Honorable Rob Eissler, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1587 by Eissler (Relating to the evaluation of public school teachers.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1587, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($2,021,662) through the biennium ending August 31, 2013.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2012
($1,309,271)
2013
($712,391)
2014
($94,152)
2015
($94,152)
2016
($94,152)
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2011
2012
($1,309,271)
2.0
2013
($712,391)
2.0
2014
($94,152)
1.0
2015
($94,152)
1.0
2016
($94,152)
1.0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would change the current teacher appraisal process system to an evaluation of teacher effectiveness based on student learning objectives and outcomes, including performance on state-mandated assessments. The bill would require the Texas Education Agency (TEA) commissioner to adopt a performance evaluation system for teachers to evaluate teacher effectiveness. The bill would make conforming changes to the following sections of the Texas Education Code: 21.351, 21.041(b), 21.045(a), 21.351, 21.353, 21,256, and Subchapter H, Chapter 21. The bill would require development of the performance evaluation system no later than September 1, 2013.
Methodology
According to the TEA, the bill would require the agency to modify an existing professional contract to develop a teacher evaluation system to include a review and modification of the existing metric to address other criteria established in the bill related to student learning objectives and outcomes. The agency's estimated cost to modify the contract is $1 million in FY 2012 and $500,000 in FY 2013. It is estimated that 2.0 FTEs would be required at TEA to provide project oversight and training to school districts at a cost of $196,471 in salary, benefits, and other personnel costs in fiscal year 2012 and $180,471 in fiscal year 2013. Starting in fiscal year 2014, the number of FTEs would decrease to 1.0, to provide ongoing training and support, at an annual total cost of $94,152.
According to TEA, advisory committee meetings would need to be convened in FY 2012 to develop the teacher evaluation criteria. The agency assumes 10 two-day meetings with 20 people for an estimated cost of $112,800 in FY 2012. Advisory committee travel costs of $564 per person are based on $104 per night lodging, $53 per day for meals, and $250 per trip for mileage reimbursement. This analysis also assumes travel costs to conduct two-day training in FY 2013 on the new evaluation system at all 20 regional education service centers (ESCs) at a cost of $11,290 in lodging, meals, and mileage reimbursement or airfare. Estimated costs to develop online materials related to the recommended performance evaluation system total $20,000 in FY 2013.
Local Government Impact
The requirement to conduct annual performance evaluations based on a minimum of three observations may increase administrative costs for school districts. Under current law, school districts have the flexibility to evaluate some teachers every five years. Depending on local policy, school districts not conducting evaluations at this frequency could experience some costs related to the requirement to perform annual evaluations based on three classroom observations.
The estimated cost to provide training to administrators is $115,200, based on 192 sessions to provide training for approximately 4,800 administrators at an estimated cost of $600 per session.