88R8832 KJE-D
 
  By: Talarico H.B. No. 2179
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the addition of a service readiness component to the
  college, career, or military readiness outcomes bonus under the
  Foundation School Program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 12.263(e), Education Code, as effective
  September 1, 2023, is amended to read as follows:
         (e)  For purposes of the college, career, [or] military, or
  service readiness outcomes bonus under Section 48.110,
  notwithstanding Subsection (f) of that section, an annual graduate
  of an adult education program operated under a charter granted
  under this subchapter demonstrates career readiness by earning an
  industry-accepted certificate not later than six months after
  completing the program.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 48.110, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 48.110.  COLLEGE, CAREER, [OR] MILITARY, OR SERVICE
  READINESS OUTCOMES BONUS.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 48.110(b), (c), (d), (f), (g), and (i),
  Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  For purposes of the outcomes bonus under this section,
  the commissioner shall determine the threshold percentage as
  provided by Subsection (g) for college, career, [or] military, or
  service readiness as described by Subsection (f) for each of the
  following cohorts:
               (1)  annual graduates who are educationally
  disadvantaged;
               (2)  annual graduates who are not educationally
  disadvantaged; and
               (3)  annual graduates who are enrolled in a special
  education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, regardless of
  whether the annual graduates are educationally disadvantaged.
         (c)  Each year, the commissioner shall determine for each
  school district the minimum number of annual graduates in each
  cohort described by Subsection (b) who would have to demonstrate
  college, career, [or] military, or service readiness as described
  by Subsection (f) in order for the district to achieve a percentage
  of college, career, [or] military, or service readiness for that
  cohort equal to the threshold percentage established for that
  cohort under Subsection (b).
         (d)  For each annual graduate in a cohort described by
  Subsection (b) who demonstrates college, career, [or] military, or
  service readiness as described by Subsection (f) in excess of the
  minimum number of students determined for the applicable district
  cohort under Subsection (c), a school district is entitled to an
  annual outcomes bonus of:
               (1)  if the annual graduate is educationally
  disadvantaged, $5,000;
               (2)  if the annual graduate is not educationally
  disadvantaged, $3,000; and
               (3)  if the annual graduate is enrolled in a special
  education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, $2,000,
  regardless of whether the annual graduate is educationally
  disadvantaged.
         (f)  For purposes of this section, an annual graduate
  demonstrates:
               (1)  college readiness if the annual graduate:
                     (A)  both:
                           (i)  achieves college readiness standards
  used for accountability purposes under Chapter 39 on the ACT, the
  SAT, or an assessment instrument designated by the Texas Higher
  Education Coordinating Board under Section 51.334; and
                           (ii)  during a time period established by
  commissioner rule, enrolls at a postsecondary educational
  institution; or
                     (B)  earns an associate degree from a
  postsecondary educational institution approved by the Texas Higher
  Education Coordinating Board while attending high school or during
  a time period established by commissioner rule;
               (2)  career readiness if the annual graduate:
                     (A)  achieves college readiness standards used
  for accountability purposes under Chapter 39 on the ACT, the SAT, or
  an assessment instrument designated by the Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board under Section 51.334; and
                     (B)  during a time period established by
  commissioner rule, earns an industry-accepted certificate; [and]
               (3)  military readiness if the annual graduate:
                     (A)  achieves a passing score set by the
  applicable military branch on the Armed Services Vocational
  Aptitude Battery; and
                     (B)  during a time period established by
  commissioner rule, enlists in the armed forces of the United States
  or the Texas National Guard; and
               (4)  service readiness if the annual graduate enrolls
  in an AmeriCorps program not later than the last day of the seventh
  month after graduation from high school.
         (g)  The commissioner shall establish the threshold
  percentages under Subsection (b) using the 25th percentile of
  statewide college, career, [or] military, or service readiness as
  described by Subsection (f) for the applicable cohort of annual
  graduates during the 2016-2017 school year.
         (i)  At least 55 percent of the funds allocated under this
  section must be used in grades 8 through 12 to improve college,
  career, [and] military, and service readiness outcomes as described
  by Subsection (f).
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.