Amend CSHB 1525 (senate committee printing) as follows:
(1) Add the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumber subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ___. Section 8.051(d), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d) Each regional education service center shall maintain core services for purchase by school districts and campuses. The core services are:
(1) training and assistance in:
(A) teaching each subject area assessed under Section 39.023; and
(B) providing instruction in personal financial literacy as required under Section 28.0021;
(2) training and assistance in providing [a gifted and talented program and] each program that qualifies for a funding allotment under Section 48.102, 48.104, [or] 48.105, or 48.109;
(3) assistance specifically designed for a school district or campus assigned an unacceptable performance rating under Section 39.054;
(4) training and assistance to teachers, administrators, members of district boards of trustees, and members of site-based decision-making committees;
(5) assistance specifically designed for a school district that is considered out of compliance with state or federal special education requirements, based on the agency's most recent compliance review of the district's special education programs; and
(6) assistance in complying with state laws and rules.
SECTION ___. Subchapter C, Chapter 48, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 48.109 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.109. GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENT ALLOTMENT. (a) For each identified student a school district serves in a program for gifted and talented students that the district certifies to the commissioner as complying with Subchapter D, Chapter 29, a district is entitled to an annual allotment equal to the basic allotment multiplied by 0.07 for each school year or a greater amount provided by appropriation.
(b) Funds allocated under this section, other than the amount that represents the program's share of general administrative costs, must be used in providing programs for gifted and talented students under Subchapter D, Chapter 29, including programs sanctioned by International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement, or in developing programs for gifted and talented students. Each district must account for the expenditure of state funds as provided by rule of the State Board of Education. If by the end of the 12th month after receiving an allotment for developing a program a district has failed to implement a program, the district must refund the amount of the allotment to the agency within 30 days.
(c) Not more than five percent of a district's students in average daily attendance are eligible for funding under this section.
(d) If the amount of state funds for which school districts are eligible under this section exceeds the amount of state funds appropriated in any year for the programs, the commissioner shall reduce each district's tier one allotments in the same manner described for a reduction in allotments under Section 48.266.
(e) If the total amount of funds allotted under this section before a date set by rule of the State Board of Education is less than the total amount appropriated for a school year, the commissioner shall transfer the remainder to any program for which an allotment under Section 48.104 may be used.
(f) After each district has received allotted funds for this program, the State Board of Education may use up to $500,000 of the funds allocated under this section for programs such as MATHCOUNTS, Future Problem Solving, Odyssey of the Mind, and Academic Decathlon, as long as these funds are used to train personnel and provide program services. To be eligible for funding under this subsection, a program must be determined by the State Board of Education to provide services that are effective and consistent with the state plan for gifted and talented education.
(2) In SECTION 31(a) of the bill, repealing provisions of the Education Code (page 13, between lines 13 and 14), insert the following appropriately numbered subdivision and renumber subsequent subdivisions accordingly:
(__) Section 29.124;