By: Huberty H.B. No. 2923
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to state sovereignty over curriculum standards,
  assessments, and student information.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c)  and adding Subsections (c-2) and (c-3) to
  read as follows:
         (c)  The State Board of Education, with the direct
  participation of educators, parents, business and industry
  representatives, and employers shall by rule identify the essential
  knowledge and skills of each subject of the required curriculum
  that all students should be able to demonstrate and that will be
  used in evaluating textbooks under Chapter 31 and addressed on the
  assessment instruments required under Subchapter B, Chapter 39.  As
  a condition of accreditation, the board shall require each district
  to provide instruction in the essential knowledge and skills at
  appropriate grade levels.  A district may not meet this requirement
  through the use of national curriculum standards.
         (c-2)  The State Board of Education may not adopt national
  curriculum standards to comply with its duties under Chapter 28.  
  For purposes of this section and any other section of this code,
  national curriculum standards include any curriculum standards
  endorsed, approved, sanctioned, or promoted by the United States
  Department of Education, the National Governors Association, or the
  Council of Chief State School Officers.
         (c-3)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, no
  school district or open-enrollment charter school may be required
  to offer any aspect of a national curriculum.
         SECTION 2.  Section 39.023, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:
         (a-2)  The agency may not adopt or develop a
  criterion-referenced assessment instrument based on national
  curriculum standards.
         SECTION 3.  Section 42.006, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
         (e)  Data collected under this section may not be provided to
  support or inform a national database of student information.
         (f)  No entity other than the agency or its contractors may
  use individual student data collected under this section for any
  purpose without the prior written consent of the student's parent,
  guardian, or person standing in parental relation for that
  student's data to be used for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  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, 2011.