81R3550 CAE-F
By: Van de Putte, Eltife, West S.B. No. 982
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school finance.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.402(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), (e), or (f), a
school district must pay each classroom teacher, full-time
librarian, full-time counselor certified under Subchapter B, or
full-time school nurse not less than the minimum monthly salary,
based on the employee's level of experience in addition to other
factors, as determined by commissioner rule, determined by the
following formula:
MS = SF x FS
where:
"MS" is the minimum monthly salary;
"SF" is the applicable salary factor specified by Subsection
(c); and
"FS" is the amount, as determined by the commissioner under
Subsection (b), of state and local funds per weighted student,
including funds provided under Section 42.2516(b-3)
[42.2516(b)(1)(B), but not funds provided under Section
42.2516(b)(1)(A), (b)(1)(C), (b)(2), or (b)(3)], available to a
district eligible to receive state assistance under Section 42.302
with a maintenance and operations tax rate per $100 of taxable value
equal to the product of the state compression percentage, as
determined under Section 42.2516, multiplied by $1.50, except that
the amount of state and local funds per weighted student does not
include the amount attributable to the increase in the guaranteed
level made by Chapter 1187, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001.
SECTION 2. Sections 29.918(a) and (b), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding Section [39.114 or] 42.152, a school
district or open-enrollment charter school with a high dropout
rate, as determined by the commissioner, must submit a plan to the
commissioner describing the manner in which the district or charter
school intends to use the compensatory education allotment under
Section 42.152 and other funds [the high school allotment under
Section 42.2516(b)(3)] for developing and implementing
research-based strategies for dropout prevention. The district or
charter school shall submit the plan not later than December 1 of
each school year preceding the school year in which the district or
charter school will receive the compensatory education allotment or
other funds [high school allotment] to which the plan applies.
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school to
which this section applies may not spend or obligate more than 25
percent of the district's or charter school's compensatory
education allotment [or high school allotment] unless the
commissioner approves the plan submitted under Subsection
(a). The commissioner shall complete an initial review of the
district's or charter school's plan not later than March 1 of the
school year preceding the school year in which the district or
charter school will receive the funds [compensatory education
allotment or high school allotment] to which the plan applies.
SECTION 3. Section 29.919(e), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) As a condition of receiving a state grant, a campus must
contribute additional funding for activities provided at the campus
through the program, in an amount equal to at least $100 each school
year for each student in an eligible grade level served through the
program. The additional funding required by this subsection may
consist of local funds, private funds, or state funds other than
grant funds provided under this section. [For program activities
provided at the high school level, the high school allotment
provided under Section 42.2516(b)(3) may be used to meet the
additional funding requirement prescribed by this subsection.]
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 39.114, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.114. SPECIAL HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES
[ALLOTMENT].
SECTION 5. Sections 39.114(a) and (d), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A [Except as provided by Subsection (b), a] school
district or campus, including an open-enrollment charter school, is
encouraged to [must] use funds in an amount equal to the amount that
would have been allocated to the district under Section
42.2516(b)(3), as that section existed on January 1, 2009, to:
(1) implement or administer a college readiness
program that provides academic support and instruction to prepare
underachieving students for entrance into an institution of higher
education;
(2) implement or administer a program that encourages
students to pursue advanced academic opportunities, including
early college high school programs and dual credit, advanced
placement, and international baccalaureate courses;
(3) implement or administer a program that provides
opportunities for students to take academically rigorous course
work, including four years of mathematics and four years of science
at the high school level;
(4) implement or administer a program, including
online course support and professional development, that aligns the
curriculum for grades six through 12 with postsecondary curriculum
and expectations; or
(5) implement or administer other high school
completion and success initiatives in grades six through 12
approved by the commissioner.
(d) The commissioner shall adopt rules to administer this
section[, including rules related to the permissible use of funds
allocated under this section to an open-enrollment charter school].
SECTION 6. Section 41.002(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A school district may not have a wealth per student that
exceeds:
(1) the wealth per student that generates the amount
of maintenance and operations tax revenue per weighted student per
cent of tax effort available to a district as a result of the
guaranteed level provided by Section 42.302(a-1)(1) [at the 88th
percentile in wealth per student], for the district's maintenance
and operations tax effort equal to or less than the rate equal to
the product of the state compression percentage, as determined
under Section 42.2516, multiplied by the maintenance and operations
tax rate adopted by the district for the 2005 tax year;
(2) the wealth per student that generates the amount
of maintenance and operations tax revenue per weighted student per
cent of tax effort available to a district as a result of the
guaranteed level provided by Section 42.302(a-1)(2) [the Austin
Independent School District, as determined by the commissioner in
cooperation with the Legislative Budget Board], for the first six
cents by which the district's maintenance and operations tax rate
exceeds the rate equal to the product of the state compression
percentage, as determined under Section 42.2516, multiplied by the
maintenance and operations tax rate adopted by the district for the
2005 tax year, subject to Section 41.093(b-1); or
(3) the wealth per student that generates the amount
of maintenance and operations tax revenue per weighted student per
cent of tax effort available to a district as a result of the
guaranteed level provided by Section 42.302(a-1)(3) [$319,500],
for the district's maintenance and operations tax effort that
exceeds the first six cents by which the district's maintenance and
operations tax effort exceeds the rate equal to the product of the
state compression percentage, as determined under Section 42.2516,
multiplied by the maintenance and operations tax rate adopted by
the district for the 2005 tax year.
SECTION 7. Section 41.099(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Sections [41.002(e),] 41.094 and [,] 41.097[, and
41.098] apply only to a district that:
(1) executes an agreement to purchase all attendance
credits necessary to reduce the district's wealth per student to
the equalized wealth level;
(2) executes an agreement to purchase attendance
credits and an agreement under Subchapter E to contract for the
education of nonresident students who transfer to and are educated
in the district but who are not charged tuition; or
(3) executes an agreement under Subchapter E to
contract for the education of nonresident students:
(A) to an extent that does not provide more than
10 percent of the reduction in wealth per student required for the
district to achieve a wealth per student that is equal to or less
than the equalized wealth level; and
(B) under which all revenue paid by the district
to other districts, in excess of the reduction in state aid that
results from counting the weighted average daily attendance of the
students served in the contracting district, is required to be used
for funding a consortium of at least three districts in a county
with a population of less than 40,000 that is formed to support a
technology initiative.
SECTION 8. Section 41.121, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 41.121. AGREEMENT. The board of trustees of a district
with a wealth per student that exceeds the equalized wealth level
may execute an agreement to educate the students of another
district in a number that, when the weighted average daily
attendance of the students served is added to the weighted average
daily attendance of the contracting district, is sufficient, in
combination with any other actions taken under this chapter, to
reduce the district's wealth per student to a level that is equal to
or less than the equalized wealth level. The agreement is not
effective unless the commissioner certifies that the transfer of
weighted average daily attendance will not result in any of the
contracting districts' wealth per student being greater than the
equalized wealth level and that the agreement requires an
expenditure per student in weighted average daily attendance that
is at least equal to the amount per student in weighted average
daily attendance required under Section 41.093[, unless it is
determined by the commissioner that a quality educational program
can be delivered at a lesser amount. The commissioner may approve a
special financial arrangement between districts if that
arrangement serves the best educational interests of the state].
SECTION 9. Section 42.2516, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (d), (e), and (f) and adding Subsections
(a-2), (a-3), (a-4), (b-3), (b-4), (b-5), (b-6), and (b-7) to read
as follows:
(a-2) If, for the 2010-2011 school year or any subsequent
school year, the total amount of state and local revenue per student
in weighted average daily attendance for the maintenance and
operations of the district to which the district would be entitled
under this chapter or Chapter 41 exceeds the sum of $200 and the
amount of state and local revenue per student in weighted average
daily attendance for the maintenance and operations of the district
available to the district for the preceding school year, the
commissioner shall require the district, notwithstanding
Subsection (a) or any other law, to compress the district's
maintenance and operations tax rate as necessary to reduce the
district's available revenue to the lesser amount.
(a-3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
amount of compression the commissioner may require under Subsection
(a-2) does not affect the state compression percentage under
Subsection (a). If the voters of a district required by the
commissioner to compress the district's maintenance and operations
tax rate under Subsection (a-2) have authorized a maintenance and
operations tax rate that is higher than the required compressed
rate, the district, notwithstanding Section 26.08, Tax Code, or any
other law, is not required in a subsequent year to obtain additional
voter authorization to impose a rate that does not exceed the
previously authorized rate.
(a-4) The amount of revenue to which a school district is
entitled because of the technology allotment under Section 32.005,
the transportation allotment under Section 42.155, and the new
instructional facility allotment under Section 42.158 is not
included in making a determination under Subsection (a-2).
(b-3) Subject to Subsections (b-4), (b-7), (e), (f-1), and
(g), but notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a
school district is entitled to state revenue necessary to provide
the district with the sum of:
(1) the amount of state and local revenue per student
in weighted average daily attendance for the maintenance and
operations of the district available to the district for the
2008-2009 school year;
(2) the amount to which the district is entitled under
Section 42.155 for the current school year;
(3) the amount to which the district is entitled under
Section 42.158 for the current school year; and
(4) an amount equal to the product of:
(A) for the 2009-2010 school year, $75 multiplied
by the number of students in weighted average daily attendance in
the district; or
(B) for each subsequent school year, $175
multiplied by the number of students in weighted average daily
attendance in the district.
(b-4) For each school year, the commissioner shall
calculate for each school district in accordance with Subsection
(b-5) the additional maintenance and operations tax effort, in
excess of the district's maintenance and operations tax rate for
the 2008 tax year, that is needed to entitle the district to the
amount of increased revenue described by Subsection (b-3)(4). If a
district's maintenance and operations tax rate is less than $1 on
the $100 valuation of taxable property and does not equal at least
the sum of the district's maintenance and operations tax rate for
the 2008 tax year and the needed additional tax effort calculated by
the commissioner, the amount of increased revenue to which the
district is entitled under Subsection (b-3)(4) is adjusted by
applying the ratio of the amount by which the district's
maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds the district's
maintenance and operations tax rate for the 2008 tax year divided by
the needed additional tax effort calculated by the commissioner.
(b-5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
additional school district maintenance and operations tax effort
described by Subsection (b-4) is the difference between the tax
rate resulting from the product of the maximum maintenance and
operations tax rate permitted for the 2005 tax year under Section
45.003 and the state compression percentage under Subsection (a),
minus the district's tax rate described by Section 42.302(a-1)(1).
The tax effort described in Subsection (b-4) is subject to all rules
and entitled to the same guaranteed level of state and local funds
per weighted student per cent of tax effort as tax effort described
by Section 42.302(a-1)(1).
(b-6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
increased revenue described by Subsection (b-3)(4) is not included
in the determination of the number of students in weighted average
daily attendance under Section 42.302(a).
(b-7) The amount of revenue to which a district is entitled
under Subsection (b-3) includes funds sufficient to ensure the
maintenance of:
(1) the professional staff salary allotment provided
by Subsection (b)(2) and the high school allotment provided by
Subsection (b)(3) as those sections existed on January 1, 2009;
(2) the staff salary allotment provided by Section
42.2513 as that section existed on January 1, 2009;
(3) funding for school district employees who
participate in a group health coverage plan provided by or through
the district;
(4) the $110 per weighted student allocation
authorized in Rider 82, page III-23, Chapter 1330 (H.B. 1), Acts of
the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003 (the General
Appropriations Act); and
(5) the $23.63 per weighted student allocation
authorized in Rider 86, page III-23, Chapter 1428 (H.B. 1), Acts of
the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007 (the General
Appropriations Act).
(d) If [, for the 2006-2007 or a subsequent school year,] a
school district enters into an agreement under Subchapter E,
Chapter 41, the commissioner shall reduce the amount of state
revenue to which the district is entitled under Subsection (b-3)
[(b)] for that school year by an amount equal to any additional
revenue for that school year that the district receives and retains
as a result of that agreement, which is the amount by which the
total maintenance and operations revenue available to the district
exceeds the total maintenance and operations revenue that would
have been available to the district if the district had not entered
into the agreement and had imposed a maintenance and operations tax
at the maximum rate permitted under Section 45.003(d), less any
amount the district pays to another entity under the agreement.
(e) The amount of revenue to which a school district is
entitled because of the technology allotment under Section 32.005,
the transportation allotment under Section 42.155, and the new
instructional facility allotment under Section 42.158 and the
amount of state and local revenue resulting from a tax rate
described by Section 42.302(a-1)(2) or (3) are [is] not included in
making a determination under Subsection (b-3)(1) [(b)(1)].
(f) For purposes of determining the amount of revenue to
which a school district is entitled under this section, the
commissioner shall use the average tax collection rate for the
district for the 2006, 2007, and 2008 [2003, 2004, and 2005] tax
years.
SECTION 10. Section 42.260(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "participating charter school" means
an open-enrollment charter school that participates in the uniform
group coverage program established under Chapter 1579, Insurance
Code [has the meaning assigned by Section 42.2514].
SECTION 11. Effective September 1, 2009, Section
42.302(a-1), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a-1) In this section, "wealth per student" has the meaning
assigned by Section 41.001. For purposes of Subsection (a), the
dollar amount guaranteed level of state and local funds per
weighted student per cent of tax effort ("GL") for a school district
is:
(1) the greater of 90 percent of the amount of district
tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax effort that would
be available to the Austin Independent School District [a district
at the 88th percentile in wealth per student], as determined by the
commissioner in cooperation with the Legislative Budget Board, or
the amount of district tax revenue per weighted student per cent of
tax effort used for purposes of this subdivision in the preceding
school year, for the district's maintenance and operations tax
effort equal to or less than the rate equal to the product of the
state compression percentage, as determined under Section 42.2516,
multiplied by the maintenance and operations tax rate adopted by
the district for the 2005 tax year;
(2) the greater of the amount of district tax revenue
per weighted student per cent of tax effort that would be available
to the Austin Independent School District, as determined by the
commissioner in cooperation with the Legislative Budget Board, if
the reduction of the limitation on tax increases as provided by
Section 11.26(a-1), (a-2), or (a-3), Tax Code, did not apply, or the
amount of district tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax
effort used for purposes of this subdivision in the preceding
school year, for the first six cents by which the district's
maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds the rate equal to the
product of the state compression percentage, as determined under
Section 42.2516 [and notwithstanding the limitation on district
enrichment tax rate ("DTR") under Section 42.303], multiplied by
the maintenance and operations tax rate adopted by the district for
the 2005 tax year; and
(3) $31.95, for the district's maintenance and
operations tax effort that exceeds the amount of tax effort
described by Subdivision (2).
SECTION 12. Effective September 1, 2010, Section
42.302(a-1), Education Code, as amended by Chapters 19 (H.B. 5) and
1191 (H.B. 828), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session,
2007, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(a-1) In this section, "wealth per student" has the meaning
assigned by Section 41.001. For purposes of Subsection (a), the
dollar amount guaranteed level of state and local funds per
weighted student per cent of tax effort ("GL") for a school district
is:
(1) the greater of 95 percent of the amount of district
tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax effort that would
be available to the Austin Independent School District [a district
at the 88th percentile in wealth per student], as determined by the
commissioner in cooperation with the Legislative Budget Board, or
the amount of district tax revenue per weighted student per cent of
tax effort used for purposes of this subdivision in the preceding
school year, for the district's maintenance and operations tax
effort equal to or less than the rate equal to the product of the
state compression percentage, as determined under Section 42.2516,
multiplied by the maintenance and operations tax rate adopted by
the district for the 2005 tax year;
(2) the greater of the amount of district tax revenue
per weighted student per cent of tax effort that would be available
to the Austin Independent School District, as determined by the
commissioner in cooperation with the Legislative Budget Board, if
the reduction of the limitation on tax increases as provided by
Section 11.26(a-1), (a-2), or (a-3), Tax Code, did not apply, or the
amount of district tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax
effort used for purposes of this subdivision in the preceding
school year, for the first six cents by which the district's
maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds the rate equal to the
product of the state compression percentage, as determined under
Section 42.2516, multiplied by the maintenance and operations tax
rate adopted by the district for the 2005 tax year; and
(3) $31.95, for the district's maintenance and
operations tax effort that exceeds the amount of tax effort
described by Subdivision (2).
SECTION 13. Effective September 1, 2011, Section
42.302(a-1), Education Code, as amended by Chapters 19 (H.B. 5) and
1191 (H.B. 828), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session,
2007, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(a-1) In this section, "wealth per student" has the meaning
assigned by Section 41.001. For purposes of Subsection (a), the
dollar amount guaranteed level of state and local funds per
weighted student per cent of tax effort ("GL") for a school district
is:
(1) the greater of the amount of district tax revenue
per weighted student per cent of tax effort that would be available
to the Austin Independent School District [a district at the 88th
percentile in wealth per student], as determined by the
commissioner in cooperation with the Legislative Budget Board, or
the amount of district tax revenue per weighted student per cent of
tax effort used for purposes of this subdivision in the preceding
school year, for the district's maintenance and operations tax
effort equal to or less than the rate equal to the product of the
state compression percentage, as determined under Section 42.2516,
multiplied by the maintenance and operations tax rate adopted by
the district for the 2005 tax year;
(2) the greater of the amount of district tax revenue
per weighted student per cent of tax effort that would be available
to the Austin Independent School District, as determined by the
commissioner in cooperation with the Legislative Budget Board, if
the reduction of the limitation on tax increases as provided by
Section 11.26(a-1), (a-2), or (a-3), Tax Code, did not apply, or the
amount of district tax revenue per weighted student per cent of tax
effort used for purposes of this subdivision in the preceding
school year, for the first six cents by which the district's
maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds the rate equal to the
product of the state compression percentage, as determined under
Section 42.2516, multiplied by the maintenance and operations tax
rate adopted by the district for the 2005 tax year; and
(3) $31.95, for the district's maintenance and
operations tax effort that exceeds the amount of tax effort
described by Subdivision (2).
SECTION 14. Section 1579.251(a), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The state shall assist employees of participating
school districts and charter schools in the purchase of group
health coverage under this chapter by providing for each covered
employee the amount of $900 each state fiscal year or a greater
amount as provided by the General Appropriations Act. The state
contribution shall be distributed through the school finance
formulas under Chapters 41 and 42, Education Code, and used by
school districts and charter schools as provided by Section
[Sections 42.2514 and] 42.260, Education Code.
SECTION 15. Section 1581.053(b), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), amounts a district or
school is required to use to pay contributions under a group health
coverage plan for district or school employees under Section
[42.2514 or] 42.260, Education Code, other than amounts described
by Section 42.260(c)(2)(B), are not used in computing whether the
district or school complies with Section 1581.052.
SECTION 16. (a) The following sections of the Education
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 29.097(g);
(2) Section 29.098(h);
(3) Sections 39.114(b), (b-1), and (c);
(4) Sections 41.002(e), (f), and (g);
(5) Section 41.098;
(6) Sections 42.2511, 42.2512, 42.2513, and 42.2514;
and
(7) Sections 42.2516(a-1), (b), (b-1), (b-2), (c), and
(h).
(b) Section 403.302(j), Government Code, is repealed.
(c) Subchapter C, Chapter 1581, Insurance Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 17. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 81st Legislature, Regular Session, 2009,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 18. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.