LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 83RD LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

February 19, 2013

TO:	Honorable Jimmie Don Aycock, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB640 by Patrick, Diane (Relating to public school accountability and end-of-course assessment instruments.), As Introduced

Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB640, As Introduced: a positive impact of $43,710,810 through the biennium ending August 31, 2015.

The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.

General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2014	$21,825,675
2015	$21,885,135
2016	$21,885,135
2017	$21,885,135
2018	$21,885,135

All Funds, Five-Year Impact:

Fiscal Year	Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1	Probable Savings/(Cost) from Foundation School Fund 193
2014	($74,325)	$21,900,000
2015	($14,865)	$21,900,000
2016	($14,865)	$21,900,000
2017	($14,865)	$21,900,000
2018	($14,865)	$21,900,000

Fiscal Analysis

The bill would eliminate the requirement that an end-of-course assessment developed under Section 28.014 of the Education Code shall account for 15 percent of a student's final grade for the course and would authorize a district to include a student’s performance on an end-of-course assessment in determining whether the student satisfies the graduation requirements.

The bill would eliminate all end-of-course assessments except English III and Algebra I.

The bill would remove the requirement that a student shall achieve a minimum cumulative score on end-of-course assessments to graduate.

The bill would require indicators of student achievement to include career and technology licenses or certifications earned, associate degrees earned, dual credits earned, or the percentage of students who satisfy college readiness benchmarks on various private assessments.

Methodology

Reducing the number of end-of-course assessments would result in savings of $21.9 million annually. The estimated savings for eliminating the Geometry, Algebra II, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, World Geography, World History, and United States History end-of-course assessments would be $1.15 million per fiscal year, per end-of-course assessment. The estimated savings from eliminating the English I Reading and English II Reading end-of-course assessments would be $2.1 million annually per assessment, and the estimated savings of eliminating the English I Writing and English II Writing end-of-course assessment would be $4.25 million annually per assessment.

According to information provided by the Texas Education Agency, there would be a cost to collect career and technology certificate and license data, resulting in a $74,325 cost in fiscal year 2014, and a $14,865 cost in subsequent years.

Local Government Impact

A school district might experience savings from the reduced number of end-of-course assessments.

Source Agencies:

701 Central Education Agency, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board

LBB Staff:

UP, JBi, JSc, AH