Mike Falick's Blog

The Return of Bill of the Day: SB 300 by Senator Patrick Proposes to Eliminate Some Unfunded Mandates on School Districts

 With the upcoming 81st Legislative Session set to begin in just over a month (Jan. 13, 2009), I am reinstituting Bill of the Day postings in which I will highlight one or more of the proposed bills that relate to education (or other interesting issues). 

The inaugural Bill of the Day for the 81st Legislative Session is Senate Bill 300 (SB 300) by Senator Dan Patrick who represents part of Spring Branch. 

SB 300 would relax the restrictions of the 22:1 student teacher ratio for kindergarten through 4th grade by making the 22:1 a campus-wide average rather than individual classroom count. 

During the 80th Legislative Session in 2007, HB 3190 instituted the requirement that school districts conduct school bus evacuation drills twice a year.  No funding was provided to meet this requirement.  SB 300 would make these bus evacuation drills to be optional.  Rep. Harless has also filed a bill, HB 336, that would eliminate this requirement.

Finally, SB 300 would eliminate the mandate that districts reduce energy cost by 5 percent each year, as well as the requirement to purchase "green" light fixtures.

The full text of SB 300 appears after the jump below.

Bill of the Day: House Bill 1034 Would Add the Words "Under God" to the Texas Pledge of Allegiance

Today, the House Committee on Culture, Recreation, and Tourism will consider House Bill 1034 by Rep. Debbie Riddle (and  73 co-authors) which would change the Texas Pledge of Allegiance as follows:

Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God and indivisible.

The Texas Pledge was adopted in 1933.  Interestingly, while the Pledge says "one and indivisible," under the Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States which was approved on March 1, 1845, Texas can divide itself into five states.

In addition, here's the State law on how to recite the Pledge (from the Texas Government Code):

§3100.104. RECITING PLEDGE. If the pledge to the state flag is recited, each person who is present and:

(1) not in uniform should:

(A) face the state flag and stand at attention with the person's right hand over the heart;
(B) if wearing a head covering that is easy to remove, remove that head covering with the right hand and hold it at the person's left shoulder, with the person's hand over the heart; and
(C) recite the pledge

(2) in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and make the military salute.

House Public Education Committee Considers Rep. Bohac's House Bill 1024: Contract between Parent, Student, Teacher (You Can See the Written Testimony I Provided Here)

Today, the House Public Education Committee considered one of this blog's Bills of the Day for February 1, 2007, was Rep. Dwayne Bohac's House Bill 1024 which would require school districts to adopt a written agreement form for each grade level setting forth the responsibilities of a student's parent as well as the respective responsibilities of the student and each of the student's classroom teachers.  The parent, student, and each of the student's classroom teachers shall sign the appropriate agreement at the beginning of each school year.  The bill leaves it to the local school district's discretion to determine the manner in which the agreement is enforced.

I provided written testimony (.pdf) in favor of the bill.

The Committee heard testimony from MALDEF which expressed concern about the arbitrariness of the local control component of the bill.

House Public Education Committee Considers House Bill 346: Random Testing for High School Steroid Use

Today, the House Public Education Committee considered this blog's December 6, 2006, Bill of the Day was Representative Flynn's proposed House Bill 346 which would prohibit "a student from participating in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league unless the student agrees not to use steroids and submits to random testing for the presence of illegal steroids in the student's body."

Since that time, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst proposed Senate Bill 8, authored by Sen. Janek, which would also require the UIL to institute a system of random steroid testing.

The estimated cost of implementation of HB 346 is $4.5 million per year.  Originally, the State was to bear that cost.  However, a committee substitute for the bill would now pay the cost by implementing a surcharge on athletic event tickets.

The House Public Education Committee heard testimony in favor of the bill with concern expressed about the cost.

The Committee left the bill pending.

Bill of the Day: Senate Bill 8: Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Sen. Janek Seek to End Student Steroid Use

Regular readers of this blog are aware that I am a proponent of steroid testing (see prior posts here, here, here, and here.  Today, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst and Sen. Janek (who represents part of Spring Branch) held a press conference to announce the filing of Senate Bill 8 which would require random steroid testing of high school athletes.

The tests would be administered to approximately 30,000 students each year by the UIL at State expense.

SB 8 is similar to Representative Flynn's proposed House Bill 346 would prohibit "a student from participating in an athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league unless the student agrees not to use steroids and submits to random testing for the presence of illegal steroids in the student's body." 

Bill of the Day: HB 2429: Would Require the Texas Education Agency to Create Report of All Mandates

Today's Bill of the Day is House Bill 2429 filed by Rep. Dianne Delisi.  This bill would require TEA to report on all existing unfunded mandates.  HB 2429 only requires a report, as opposed to HB 1076 which would end unfunded mandates.

Here's the text of HB 2429:

Sec. 7.031. REPORT ON PUBLIC EDUCATION MANDATES. (a) In this section, "public education mandate" means a requirement made by federal or state law, including a statute, rule, order, or ordinance, that requires a school district to establish, expand, or modify an activity in a way that requires the expenditure of revenue by the school district that would not have been required in the absence of the federal or state law.

(b) The agency shall prepare a report that identifies each public education mandate that applies in this state. The report shall identify each public education mandate individually and provide the following information relating to the mandate:

(1) the law authorizing the mandate;
(2) whether the mandate is fully funded, partially funded, or unfunded;
(3) whether the funding for the mandate, if any, is state funds, federal funds, or a combination of state and federal funds;
(4) an estimate of any cost required to be paid by the state or the school districts, if applicable;
(5) whether the mandate duplicates all or part of another public education mandate;
(6) any conflict between the mandate and any other public education mandate; and
(7) any recommendation relating to revising or eliminating a mandate.

(b) The agency shall solicit information relating to public education mandates from school districts, school district employees, and any other interested person.

(b-1) Not later than December 1, 2008, the agency shall deliver a copy of the report produced under this section to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, and presiding
officers of the standing committees of each house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over public education. This subsection expires January 15, 2009.

(c) The agency shall:

(1) make the report produced under this section available as an electronic document on the agency’s Internet website; and
(2) update the electronic document periodically to include any additions or changes to the report.

Bills of the Day: HB 1074 (Criminal Penalty for Disruptive Activity on School Property) and HB 1076 (An End to Unfunded State Educational Mandates Imposed on School Districts)

Today's Bills of the Day (filed February 2, 2007) are House Bill 1074 by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst (R) and House Bill 1076 by Rep. Patrick Rose (D).

House Bill 1074 would make it a Class C misdemeanor for a parent whose child is convicted of having engaged in delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision for conduct constituting the commission of an offense under Section 37.123, 37.124, or 37.126 the child has not complied with the terms of the child's sentence or a court order relating to the conviction and the parent has, by a willful act or omission, contributed to, caused, or encouraged the child to fail to comply with the terms of the child's sentence.

House Bill 1076 would end unfunded mandates.  It would require the Texas Education Agency to determineif the legislature has appropriated funds sufficient to cover school districts' costs in complying with a state educational mandate.  The bill provides that if the TEA determines that sufficient funds are not appropriated, a school district is not required to comply with the mandate until the legislature appropriates funds sufficient to cover the costs of complying with the mandate.

Spring Branch's State Rep. Bohac Files 4 Bills: HB 1024 (Agreement Between Parent, Student, and Teacher); HB 1025 ($3,000 School Professional Pay Raise); HB 1026 (Punishment for Assault of School Employee); and HB 1027 (Tax Free Day for Supplies)

Today's bills of the day, which were filed today (February 1, 2007), are House Bill 1024, House Bill 1025, House Bill 1026 and House Bill 1027, all filed by Spring Branch's State Rep. Dwayne Bohac (R).

House Bill 1024 would require school districts to adopt a written agreement form for each grade level setting forth the responsibilities of a student's parent as well as the respective responsibilities of the student and each of the student's classroom teachers.  The parent, student, and each of the student's classroom teachers shall sign the appropriate agreement at the beginning of each school year.  The bill leaves it to the local school district's discretion to determine the manner in which the agreement is enforced.

House Bill 1025 would give teachers, counselors, librarians, and nurses a $3,000 pay raise to be paid for by the State.  The payment by the State would be made even if the district is a Chapter 41 (Robin Hood) district like SBISD.  That would equate to $9,000,000+ for Spring Branch.

House Bill 1026 (and its companion Senate Bill 109) would make it a Class A misdemeanor to assault an school employee while the employee is engaged in performing duties within the scope of employment or in retaliation for the employee's performance of a duty within the scope of employment.  The bill makes it a presumption that the person committing the assault is knew the person assaulted was a school employee if the assailant was a student enrolled in or the parent or guardian of a student enrolled in the school at which the person assaulted was employed.  The bill also provides that it is irrelevant that the offense occurred off school premises or at a time at which school was not in session.  The bill would not apply if the actor is a student enrolled in a special education program.

House Bill 1027 would extend the sales tax-free day that occurs on the first Friday in August to include school supplies purchased to be used by a student.

BILLS OF THE DAY: HB 603 (Non-Partisan Election of Members to the State Board of Education) and SB 217 and HB 607 (Increasing the Penalty for a Parent Who Fails to Require a Child to Attend School)

Today's bills of the day, which were filed today (January 17, 2007), are House Bill 603 by Rep. Donna Howard (R), and Senate Bill 217 by Sen. Florence Shapiro (R) and House Bill 607 by Rep. Jerry Madden.

HB 603 would require the election of the members of the State Board of Education to be conducted without affiliation to political parties, i.e., everyone runs as an independent. 

SB 217 and its identical counterpart HB 607 would increase the penalty for parents who fail to require their student to attend school.  Specifically, a parent who has been previously convicted twice under section 25.093 of the Texas Education Code (for failure to require their student to attend school) will be subject to a Class B misdemeanor punishment for the 3rd offense (i.e., a fine not to exceed $2,000 (2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed 180 days; or (3) both such fine and confinement).

BILL OF THE DAY: HB 557: Criminal Penalties for a Parent Who Fails to Attend a Scheduled Parent-Teacher Conference

Today's bill of the day, which was filed today (January 11, 2007), is House Bill 557 by Rep. Wayne Smith (R) which would put into place a process and criminal penalties for failure by a parent to attend a parent-teacher conference.  Specifically, under the provisions of the bill, a parent who receives written notice by certified mail of a proposed parent-teacher conference with at least 3 proposed dates available at the parent's choice would commit a Class C misdemeanor if the parent fails to respond to the notice or if the parent schedules the conference and then fails to attend on the agreed date or fails to notify the teacher that the parent will be unable to attend and another parent of the student does not attend.

Section 12.23 of the Texas Penal Code provides that a Class C misdemeanor is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.

* Update 1/17/07: Today's El Paso Times has an editorial that discusses HB 557.