BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 1404
	By: Hughes
	Education
	7/10/2017
	Enrolled

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Afterschool and summer programs can give students a more structured daily routine and improve academic performance. S.B. 503 (83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013) began the process of implementing a statewide review and coordination of expanded learning opportunities (ELOs), or educational opportunities outside the regular school day and school year. The bill established a council composed of public education stakeholders to evaluate ELOs and submit a biennial report to the legislature on these programs.

To better evaluate the effectiveness of afterschool and summer programs, more data is needed on their prevalence and participation rates. The Texas Education Agency collects data on ELOs from school districts and charter schools that participate in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program, a federal program that provided roughly $97 million in the most recent academic year to roughly 35 participants incorporating about 200 campuses. In addition, the Afterschool Alliance has commissioned national polling, from which numbers have been estimated for Texas participation rates in afterschool programs. The polling indicates that approximately 880,000 Texas children participate in afterschool programs and that just over 1.5 million more would participate if such programs were available. In addition, parents with children in an afterschool program in Texas report a high degree of satisfaction with such programs.

While data from the CCLC and the Afterschool Alliance polls is a good start, statewide data on ELOs is not available at the campus level. Only a fraction of Texas school districts and charter schools participate in the CCLC, and polls such as the one funded by Afterschool Alliance offer only the most general statewide statistics. To better evaluate ELOs, S.B. 1404 directs the commissioner of education to gather data on the number of school district and open-enrollment charter school campuses offering voluntary afterschool and summer programs and the number of students participating in such programs. (Original Author's / Sponsor's Statement of Intent)

S.B. 1404 amends current law relating to requiring school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to report certain information regarding expanded learning opportunities.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the commissioner of education in SECTION 1 (Section 42.006, Education Code) of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 42.006, Education Code, by adding Subsection (a-2), to require the commissioner of education by rule to require each school district and open-enrollment charter school to report through the Public Education Information Management System information for each campus of the district or school regarding the availability of expanded learning opportunities as described by Section 33.252 (Expanded Learning Opportunities) and the number of students participating in each of the categories of expanded learning opportunities listed under Section 33.252(b) (relating to authorizing the provision of expanded learning opportunities in certain manners).

SECTION 2. (a) Requires the Sunset Advisory Commission (Sunset), as part of the review of the Expanded Learning Opportunities Council under Chapter 325 (Sunset Law), Government Code, to review the information submitted under Section 42.006(a-2), Education Code, as added by this Act, to determine the availability of expanded learning opportunities and the role of regional education service centers in providing those opportunities throughout the state.

(b) Requires Sunset, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to review regional education service centers during the period in which state agencies scheduled to be reviewed or abolished in 2023 are reviewed, and provides that unless continued in existence as provided by Chapter 325, Government Code, the centers are abolished and the law governing the centers and the law administered by the centers expire September 1, 2023.

SECTION 3. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2017.