LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 85TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 18, 2017

TO:	Honorable Dan Huberty, Chair, House Committee on Public Education
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB404 by Anchia (Relating to higher education curriculum review teams to review public school curriculum standards for college readiness purposes.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

This bill would amend the Education Code to require the State Board of Education (SBOE) to appoint a higher education curriculum review team to review and make recommendations concerning the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for each subject undergoing review. The bill would require the higher education curriculum review team to ensure the proposed TEKS are factually accurate and aligned with contemporary scholarship; aligned with college and career readiness standards and serve to prepare students for college; and serve appropriate instructional purposes. The bill would require the SBOE to make certain appointments to the higher education curriculum review team from among persons nominated by the Commissioner of Education or the Commissioner of Higher Education and would define the requirements for those nominations.

The bill would require the higher education curriculum review team to make recommendations to the SBOE concerning the TEKS prior to its final adoption and that the Texas Education Agency post the recommendations to the agency website. The bill would also require that the Commissioner of Education and Commissioner of Higher Education coordinate with the SBOE as necessary to administer the requirements of this legislation. The bill would take effect immediately if passed with the necessary voting margins, or on September 1, 2017.

The Texas Education Agency estimates minimal costs associated with implementing the provisions of the bill; however, this analysis assumes those costs could be accomplished by using existing resources. Based on the analysis provided by the institutions of higher education and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be absorbed with existing resources.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 783 University of Houston System Administration, 701 Texas Education Agency, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 719 Texas State Technical College System Administration, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board

LBB Staff:

UP, AW, THo, AM, GO