| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the establishment of professional charter academies. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 12, Education Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Subchapter F to read as follows: |
|
|
SUBCHAPTER F. PROFESSIONAL CHARTER ACADEMY PROGRAM |
|
|
Sec. 12.201. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to |
|
|
give education professionals the opportunity to function |
|
|
independently, with property rights similar to those afforded other |
|
|
professionals and the rewards inherent in those rights. |
|
|
Sec. 12.202. PROFESSIONAL CHARTER ACADEMY PROGRAM; RULES. |
|
|
(a) The comptroller, in coordination with the commissioner, shall |
|
|
establish a professional charter academy program under which |
|
|
eligible education professionals are authorized to create a |
|
|
professional charter academy in accordance with this subchapter. |
|
|
(b) The comptroller, in coordination with the commissioner, |
|
|
shall adopt rules to administer this subchapter. The rules must |
|
|
include provisions relating to prevention of fraud in financial |
|
|
transactions under the professional charter academy program. |
|
|
Sec. 12.203. ELIGIBLE EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS. (a) To be |
|
|
eligible to operate a professional charter academy under this |
|
|
subchapter, an education professional must: |
|
|
(1) have at least five years of classroom teaching |
|
|
experience; |
|
|
(2) have been rated as proficient or higher for at |
|
|
least five years under the evaluation system used to evaluate the |
|
|
professional; or |
|
|
(3) have served as the principal of a school for at |
|
|
least five years. |
|
|
(b) A professional charter academy must be operated by at |
|
|
least one eligible education professional. |
|
|
Sec. 12.204. APPLICATION OF LAWS. A professional charter |
|
|
academy is subject only to federal and state laws applicable to |
|
|
private schools. A professional charter academy is not subject to |
|
|
state law applicable to charter schools authorized by law other |
|
|
than this subchapter. |
|
|
Sec. 12.205. INITIAL FUNDING. An eligible education |
|
|
professional under Section 12.203 is responsible for securing |
|
|
initial capital from sources other than public funding for the |
|
|
establishment of a professional charter academy. |
|
|
Sec. 12.206. GRANTING OF CHARTER. The comptroller shall |
|
|
grant a charter to operate a professional charter academy to an |
|
|
eligible professional under Section 12.203 if the professional |
|
|
provides to the comptroller: |
|
|
(1) an educational business plan acceptable to the |
|
|
comptroller; |
|
|
(2) proof of financial ability to fund 12 months of the |
|
|
academy's anticipated expenses, presented in the form of a bank |
|
|
letter of credit or other acceptable financial guarantee; and |
|
|
(3) demonstration of parental and community interest |
|
|
in the establishment of a professional charter academy. |
|
|
Sec. 12.207. PUBLIC FUNDING. (a) For each school year, |
|
|
the comptroller shall provide to a student who will attend a |
|
|
professional charter academy or the student's parent an amount |
|
|
equal to the average state funding per student received by |
|
|
open-enrollment charter schools during the preceding school year. |
|
|
The student or the student's parent may assign the funding received |
|
|
under this section to the professional charter academy the student |
|
|
attends. The comptroller may adjust the amount provided in |
|
|
accordance with the student's actual attendance. |
|
|
(b) The comptroller shall provide funding to the student, to |
|
|
the student's parent, or, if the funding has been assigned to the |
|
|
professional charter academy, to the professional charter academy, |
|
|
not later than the 90th day after the comptroller receives data |
|
|
attendance reports from the professional charter academy at the end |
|
|
of the school year. |
|
|
(c) Federal funds and money from the available school fund |
|
|
may not be used to make payments under this subchapter. |
|
|
Sec. 12.208. REPORTS. (a) Not later than October 1 of each |
|
|
year, the comptroller shall report to the commissioner and the |
|
|
Legislative Budget Board the estimated number of students who are |
|
|
likely to attend each professional charter academy authorized under |
|
|
this subchapter. The report must indicate the school district a |
|
|
student attending a professional charter academy is eligible to |
|
|
attend. |
|
|
(b) Not later than March 1 of each year, the comptroller |
|
|
shall provide actual numbers of students who attend each |
|
|
professional charter academy. |
|
|
(c) The comptroller, the Legislative Budget Board, and the |
|
|
agency shall modify estimates of funding under Section 42.253 using |
|
|
the information reported under this section. |
|
|
SECTION 2. As soon as possible but not later than the 45th |
|
|
day after the effective date of this Act, the comptroller of public |
|
|
accounts, in coordination with the commissioner of education, shall |
|
|
establish the professional charter academy program as required |
|
|
under Subchapter F, Chapter 12, Education Code, as added by this |
|
|
Act. |
|
|
SECTION 3. 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, 2015. |