LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 80TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 11, 2007

TO:	Honorable Rob Eissler, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB494 by Madden (Relating to assessment of the academic growth of students attending a disciplinary alternative education program and evaluation of disciplinary alternative education programs.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

This bill would require school districts to administer assessment instruments to students placed in DAEPs for 90 or more days to measure academic progress.  The commissioner of education would be required to adopt rules to implement these math and reading skills assessments.  The Texas Education Agency (TEA) would be required to explore alternative methods to evaluate the effectiveness of DAEPs related to academic growth, course completion, and behavior improvement and report their conclusions and recommendations by November 1, 2008.

It is expected that TEA would be able to absorb the cost of preparing a report on the alternative methods of DAEP evaluation using existing resources.

Local Government Impact

There would be administrative costs to school districts to administer assessment instruments for these students.  Administrative costs would vary depending on how many students were placed into DAEPs for 90 or more days.  It is estimated that assessments would be approximately $14 per eligible student.

Source Agencies:

701 Central Education Agency

LBB Staff:

JOB, JSp, UP, JGM