BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 1843

By: Campbell

Defense & Veterans' Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties contend that the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test presents all students, not just those who are considering military services as an occupation, with a valuable opportunity to evaluate their individual strengths and weaknesses. S.B. 1843 aims to empower students by requiring every school district and open-enrollment charter school to provide an opportunity each year for students in grades 10 through 12 to take either the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test or an appropriate alternative aptitude test.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 1843 amends the Education Code to require each public school district and open‑enrollment charter school each school year to provide students in grades 10 through 12 an opportunity to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test and consult with a military recruiter. The bill requires the test to be scheduled during normal school hours and, to optimize student participation, at a time that limits conflicts with extracurricular activities. The bill requires each district and charter school to provide each student in grades 10 through 12 and the student's parent or person standing in parental relation to the student a notice of the date, time, and location of the scheduled administration of the test.

S.B. 1843 authorizes a district or open‑enrollment charter school to elect not to provide the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test only if the district or school provides an alternative test that assesses a student's aptitude for success in a career field other than a career field that requires postsecondary education, is free to administer, requires minimal training and support of district or school faculty and staff to administer the test, and provides the student with a professional interpretation of the test results that allows the student to explore occupations that are consistent with the student's interests and skills and to develop strategies to attain the student's career goals. The bill authorizes a district, open-enrollment charter school, or high school that, before September 1, 2017, entered into a contract under which a vocational aptitude test that does not comply with the requirements for an alternative test is provided to students in grades 10 through 12 to elect not to provide the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test for the term of the contract and establishes that that exemption no longer applies on expiration of the contract term. The bill requires the Texas Education Agency not later than August 1 of each year to publish a list of districts and charter schools that elected not to provide the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test, as provided by the bill, during the previous school year. The bill applies beginning with the 2017-2018 school year.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.