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Bills related to transparency and “Education Savings Account Program” or vouchers are among the bills to be heard in the Senate Education Committee at 9:00 AM in room E1.028, on Thursday, April 23, 2015.

Selected bills of interest on the committee agenda are:

SB 496 by Kirk Watson proposes to modify the calculation of average daily attendance for students participating in a flex-time program to ensure that funding for attendance is based on the same instructional hour requirements of the regular program rather than a full-time equivalent student basis that requires six hours of student contact time to qualify for a full day of attendance in calculating average daily attendance.

SB 1178 by Donald Huffines proposes to require the commissioner of education to establish and administer an “Education Savings Account Program” to provide funding to pay for approved education-related expenses of eligible students.  The parent of a child participating in the program would be allowed to choose funding for a private school, private tutor, homeschooling, or another approved option. The bill would limit the annual number of new participants to one-half of 1 percent of the total number of students in average daily attendance (ADA) in grades 1 through 12 in Texas during the previous school year. If applicants exceed available spots, preference would be given to a child with a disability or who is educationally disadvantaged. A child would be eligible for the program if the child is eligible to attend school and was enrolled in a public school during the preceding school year or is enrolling in first grade for the first time. A child participating in the program would be provided annual funding equal to 80 percent of the total average per student funding amount in the school district the child would otherwise attend, based on that district's funding during the preceding school year. A child participating in the program who is a child with a disability or who is educationally disadvantaged, notwithstanding Subsection (a), would be provided annual funding equal to 100 percent of the total average per student funding amount in the school district the child would otherwise attend, based on that district's funding during the preceding school year. The bill directs TEA to contract with an independent third-party for the purpose of determining if a child participating in the program is a child with a disability or is educationally disadvantaged, as applicable. A child who participates in the program would be included in determining the average daily attendance of the school district the child would otherwise attend.  The amount of program funding received by the child would be subtracted from the state funding payable to the school district.

SB 1230 by Brandon Creighton would require the 50 largest enrollment school districts to prominently post the electronic checking account transaction register on its website for viewing and downloading by interested persons. The district would be required to share data from the electronic register with any interested person requesting the data. The district would be required to update the register monthly no later than the 30th day after the closing date of the most recent monthly checking account statement and maintain the transaction listing on the district’s Internet website until the second anniversary of the date of the transaction or listing. The bill would also require a district to post a monthly listing of each transaction using a credit card issued to the district or to an officer or employee for district business. The listing of credit card transactions would include month and year, amount of each transaction and payee. By the 30th day after TEA posts information submitted by the district under PEIMS, a district would be required to post on its website a listing of the total amounts budgeted for employees’ compensation for the school year, grouped into 19 employee categories specified in the bill. The bill also would require a district to post a statement of the district’s obligated and unobligated fund balances that is to be updated at least once each month. The bill specifies certain exclusions to information to be posted in the posting of the check register and credit card information.

SB 1825 by Brandon Creighton would authorize the commissioner to extend the authority of the board of managers for a period of up to two additional years, if before the second anniversary of the date the board of managers of a district was appointed, the commissioner determines that insufficient progress has been made toward improving the academic or financial performance of the district.

The deadline to comment on these bills is the end of the day on Wednesday April 22^nd. The members of the Senate Education Committee are:

The Senate Education Committee agenda for April 23, 2015, lists the following bills:

To access the committee agenda, click on the link below.

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/84R/schedules/html/C5302015042309001.HTM

To view the committee hearing on the Internet, click on the link below.

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/bin/live.php