BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3710

By: Bell, Keith

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that Texas public school students could better prepare for secondary-level end-of-course tests if more resources were available to supplement classroom-based preparation. C.S.H.B. 3710 seeks to provide such a resource by requiring the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop electronic tutorials for three of those tests selected by TEA and provide the tutorials to public school districts.

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 rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the commissioner of education in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3710 amends the Education Code to require the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to select three of the secondary-level end-of-course tests required by state law, to develop three two-hour electronic tutorials that provide a review of each course for which the applicable end‑of‑course test is administered and, from funds appropriated for the bill's purposes, to make the tutorials available to public school districts. The bill prohibits a district from being charged a fee for access to a tutorial or materials used in conjunction with a tutorial. The bill requires the commissioner of education to adopt rules as necessary to administer the bill's provisions.

C.S.H.B. 3710 adds a temporary provision set to expire September 1, 2021, requiring TEA to provide the tutorials not later than the 2020-2021 school year.

C.S.H.B. 3710 makes the requirement for TEA to implement a provision of the bill contingent on an appropriation by the legislature specifically for that purpose but establishes that if the legislature does not make such an appropriation, TEA is authorized but not required to implement such a provision using other appropriations available for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3710 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a requirement for TEA to select three end-of-course tests for purposes of the tutorials and makes the following revisions relating to the tutorials:

· limits the number and length of the tutorials to be developed;

· does not include a specification that the tutorials are interactive;

· changes the entities to whom TEA is required to provide the tutorials from public school students and classroom teachers to public school districts; and

· removes a specification that the tutorials are to be provided through an online repository for classroom-ready instructional resources.

The substitute includes a provision making the requirement for TEA to implement a provision of the bill contingent on a legislative appropriation specifically for that purpose.