82R880 GCB-D
By: Menendez H.J.R. No. 91
A JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment dissolving the State Board of
Education and creating the Texas Education Commission.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended by
adding Sections 8a and 8b to read as follows:
Sec. 8a. (a) The State Board of Education is dissolved and
the members of the board are relieved of board duties on the
effective date of this section.
(b) The commissioner of education shall assume the powers
and duties of the State Board of Education from the date the board
is dissolved until the date the Texas Education Commission created
under Section 8b of this article holds its first meeting.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2013.
Sec. 8b. (a) The Texas Education Commission is composed of
15 members appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of
the senate as follows:
(1) nine members who reside one each in the nine
counties of this state with the greatest population, according to
the last preceding federal decennial census;
(2) four members who reside in areas of this state
designated as rural communities by the United States Department of
Agriculture; and
(3) two members who reside in this state.
(a-1) The governor may begin to nominate the initial members
of the commission beginning October 1, 2012. The governor shall
nominate all 15 initial members not later than January 1, 2013.
After nominees are confirmed by the senate, the initial members
shall determine by lot which members serve two-year terms and which
serve four-year terms, with as close to one-half of the total number
of members as possible serving terms of each length. This
subsection expires September 1, 2013.
(b) To be eligible to serve as a member of the commission, a
person must have:
(1) 10 or more years' experience as a public school
educator, school board member, chief executive officer, or
investment banker;
(2) 10 or more years' experience working in a financial
institution or the field of securities and exchange; or
(3) a professional background that the senate
determines is equivalent to the experience described by Subdivision
(1) or (2) of this subsection.
(c) Members of the commission serve staggered four-year
terms with the terms of seven or eight members, as applicable,
expiring December 31 of each even-numbered year. A person may not
serve more than two terms as a member of the commission.
(d) The governor shall nominate for confirmation by the
senate a person to fill each regularly occurring vacancy on the
commission not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year. If
the senate fails to confirm the person during the regular
legislative session that immediately follows the date of
appointment, the position remains vacant until the person or an
alternate person nominated by the governor is confirmed by the
senate during a subsequent regular or called legislative session.
The governor may also nominate for confirmation by the senate a
person to fill any vacancy on the commission not later than the
fifth day of a called legislative session. If the senate fails to
confirm the person during that session, the position remains vacant
as described above. A person may not in any circumstance act as a
member of the commission until the person has been confirmed by the
senate and may not serve beyond the expiration of the term for which
appointed unless the person is reappointed and reconfirmed. To the
extent this subsection conflicts with Section 12, Article IV, or
Section 17, Article XVI, of this constitution, this subsection
prevails.
(e) If, following a federal decennial census, a county that
was among the nine counties with the greatest population under the
preceding census ceases to rank among the nine largest counties:
(1) the member representing the county vacates the
member's office on the date the secretary of state receives the
official census data;
(2) as soon as practicable after the date the
secretary of state receives the official census data, the governor
shall nominate to serve on the commission a person who resides in
the county that is newly among the nine largest counties; and
(3) if confirmed by the senate, the person nominated
under Subdivision (2) of this subsection serves for the remainder
of the term for which the member described by Subdivision (1) of
this subsection was appointed.
(f) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint
the chair from among the membership of the commission. The chair
serves a term of two years.
(g) Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the
members of the commission shall elect from among the membership of
the commission a person to serve as vice chair for a term of two
years.
(h) The members of the commission shall appoint an executive
director to exercise the powers and perform the duties previously
exercised and performed by the commissioner of education. A
reference in general law to the commissioner of education means the
executive director appointed under this subsection. The executive
director serves at the pleasure of the commission.
(i) The commission shall carry out the commission's powers
and duties with the advice and assistance of the executive
director.
(j) The commission may perform only those duties assigned to
the commission by this constitution or as provided by the
legislature. A reference in general law to the State Board of
Education means the commission created under this section.
(k) The commission shall hold four meetings a year in
Austin, Texas, on dates determined by the chair and may hold other
meetings as may be called by the chair. At the commission's first
regular meeting after March 1 of an odd-numbered year, the
commission shall organize, adopt rules of procedure, and elect a
secretary.
(l) The commission shall develop and implement policies
that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to appear
before the commission and to speak on any issue under the
jurisdiction of the commission.
SECTION 2. Section 3(b), Article VII, Texas Constitution,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) It shall be the duty of the Texas Education Commission
[State Board of Education] to set aside a sufficient amount of
available funds to provide free text books for the use of children
attending the public free schools of this State.
SECTION 3. Section 4, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 4. The lands herein set apart to the Public Free School
fund, shall be sold under such regulations, at such times, and on
such terms as may be prescribed by law; and the Legislature shall
not have power to grant any relief to purchasers thereof. The
proceeds of such sales must be used to acquire other land for the
Public Free School fund as provided by law or the proceeds shall be
invested by the comptroller of public accounts, as may be directed
by the Texas Education Commission [Board of Education] herein
provided for, in the bonds of the United States, the State of Texas,
or counties in said State, or in such other securities, and under
such restrictions as may be prescribed by law; and the State shall
be responsible for all investments.
SECTION 4. Sections 5(a) and (f), Article VII, Texas
Constitution, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The permanent school fund consists of all land
appropriated for public schools by this constitution or the other
laws of this state, other properties belonging to the permanent
school fund, and all revenue derived from the land or other
properties. The available school fund consists of the distributions
made to it from the total return on all investment assets of the
permanent school fund, the taxes authorized by this constitution or
general law to be part of the available school fund, and
appropriations made to the available school fund by the
legislature. The total amount distributed from the permanent school
fund to the available school fund:
(1) in each year of a state fiscal biennium must be an
amount that is not more than six percent of the average of the
market value of the permanent school fund, excluding real property
belonging to the fund that is managed, sold, or acquired under
Section 4 of this article, on the last day of each of the 16 state
fiscal quarters preceding the regular session of the legislature
that begins before that state fiscal biennium, in accordance with
the rate adopted by:
(A) the Texas Education Commission [a vote of
two-thirds of the total membership of the State Board of Education,
taken] before the regular session of the legislature convenes; or
(B) the legislature by general law or
appropriation, if the Texas Education Commission [State Board of
Education] does not adopt a rate as provided by Paragraph (A) of
this subdivision; and
(2) over the 10-year period consisting of the current
state fiscal year and the nine preceding state fiscal years may not
exceed the total return on all investment assets of the permanent
school fund over the same 10-year period.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
constitution, in managing the assets of the permanent school fund,
the Texas Education Commission [State Board of Education] may
acquire, exchange, sell, supervise, manage, or retain, through
procedures and subject to restrictions it establishes and in
amounts it considers appropriate, any kind of investment[,
including investments in the Texas growth fund created by Article
XVI, Section 70, of this constitution,] that persons of ordinary
prudence, discretion, and intelligence, exercising the judgment
and care under the circumstances then prevailing, acquire or retain
for their own account in the management of their affairs, not in
regard to speculation but in regard to the permanent disposition of
their funds, considering the probable income as well as the
probable safety of their capital.
SECTION 5. Section 8, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
repealed.
SECTION 6. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 8, 2011.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment dissolving the elected
State Board of Education and creating an appointed Texas Education
Commission."