Amend CSSB 1 on page III-8, in the bill pattern of the Texas Education Agency, strike Rider 8, Instructional Materials and Technology, and substitute the following new rider:

8.  Instructional Materials and Technology. Except as explicitly allowed elsewhere in this Act, any amount expended pursuant to Texas Education Code, Section 31.021, including expenditures for instructional materials administration, shall be paid out of the State Instructional Materials and Technology Fund (IMTF) appropriated for that purpose. A transfer of funds from the Available School Fund (ASF) to the IMTF is authorized in an amount which, together with other revenues of the IMTF, is sufficient to finance the sum-certain appropriation from the IMTF for each fiscal year. Penalties assessed by the State Board of Education (SBOE) shall be deposited to the credit of the IMTF.

In accordance with Texas Education Code, Sections 31.0211 and 31.0214, the commissioner shall allocate the funds available in the IMTF to school districts and charter schools for each student enrolled in the district or charter school on a date during the preceding year specified by the commissioner and shall adjust the State Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMTA) of school districts and charter schools experiencing high enrollment growth (HEG) according to rules adopted by the commissioner.

Before July 1 of each year, the commissioner shall notify the Legislative Budget Board and the Office of the Governor, produce and post to the agency's website a report regarding any funding adjustments made under rules adopted by the commissioner for schools experiencing HEG. The report shall detail the following:

(1)  the HEG methodology and calculations used to determine the distribution of funds and any changes to the methodology and calculations since the last determination of adjustments,

(2)  the number of school districts and open-enrollment charter schools eligible for adjustments, and

(3)  the total amount of adjustments.

It is the intent of the legislature that for any state fiscal biennium, districts and open-enrollment charter schools do not exceed spending 75 percent of the total IMTA for instructional materials under Texas Education Code, Section 31.0211, for the most recent biennium for which the allotment has been determined.

It is the intent of the legislature that the SBOE ensure that any instructional materials and technology purchased using funds disbursed from the IMTF meet the requirements for certification under 47 U.S.C. Sections 254(h)(5)(B) and (C) to the extent the certification is applicable to those materials.

It is the intent of the legislature that the SBOE consider the cost of all instructional materials and technology requirements when determining the disbursement of money to the ASF and the amount of that disbursement that will be used, in accordance with Texas Education Code, Section 43.001(d), to fund the IMTA under Texas Education Code, Section 31.0211.

From funds appropriated from the IMTF, the commissioner may set aside an amount not to exceed $2,500,000 for the 2026-27 biennium for the continued support and delivery of online college readiness materials in English language arts and reading, mathematics, science, and social studies.

From funds appropriated above in Strategy B.2.1, Technology and Instructional Materials, $1,042,679,721 from the IMTF is allocated in the 2026-27 biennium for instructional materials and technology. In addition to these funds, $4,541,909 is appropriated in the 2026-27 biennium in the agency's administrative strategies from the IMTF. Total appropriations from the IMTF in the 2026-27 biennium equal $1,047,221,630.

From funds appropriated above in Strategy B.3.2, Agency Operations, $22,539,992 from the general revenue fund are allocated each fiscal year of the biennium for the annual review of instructional materials as outlined in Texas Education Code, Sections 31.022 and 31.023.

The commissioner shall provide juvenile justice alternative education programs with instructional materials necessary to support classroom instruction in those programs. The cost of the instructional materials shall be funded with amounts from the IMTF appropriated to the agency for the 2026-27 biennium.

Pursuant to Government Code, Section 322.0082, the amount set aside under Texas Education Code, Section 43.001(d), is estimated to be $2,407,000,000 for the biennium.

Pursuant to Government Code, Section 322.0082(2), the amount that is remaining in the IMTF from the previous biennium that is available for use is estimated to be $233,067,672 for the 2026-27 biennium. The amount less than the amount set aside by SBOE under Texas Education Code, Section 46.001(d), is estimated to be $1,359,360,042. This amount will remain in the ASF for distribution to school districts pursuant to the Texas Constitution, Article VII, Section 5(c) and Texas Education Code, Section 43.001(b).

Any unexpended balances as of August 31, 2025, are appropriated to the Texas Education Agency, Strategy A.1.1, FSP - Equalized Operations, to reduce the state compression percentage pursuant to Section 48.255 of the Education Code for fiscal year 2027. The sum-certain appropriation for the Foundation School Program in Rider 3 of the Texas Education Agency bill pattern shall be adjusted accordingly.

Any unexpended balances remaining as of August 31, 2026, are appropriated to the Property Tax Relief Fund and may be used only to reduce the state compression percentage pursuant to Section 48.255 of the Education Code.