Section 21.458;

(22) the educator excellence awards program under Subchapter O, Chapter 21;

(23) a school leadership pilot program under Section 11.203; and

(24) the technology immersion pilot project under Subchapter D, Chapter 32, as added by Chapter 834, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003.

(b) The P-16 Council shall designate two regions for which regional plans have been adopted under Section 61.076(e-1) to participate in a pilot program under this section.

(c) The council shall calculate the amount of additional funding to which a region designated under Subsection (b) is entitled as provided by this subsection. The council shall determine the total amount of:

(1) state funds allotted to school districts in the state in the preceding school year under Chapter 42;

(2) general revenue allocated under the General Appropriations Act for the preceding fiscal year to institutions of higher education in the state, as defined by Section 61.003, other than junior college districts and medical and dental units, to provide instructional and operations support; and

(3) general revenue appropriated under the General Appropriations Act for the preceding fiscal year to junior college districts in the state based on the amount appropriated to support academic education and vocational-technical education.

(d) Using the same method described by Subsection (c), the council next shall determine the total amount of state funds allotted to school districts, general revenue allocated to institutions of higher education, and general revenue appropriated to junior college districts located in each designated region.

(e) The additional funding to which each region is entitled is an amount equal to the same percentage of the total amount of additional funding for the state as the percentage of state funds or general revenue, as applicable, the region receives for school districts, institutions of higher education, and junior college districts under Subsection (d) as compared to the state funds or general revenue provided for school districts, institutions of higher education, and junior college districts for the state as a whole under Subsection (c).

(f) The council shall place the additional funding allocated to a region under Subsection (e) in an escrow fund. Additional funding under this section may be disbursed to a campus or school district only:

(1) for the initial planning purposes for which the funding is granted; or

(2) after the campus or district meets the appropriate goal as established by the council in the regional plan for the school district under Section 61.076(e-1).

(g) The commissioner of education and the commissioner of higher education shall adopt rules as necessary to administer this section.

(h) Not later than January 1, 2009, the commissioner of education and the commissioner of higher education shall report to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and each member of the legislature on the activities conducted under the pilot program. The report must include:

(1) an assessment of the effectiveness of the program;

(2) any recommendations on improvements to the program; and

(3) a recommendation regarding the continuation of the program on a statewide basis.

(i) This section expires September 1, 2010.

SECTION 3. Section 29.094, Education Code, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:

Sec. 29.094. INTENSIVE READING AND LANGUAGE INTERVENTION PILOT PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "pilot program" means the intensive reading and language intervention pilot program.

(b) The commissioner by rule shall [may] establish a pilot program in which a participating campus provides intensive reading and language intervention to participating students.

(c) A [If the commissioner establishes the pilot program, a] campus may apply to the commissioner to participate in the pilot program. The commissioner may select for participation in the pilot program only campuses that have failed to improve student performance in reading according to standards established by the commissioner. The standards established by the commissioner for purposes of this subsection must be based on reading performance standards required for student promotion under Section 28.0211.

(d) The [If the commissioner establishes the pilot program, the] commissioner shall adopt minimum criteria that a program must meet to be selected by a participating campus for use in providing intensive reading and language intervention. The criteria must include neuroscience-based, scientifically validated methods, interventions, or instructional tools that have been proven to accelerate learning, cognitive ability, and language proficiency. A participating campus shall submit a summary of the campus's proposed intensive intervention program to the commissioner for approval. The commissioner may approve only a program that follows the minimum criteria adopted under this subsection.

(e) The principal of a participating campus, in consultation with classroom teachers at the campus, shall select students to participate in the pilot program. A participating campus shall assess each selected student before the student enters and after the student transfers out of the pilot program to measure the student's progress.

(f) Not later than December 31, 2008 [2006], any vendor of an intensive intervention program approved under Subsection (d), in consultation with the agency and each school district with which the vendor contracts under this section, shall provide the legislature with a report describing student progress under the assessments administered to participating students under Subsection (e).

(g) Notwithstanding any other law, the commissioner shall [may] provide funding for the pilot program using not more than $6 million of funding appropriated for purposes of Section 28.0211.

(h) The [If the commissioner establishes the pilot program, the] commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section.

(i) The [If the commissioner establishes the pilot program, the] commissioner shall make the pilot program available to participating campuses during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 [2005-2006 and 2006-2007] school years.

[(j)This section expires July 1, 2007.]

SECTION 4. Not later than November 1, 2007:

(1) the P-16 Council shall:

(A) adopt regional plans for school districts as provided by Section 61.076(e-1), Education Code, as added by this Act; and

(B) designate two regions to participate in the pilot program established under Section 61.0764, Education Code, as added by this Act; and

(2) the commissioner of education and the commissioner of higher education shall adopt rules as provided by Section 61.0764, Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2007-2008 school year.

SECTION 6. 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.