By: Watson S.B. No. 2025
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the establishment of a prepaid tuition unit reward and
  incentive program for certain economically disadvantaged students
  who achieve commended performance levels on standardized
  assessments.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.0236 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.0236.  NOTICE REGARDING ELIGIBILITY FOR PREPAID
  TUITION UNIT REWARD AND INCENTIVE PROGRAM. (a)  Each year, to
  facilitate the administration of the prepaid tuition unit reward
  and incentive program under Section 54.779, the agency shall:
               (1)  provide to the Prepaid Higher Education Tuition
  Board, using codes or other methods as necessary to protect the
  identity of students, a list of those seventh grade students
  classified as economically disadvantaged students by the most
  recent economically disadvantaged status report issued by the
  agency whose performance on the seventh grade assessment
  instruments administered under Section 39.023(a) in mathematics,
  reading, and writing are identified by the State Board of Education
  as commended; and
               (2)  provide to each school district the information
  necessary for the school district to comply with Subsection (b).
         (b)  A school district, in a manner consistent with the
  confidentiality requirements prescribed by Section 39.030, shall
  notify the parents or guardians of each district student included
  in the list described by Subsection (a) regarding:
               (1)  the student's eligibility for the prepaid tuition
  unit reward and incentive program under Section 54.779;
               (2)  the educational benefits available to the student
  under that program; and
               (3)  the procedure for claiming the student's benefits
  as a beneficiary of a tuition unit account established by the
  Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board on behalf of the student
  under that program.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter H, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 54.779 to read as follows:
         Sec. 54.779.  PREPAID TUITION UNIT REWARD AND INCENTIVE
  PROGRAM. (a)  In an effort to incentivize participation in the
  prepaid tuition unit undergraduate education program by
  economically disadvantaged families and to reward high-level
  academic performance by economically disadvantaged students, the
  board, using funds available for the purposes of this section,
  shall develop and implement a prepaid tuition unit reward and
  incentive program under which the board, based on the list provided
  by the Texas Education Agency under Section 39.0236(a)(1):
               (1)  opens an access-restricted account under this
  subchapter on behalf of each student included on the list provided
  under Section 39.0236(a)(1);
               (2)  purchases for the student's account, at the time
  the account is opened, 10 Type III tuition units or the equivalent
  as determined by the board under this subchapter; and
               (3)  subject to the limitation prescribed by Subsection
  (c), periodically purchases additional tuition units for the
  student's account:
                     (A)  to award continued academic achievement or
  high-level performance on statewide assessment instruments by the
  student; or
                     (B)  to match purchases of tuition units made by
  other persons on behalf of the student under a prepaid tuition
  contract under this subchapter.
         (b)  The board, in collaboration with the Texas Education
  Agency, shall:
               (1)  use codes or other methods as necessary to protect
  the identity of eligible students in compliance with the Family
  Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
  1232g) or other law; and
               (2)  establish procedures by which the board may verify
  the identity of a beneficiary who applies to the board to redeem
  tuition units purchased on the beneficiary's behalf under the
  program or to match purchases of tuition units under Subsection
  (a)(3).
         (c)  The board may not purchase more than 100 Type III
  tuition units or the equivalent under this subchapter for any
  student under the reward and incentive program.
         (d)  Tuition units purchased by the board on behalf of a
  student under this section may be redeemed only by the board or by a
  qualified institution of higher education in the manner prescribed
  by the board.
         (e)  The board, in consultation with the Texas Education
  Agency, shall adopt rules for the administration of this section,
  including rules:
               (1)  establishing a procedure by which an eligible
  student may claim the student's benefits as a beneficiary of a
  tuition unit account established by the board under this section;
               (2)  providing for the disposition of tuition units in
  unclaimed accounts; and
               (3)  providing for the ongoing analysis and assessment
  of:
                     (A)  the level of participation in the reward and
  incentive program among eligible students;
                     (B)  the effectiveness of the reward and incentive
  program in incentivizing:
                           (i)  participation in the prepaid tuition
  unit undergraduate education program by other persons on behalf of
  eligible students; and
                           (ii)  the enrollment of participating
  students in institutions of higher education; and
                     (C)  whether to expand the reward and incentive
  program to include students enrolled in other grades at public
  schools in this state.
         (f)  The board, in coordination with the Texas Education
  Agency, may conduct outreach to the households of beneficiaries of
  claimed accounts under this section for the purposes of providing
  general information regarding the reward and incentive program,
  federal income tax filing assistance, and other related financial
  education assistance.
         (g)  The board may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and
  donations from any public or private source for the purposes of this
  section.
         (h)  If funds available for the purposes of this section in
  any fiscal year are insufficient to purchase tuition units for all
  eligible students, the board shall give priority to purchasing
  tuition units for eligible students who achieved commended
  performance levels on all of the assessment instruments
  administered under Section 39.023(a).
         SECTION 3.  The Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board shall
  adopt rules to implement Section 54.779, Education Code, as added
  by this Act, beginning with the 2010-2011 school year.
         SECTION 4.  This Act does not make an appropriation.  This
  Act takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the
  implementation of the Act is provided in a general appropriations
  act of the 81st Legislature.
         SECTION 5.  Except as otherwise provided by this Act, 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, 2009, except as otherwise provided by this Act.