AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Currently, Section 28.0251 (High School Diploma for Certain Veterans), Education Code, allows for the awarding of high school diplomas to veterans if they were honorably discharged, were scheduled to graduate from high school after 1940 and before 1975, and left high school to serve in the armed forces during World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War.  S.B.  966 would update this statute to include the current ongoing Gulf War which began, according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, on August 2, 1990.  In addition, it includes veterans who not only left high school, but also those who left school after completing the sixth grade or a higher grade.

 

As proposed, S.B. 966 amends current law relating to high school diplomas for certain military veterans.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 28.0251(a), Education Code, as follows:

 

(a) Authorizes a school district, notwithstanding any other provision of this code, to issue a high school diploma to a person who:

 

(1) is an honorably discharged member of the armed forces of the United States;

 

(2) was scheduled to graduate from high school after 1940 and before 1975; or after 1989 and before or during the year in which the Iraq War or the War in Afghanistan ends, as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, whichever war ends later; and

 

(3) left school after completing the sixth or a higher grade, before graduating from high school, to serve in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War, or the war in Afghanistan, rather than left high school before graduation to serve in World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War.

 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2011.