| TO: | Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB635 by Guillen (relating to the authority of the Texas Education Agency to seek, accept, determine eligibility for, and distribute grants available for the benefit of public education. ), As Passed 2nd House |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
|---|---|
| 2010 | ($6,526,491) |
| 2011 | ($6,246,473) |
| 2012 | ($6,080,473) |
| 2013 | ($6,230,473) |
| 2014 | ($6,080,473) |
| Fiscal Year | Probable (Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1 |
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | ($6,526,491) | 1.0 |
| 2011 | ($6,246,473) | 3.0 |
| 2012 | ($6,080,473) | 3.0 |
| 2013 | ($6,230,473) | 3.0 |
| 2014 | ($6,080,473) | 3.0 |
The bill would authorize the Texas Education Agency to seek, accept, and distribute grants available for the benefit of public education.
The bill would require the Commissioner of Education to establish professional development institutes for teachers and paraprofessionals relating to research-based instructional services for student with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorders and to establish professional development institutes that offer appied behavior analysis training programs provided by a certified behavior analyst. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) would be required to post lectures and training from the behavior analysis institutes on the agency's web site and the web sites of various regional education service centers (RESCs).
The bill would require the commissioner to adopt criteria for teachers and paraprofessionals authorized to attend these professional development institutes, but participation by school districts would be on a voluntary basis. Professional development would include instructional techniques proven by scientifically-based research to be effective in teaching curriculum to students with disabilities. Priority would be given to teachers and paraprofessionals working with students with autism spectrum disorders. A stipend would be paid to each teacher or paraprofessional completing the professional development programs. The bill would direct the Commissioner to pay the cost of providing the behavior analysis program to teachers who complete the program.
The bill would require the Commissioner to submit a report on the professional development institutes to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the presiding officers of the standing legislative committees on public education.
The bill would also require The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSCH) to establish a competitive grant program to promote early literacy and to award grants to implement or expand literacy programs. UTHSCH, with the assistance of the Reach Out and Read National Center, would be directed to adopt standards for the literacy program and to design performance indicators to measure a grant recipient's performance. UTHSCH would be required to monitor and formally evaluate the performance of each grant recipient on an annual basis and to comply with annual reporting requirements. UTHSCH would also be required to actively seek and apply for any available federal funds to finance the competitive grant program. UTHSCH estimates that it would provide services to 50,000 children under the program.
TEA assumes an estimated $500,000 one-time cost in fiscal year 2010 to develop training for use in both types of professional development institutes contemplated in the bill. Once the training is developed, it is assumed the agency could contract with regional educational service centers to conduct the program. Priority would be given to teachers who instruct students with autism spectrum disorders. The agency estimates approximately 13,500 teachers at $250 per teacher would participate in professional development institutes regarding the education of students with disabilities and 2,000 teachers or paraprofessionals at $1000 per person would participate in professional development institutes on behavior analysis each year, at an annual cost of $5,375,000. Assumptions include one additional full-time-equivalent position beginning in FY2010 and two additional full-time-equivalent positions beginning in FY2011 at a cost of $76,491 in FY2010, $221,473 in FY2011, and $205,473 in FY2010 and each subsequent year, inclusive of related salary, benefit and other costs, to provide oversight of participation, distribute stipend payments, and coordinate ongoing updates for the institutes.
The estimated cost of developing web content required to be posted on TEA's and selected RESC's web sites is $75,000 in fiscal year 2010. TEA estimates the cost of meeting the reporting requirement in the bill at $150,000 beginning in FY2011 and every other subsequent year.
Based on information provided by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSCH), it is estimated that the total costs of the required competitive grant program would be $500,000 per year. UTHSCH estimates that it would purchase approximately 168,755 books per year at a cost of $2.50 per book for an annual cost of $421,888 and it would need $23,112 in training and program materials and $5,000 for research and to complete an annual program evaluation. UTHSCH also estimates that a portion of the grants would cover $38,318 in personnel expenses and $11,682 in administrative materials that would be part of the initial grants amounts.
| Source Agencies: | 701 Central Education Agency
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, JSp, JSc, JGM, JW
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