By: West  S.B. No. 1277
         (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2021; March 18, 2021, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 23, 2021,
  reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0;
  April 23, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to an agreement between a school district and public
  institution of higher education to provide a dual credit program to
  high school students enrolled in the district.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 28.009(b-2), Education Code, as amended
  by Chapters 264 (S.B. 1276) and 901 (H.B. 3650), Acts of the 86th
  Legislature, Regular Session, 2019, is reenacted and amended to
  read as follows:
         (b-2)  Any agreement, including a memorandum of
  understanding or articulation agreement, between a school district
  and public institution of higher education to provide a dual credit
  program described by Subsection (b-1) must:
               (1)  include specific program goals aligned with the
  statewide goals developed under Subsection (b-1);
               (2)  establish common advising strategies and
  terminology related to dual credit and college readiness;
               (3)  provide for the alignment of endorsements
  described by Section 28.025(c-1) offered by the district, and dual
  credit courses offered under the agreement that apply towards those
  endorsements, with postsecondary pathways and credentials at the
  institution and industry certifications;
               (4)  identify tools, including tools developed by the
  agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, or the Texas
  Workforce Commission, to assist school counselors, students, and
  families in selecting endorsements offered by the district and dual
  credit courses offered under the agreement;
               (5)  establish, or provide a procedure for
  establishing, the course credits that may be earned under the
  agreement, including by developing a course equivalency crosswalk
  or other method for equating high school courses with college
  courses and identifying the number of credits that may be earned for
  each course completed through the program;
               (6)  describe the academic supports and, if applicable,
  guidance that will be provided to students participating in the
  program;
               (7)  establish the district's and the institution's
  respective roles and responsibilities in providing the program and
  ensuring the quality and instructional rigor of the program;
               (8)  state the sources of funding for courses offered
  under the program, including, at a minimum, the sources of funding
  for tuition, transportation, and any required fees or textbooks for
  students participating in the program;
               (9)  require the district and the institution to
  consider the use of free or low-cost open educational resources in
  courses offered under the program; [and]
               (10) [(7)]  be posted each year on the district's and
  the institution's respective Internet websites; and
               (11)  designate at least one employee of the district
  or institution as responsible for providing academic advising to a
  student who enrolls in a dual credit course under the program before
  the student begins the course.
         SECTION 2.  Section 28.009(b-2), Education Code, as
  reenacted and amended by this Act, applies only to an agreement to
  provide a dual credit program entered into or renewed on or after
  September 1, 2021. An agreement to provide a dual credit program
  entered into or renewed before September 1, 2021, is governed by the
  law as it existed at the time the agreement was entered into or
  renewed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
  over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
  relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
  codes.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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