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.