BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center

H.B. 3593

 

By: Bernal et al. (Taylor, Larry)

 

Education

 

5/18/2017

 

Committee Report (Amended)

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

To meet the needs of Texas businesses, government agencies, and the growing Texas workforce, Texas must provide public education that prepares future industry leaders. The language of cybersecurity needs to be taught early to students who will soon be working at, monitoring, improving, and running cybersecurity firms in the future. Our public education system is not currently equipped to provide the most up-to-date programs, hardware, and internships that focus on the cybersecurity industry.

 

H.B. 3593 equips independent school districts to run cybersecurity programs by:

 

�         Allowing districts to partner with higher education institutions that are leading the way in cybersecurity.

 

�         Allowing language credits for coding courses.

 

�         Expanding the New Instructional Facilities Allotment to renovate existing facilities for cybersecurity computer labs.

 

�         Directing the Texas State Board of Education to adopt cybersecurity courses as "Innovative Courses."

 

�         Moving technical application courses under career and technical education (CTE).

 

�         Giving teachers a CTE certification subsidy.

 

�         Listing cybersecurity and coding under science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) endorsements options. (Original Author's / Sponsor's Statement of Intent)

 

H.B. 3593 amends current law relating to instruction in career and technology education provided by public schools, including instruction in technology applications, cybersecurity, and computer coding, and to consideration of completed practicums and internships in school accountability ratings.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

Rulemaking authority previously granted to the State Board of Education is modified in SECTION 2 (Section 28.025, Education Code) of this bill.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 28.002, Education Code, by amending Subsections (f) and (g-2) and adding Subsection (g-3), as follows:

 

(f) Authorizes a school district to offer courses for local credit in addition to those in the required curriculum. Requires the State Board of Education (SBOE) to be flexible in approving a course for credit for high school graduation under this subsection and to approve courses in cybersecurity for credit for high school graduation under this subsection. Makes nonsubstantive changes.

 

(g-2) Requires each school district to annually report to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) the names of the courses, programs, institutions of higher education (IHEs), and internships in which the district's students have enrolled under Subsection (g-1) (relating to the authority of a district to develop a certain program) and the names of the courses and IHEs in which the district's students have enrolled under Subsection (g-3).  

 

(g-3) Authorizes a district to also offer a course in cybersecurity that is approved by the board of trustees for credit without obtaining SBOE approval if the district partners with a public or private IHE that offers an undergraduate degree program in cybersecurity to develop and provide the course.

 

SECTION 2. Amends Section 28.025, Education Code, by amending Subsections (b-12) and (c-1) and adding Subsection (c-10), as follows:

 

(b-12) Requires SBOE, in adopting rules under Subsection (b-1) (relating to requiring� SBOE to require by rule that the curriculum requirements for the foundation high school program include certain credits), to adopt criteria to allow a student to comply with the curriculum requirements for the two credits in a language other than English required under Subsection (b-1)(5) (relating to the credit amount of a language requirement) by substituting two credits in computer programming languages, including computer coding.

 

(c-1) Authorizes an endorsement under this subsection to be earned in certain categories, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), which includes courses directly related to science, including environmental science, technology, including computer science, cybersecurity, and computer coding, engineering, and advanced mathematics.

 

(c-10) Requires SBOE, in adopting rules under Subsection (c-1), to adopt or select five technology applications courses on cybersecurity to be included in a cybersecurity pathway for STEM endorsement.

 

SECTION 3. Amends Section 29.190, Education Code, by adding Subsection (b) and amending Subsection (c), as follows:

 

(b) Entitles a teacher to a subsidy under this section (Subsidy for Certification Examination) if the teacher passes a certification examination related to cybersecurity.

 

(c) Requires TEA, on approval by the commissioner of education, to pay each school district an amount equal to the cost paid by the district for a certification examination under this section. Makes a nonsubstantive change.

 

SECTION 4. Amends Section 39.053(c), Education Code, as follows:

 

(c) Requires that school districts and campuses be evaluated based on five domains of indicators of achievement adopted under this section (Performance Indicators: Achievement) that include:

 

(1) through (3) makes no changes to these subdivisions;

 

(4) in the fourth domain, high school graduation rates, computed in accordance with standards and definitions adopted in compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act, rather than the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq.), and, among certain other criteria, the percentage of students who successfully completed a practicum or internship approved by SBOE; and

 

(5) makes no changes to this subdivision.

 

SECTION 5. Amends Section 42.154(b), Education Code, to define "career and technology education class" and "career and technology education program" and make nonsubstantive changes.

 

SECTION 6. Amends Section 42.158, Education Code, by adding Subsection (a-1), to authorize a school district entitled to an allotment under this section (New Instructional Facility Allotment) to use funds from the district's allotment to renovate an existing instructional facility to serve as a dedicated cybersecurity computer laboratory.

 

SECTION 7. Amends Section 135.04, Education Code, by adding Subsection (d), as follows:

 

(d) Provides that a cybersecurity program provided by a campus or extension center in partnership with a school district to students enrolled in the district is not subject to the approval of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board under this section (Approval of Programs).

 

SECTION 8. Provides that this Act applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

 

SECTION 9. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2017.

 

SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE CHANGES

 

Strikes SECTION 7 of the bill and renumbers the subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly.