| 1 | 1 | | 81R1593 CAS-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Madden H.B. No. 550 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to annual courses on public school finance offered to the |
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| 8 | 8 | | public by regional education service centers. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 8.052, Education Code, is amended to |
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| 11 | 11 | | read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 8.052. STATE INITIATIVES. (a) As directed by the |
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| 13 | 13 | | commissioner, each regional education service center shall, as |
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| 14 | 14 | | necessary, use funds distributed under Section 8.123 to implement |
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| 15 | 15 | | initiatives identified by the legislature, including the annual |
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| 16 | 16 | | course on public school finance required by Subsection (b). |
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| 17 | 17 | | (b) Once each year, each regional education service center |
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| 18 | 18 | | shall offer to members of the public who reside within the center's |
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| 19 | 19 | | region a course on public school finance. The center may not charge |
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| 20 | 20 | | a fee for a course provided under this subsection. The course must |
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| 21 | 21 | | include information concerning the following: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (1) each source of public money used to finance public |
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| 23 | 23 | | primary and secondary education in this state; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2) the factors the board of trustees of a school |
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| 25 | 25 | | district generally consider and the process a district generally |
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| 26 | 26 | | uses in adopting ad valorem tax rates: |
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| 27 | 27 | | (A) for district maintenance and operations; and |
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| 28 | 28 | | (B) for purposes of paying the principal of and |
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| 29 | 29 | | interest on district bonds; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (3) the effect of district spending decisions on |
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| 31 | 31 | | district ad valorem tax rates; |
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| 32 | 32 | | (4) any reliable data concerning a correlation between |
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| 33 | 33 | | the amount of money spent on education and the level of or |
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| 34 | 34 | | improvement in student performance; and |
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| 35 | 35 | | (5) resources, including Internet websites, that may |
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| 36 | 36 | | be useful in researching the amount and purposes of district |
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| 37 | 37 | | expenditures. |
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| 38 | 38 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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