| TO: | Honorable Florence Shapiro, Chair, Senate Committee on Education |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1362 by Shapiro (Relating to a Texas Youth Commission comprehensive plan to improve student reading skills and behavior.), As Introduced |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
|---|---|
| 2010 | ($818,165) |
| 2011 | ($668,165) |
| 2012 | ($668,165) |
| 2013 | ($668,165) |
| 2014 | ($668,165) |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1 |
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2009 |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | ($818,165) | 8.0 |
| 2011 | ($668,165) | 8.0 |
| 2012 | ($668,165) | 8.0 |
| 2013 | ($668,165) | 8.0 |
| 2014 | ($668,165) | 8.0 |
The bill would require the Youth Commission (TYC) to adopt a reliable battery of reading assessments to assess a youth at least every 12 months, and at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before a youth is released from TYC. TYC would also be required to provide at least 60 minutes per day of individualized reading instruction to each youth in a TYC education program who exhibits deficits in reading on the assessments. The instruction must be provided by trained educators with expertise in teaching reading to struggling adolescent readers. The instruction must include the use of scientifically based, peer-reviewed curricula that have been proven effective in improving performance of struggling adolescent readers and must address individualized and differentiated reading goals. The bill would require every teacher who teaches English, reading, mathematics, science, social studies, or career technology to be trained in incorporating content area reading instruction using empirically validated instructional methods that are appropriate for struggling adolescent readers. TYC would be required to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs to increase reading skills using the criteria of an adequate rate of improvement in reading performance monthly, a significant rate of improvement annually, and through self-reporting mechanisms.
TYC would also be required to increase positive social behaviors of youth in educational programs by adopting system-wide classroom and individual behavior supports that incorporate a continuum of prevention and intervention strategies based on current behavioral research. These behavior supports would be required to be applied systematically and individually, and each teacher would be required to be trained in implementing the positive behavior support system. TYC would be required to evaluate the effectiveness of the positive behavior support system through documentation of school-related disciplinary referrals and actions, validated measurement of systemic positive behavioral support interventions, and the number of minutes youth are out of the regular classroom because of disciplinary reasons. TYC would be required to consult with faculty from institutions of higher learning who have expertise in reading instruction for adolescents, in juvenile corrections and in positive behavior supports in developing the plan for these interventions. TYC would be required to report to the legislature on the effectiveness of the reading and positive behavior support programs by December 1, 2010.
TYC estimates the need for eight Master Certified Teachers at a salary of $60,100 plus benefits per year. However, TYC's Rider 12 requires that TYC teachers be paid at the same rate as those working in the school district in which the TYC facility is located. The rate of pay for the Master Certified Teachers would be dependent upon the pay rate of similar highly skilled teachers in individual school districts. Since those individual salaries cannot be calculated without input from each school district where a TYC facility is located, we honored TYC's salary estimates for the Master Certified Teachers for the purpose of this analysis, with the understanding that those figures could vary dependent on the pay rates of individual school districts.
TYC estimates costs for salaries and wages for 8 teachers ($961,600); benefits ($274,730); training ($100,000); and professional fees for higher education consultants ($150,000) for the 2010-11 biennium, with ongoing costs of $668,165 per year.
TYC estimates no technology impact for this bill.
| Source Agencies: | 694 Youth Commission
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, JSp, GG, AI
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