81R1551 JRJ-D
By: Solomons H.B. No. 1153
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to expanding the public high school curriculum to promote
personal financial literacy.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.0021, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 28.0021. PERSONAL FINANCIAL LITERACY. (a) The Texas
essential knowledge and skills and Section 28.025 shall require
instruction in personal financial literacy offered in the ninth or
tenth grade in one or more courses required for high school
graduation.
(b) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
shall incorporate instruction in personal financial literacy into
any course meeting a requirement for a mathematics or [an]
economics credit under Section 28.025, using materials approved by
the board. The materials must include instruction on:
(1) the types of bank accounts available to consumers
and the benefits of maintaining a bank account;
(2) balancing a check book;
(3) determining credit scores and the manner in which
credit scores are used;
(4) issues associated with the use of debit and credit
cards, including avoiding and eliminating credit card debt;
(5) understanding the rights and responsibilities of
renting or buying a home;
(6) managing money to make the transition from renting
a home to home ownership;
(7) starting a small business;
(8) being a prudent investor in the stock market and
using other investment options;
(9) beginning a savings program;
(10) bankruptcy; and
(11) the types of loans available to consumers,
including mortgage loans and motor vehicle loans, and becoming a
low-risk borrower.
(c) [School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
shall comply with Subsection (b) beginning with the 2006-2007
school year.] The board shall adopt essential knowledge and skills
for a course including the requirements of Subsection (b) [(a)] not
later than the 2010-2011 [2008-2009] school year. This subsection
expires September 1, 2011 [and Subsection (b) expire September 1,
2009].
(d) School districts and open-enrollment charter schools
shall offer an intensive one-week course that incorporates the
instruction in personal financial literacy required by this
section. The course must be offered to students who drop out of
school and who have not otherwise completed a course under this
section.
SECTION 2. Section 39.023(c), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) The agency shall also adopt end-of-course assessment
instruments for secondary-level courses in Algebra I, Algebra II,
geometry, a course that includes instruction in personal financial
literacy, biology, chemistry, physics, English I, English II,
English III, world geography, world history, and United States
history. The Algebra I, Algebra II, and geometry end-of-course
assessment instruments and any end-of-course assessment instrument
for a course that includes instruction in personal financial
literacy must be administered with the aid of technology. A school
district shall comply with State Board of Education rules regarding
administration of the assessment instruments listed in this
subsection and shall adopt a policy that requires a student's
performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument for a course
listed in this subsection in which the student is enrolled to
account for 15 percent of the student's final grade for the course.
If a student retakes an end-of-course assessment instrument for a
course listed in this subsection, as provided by Section 39.025, a
school district is not required to use the student's performance on
the subsequent administration or administrations of the assessment
instrument to determine the student's final grade for the course.
If a student is in a special education program under Subchapter A,
Chapter 29, the student's admission, review, and dismissal
committee shall determine whether any allowable modification is
necessary in administering to the student an assessment instrument
required under this subsection or whether the student should be
exempted under Section 39.027(a)(2). The State Board of Education
shall administer the assessment instruments. The State Board of
Education shall adopt a schedule for the administration of
end-of-course assessment instruments that complies with the
requirements of Subsection (c-3).
SECTION 3. Section 39.025(f), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(f) The commissioner shall by rule adopt a transition plan
to implement the amendments made by S.B. No. 1031, Acts of the 80th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, to this section and Sections
39.023(a) and (c) and 39.051(b)(5) and by _.B. No. __, Acts of the
81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, to Section
39.023(c). The rules must provide for the end-of-course
assessment instruments adopted under Section 39.023(c) to be
administered beginning with students entering the ninth grade
during the 2011-2012 school year. During the period under which
the transition to end-of-course assessment instruments is made:
(1) for students entering a grade above the ninth
grade during the 2011-2012 school year, the commissioner shall
retain, administer, and use for campus and district ratings under
Subchapter D the assessment instruments required by Section
39.023(a) or (c), as that section existed before amendment by S.B.
No. 1031, Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007; and
(2) the agency may defer releasing assessment
instrument questions and answer keys as required by Section
39.023(e) to the extent necessary to develop additional assessment
instruments.
SECTION 4. Section 39.051(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) Annually, the commissioner shall define exemplary,
recognized, and unacceptable performance for each academic
excellence indicator included under Subsections (b)(1) through (7)
and shall project the standards for each of those levels of
performance for succeeding years. For the indicator under
Subsection (b)(8), the commissioner shall define exemplary,
recognized, and unacceptable performance based on student
performance for the period covering both the current and preceding
academic years. In defining exemplary, recognized, and
unacceptable performance for the indicators under Subsections
(b)(2) and (4), the commissioner may not consider as a dropout or as
a student who has failed to attend school:
(1) a student whose failure to attend school results
from:
(A) [(1)] the student's expulsion under Section
37.007; and
(B) [(2)] as applicable:
(i) [(A)] adjudication as having engaged in
delinquent conduct or conduct indicating a need for supervision, as
defined by Section 51.03, Family Code; or
(ii) [(B)] conviction of and sentencing for
an offense under the Penal Code; or
(2) a student who completes a course offered under
Section 28.0021(d).
SECTION 5. The change in law made by Section 28.0021(a),
Education Code, as amended by this Act, applies beginning with
students entering the ninth grade during the 2009-2010 school year.
Students who entered the ninth grade before the 2009-2010 school
year are governed by the law in effect at the time the students
entered the ninth grade, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2009-2010
school year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2009.