BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 1412

By: Perry

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that, despite recent legislative efforts, public school districts still need more flexibility in determining how to improve schools that become subject to accountability interventions because of poor performance ratings. C.S.S.B. 1412 seeks to provide additional tools for improving such schools by expanding the circumstances under which a closed district campus may be repurposed to serve students at that campus location, by authorizing the implementation of an accelerated campus excellence (ACE) turnaround plan as an option for certain campuses, and by providing for the implementation of the ACE model at one campus selected by the commissioner of education for the 2019-2020 school year.

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 6 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.S.B. 1412 amends the Education Code to authorize a public school district campus to submit an accelerated campus excellence turnaround plan. The bill requires the plan to provide:

·         the assignment of a principal to the campus who has demonstrated a history of improvement in student academic growth at campuses in which the principal has previously worked;

·         that the principal has final authority over personnel decisions at the campus;

·         that at least 80 percent of the classroom teachers assigned to the campus be teachers who performed in the top quartile of teachers in the district that employed the teacher during the previous school year, with performance determined in a specified manner;

·         a detailed description of the employment and compensation structures for the principal and classroom teachers, which must include significant incentives for a high-performing principal or teacher to remain at the campus and a three-year commitment by the district to continue such incentives;

·         policies and procedures for the implementation of best practices at the campus, including specified elements; and

·         assistance by a third-party provider that is approved by the commissioner of education in the development and implementation of the district's plan.

C.S.S.B. 1412 authorizes the commissioner to provide guidance to districts as necessary to implement an accelerated campus excellence turnaround plan. The bill requires the commissioner to approve a campus turnaround plan that the commissioner determines meets the requirements for an accelerated campus excellence turnaround plan. The bill establishes that a decision by the commissioner regarding a campus turnaround plan is final and may not be appealed.

C.S.S.B. 1412 authorizes the repurposing of a campus whose closure is ordered by the commissioner under certain provisions relating to accountability interventions and sanctions to serve students at the campus location if the commissioner finds that the repurposed campus offers a distinctly different academic program and is operated under a contract, approved by the district board of trustees, with a charitable organization that is exempted from federal income tax under certain provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and that has a governing board that is independent of the district, has a successful history of operating district campuses or open-enrollment charter schools that cumulatively serve 10,000 or more students, and meets certain performance rating benchmarks. The bill requires such a contract for operation of a repurposed campus to provide that a student residing in the attendance zone of the campus immediately before the campus was repurposed must be admitted for enrollment at the repurposed campus.

C.S.S.B. 1412 requires the commissioner to select one campus that received an unacceptable rating for the 2017-2018 school year, regardless of the number of consecutive years the campus has received an unacceptable rating, to submit an accelerated campus excellence turnaround plan for the 2019-2020 school year. The bill authorizes the commissioner to adjust for the selected campus, for purposes of developing and implementing the plan, certain statutory timelines relating to accountability interventions and sanctions. The bill authorizes the commissioner to adopt rules necessary to implement the bill's provisions.

C.S.S.B. 1412 applies beginning with the 2020-2021 school year except for the provision relating to the commissioner's selection of one campus to submit an accelerated campus excellence turnaround plan for the 2019-2020 school year and except for the provision relating to the repurposing of a campus to operate under a certain contract with a qualifying nonprofit organization.

EFFECTIVE DATE

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

COMPARISON OF SENATE ENGROSSED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.S.B. 1412 may differ from the engrossed in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the engrossed and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes provisions relating to the repurposing under certain conditions of a campus that is closed as a result of accountability interventions and sanctions to operate under a contract with a qualifying nonprofit organization.