Honorable Larry Taylor, Chair, Senate Committee on Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB313 by Seliger (Relating to review and modification of the essential knowledge and skills of the required public school curriculum.), As Introduced
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB313, As Introduced: a negative impact of ($17,820,732) through the biennium ending August 31, 2017.
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
2016
($3,020,732)
2017
($14,800,000)
2018
$0
2019
$0
2020
$0
Fiscal Year
Probable Savings/(Cost) from General Revenue Fund 1
2016
($3,020,732)
2017
($14,800,000)
2018
$0
2019
$0
2020
$0
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would require the State Board of Education (SBOE) to conduct a review of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and modify the TEKS to narrow the number and scope for each subject and grade level.
The bill would require the SBOE consider the following: the time a teacher would require to provide comprehensive instruction and the time a student would require to master a particular standard or skill for each subject and grade level; whether the TEKS can be comprehensively taught within the required number of school days; possible inclusion of the college and career readiness standards; and whether an assessment instrument adequately assesses a particular standard or skill.
The bill would require the SBOE to identify process skills for each TEKS subject or use process skills identified for each TEKS subject to guide the TEKS modification, and identifies certain requirements for the process skills used.
The bill requires the SBOE to ensure priority in reviewing subjects for which an end-of-course (EOC) assessment is administered and complete the review and modifications process by September 1, 2018.
Beginning in school year 2015-16, the bill requires the SBOE to ensure each assessment instrument assesses only TEKS identified as readiness standards until the TEKS modification and review is complete.
The bill requires that the number and scope of the TEKS for each subject and grade level not be greater than the number and scope of the TEKS identified as readiness standards by the agency as of January 1, 2015.
The bill will take effect September 1, 2015, or immediately if passed within the necessary voting margins
Methodology
Reviewing and modifying the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards would cost an estimated $3.0 million in fiscal year 2016 and $14.8 million in fiscal year 2017. This estimate assumes that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) would incur all costs associated with the review and modification of the TEKS standards in the 2016-17 biennium due to the September 1, 2018 implementation date. In addition, there would be an indeterminate cost in subsequent years related to revising instructional materials depending on the amount and complexity of the changes to the TEKS standards.
This estimate assumes TEA would convene committees to review and modify the TEKS in fiscal year 2016. Based on information provided by TEA, 11 committees would meet for four days to review the TEKS standards. Committee membership would range from 35 to 101 members, totaling 913 committee members for all eleven committees. The estimated cost of travel reimbursement, including lodging, meals and incidentals, and mileage, would be $791 per committee member, totaling approximately $2.8 million in fiscal year 2016 ($791 per person x 913 committee members x four days). TEA estimates an additional 2016 cumulative cost of approximately $132,000 per meeting for audio/visual equipment, meeting room rental, and materials.
Following review of the TEKS by the committees, this estimate assumes TEA would redesign assessment instruments to remove all questions assessing the supporting standards, generating an anticipated one-time state cost of $800,000 in fiscal year 2017. TEA indicates a cost of $32,000 per assessment to modify the assessment and set new performance standards. This estimate assumes twenty-five separate tests would be modified for a cost of $800,000 ($32,000 x 25 assessments) in fiscal year 2017.
In addition to the costs related to review and modification, TEA estimates a total cost of $14.0 million in fiscal year 2017 to provide professional development to support implementation of the revised standards. Based on information provided by TEA, the estimated cost of providing professional development is $750,000 for Spanish language arts and reading and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) to teachers in kindergarten to grade 6; $1.25 million per subject for (1) Fine Arts, (2) Languages other than English, (3) Health, (4) Physical Education, and (5) Technology Applications Career and Technical Education for teachers in kindergarten through grade 12; and $1.75 million for (1) English language arts and reading, (2) Mathematics, (3) Science, and (4) Social Studies for teachers in kindergarten to grade 12.
Changes to state curriculum review and assessment processes are subject to review by the U.S. Department of Education as a part of the No Child Left Behind Title I, Part A program. To the extent that changes resulting from the bill are not federally approved, the bill may result in the loss of significant federal funds.
Local Government Impact
School districts and open-enrollment charter school could incur costs related to providing professional development, including costs for substitute teachers, and purchasing new or revised instructional materials. These costs would vary amongst districts.