By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 1771
(VanDeaver)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Texas High Performance Schools Consortium.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 7.0561(b), (c), (d), and (j), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The Texas High Performance Schools Consortium is
established to inform the governor, legislature, State Board of
Education, and commissioner concerning methods for transforming
public schools in this state by improving student learning through
the development of innovative, next-generation learning standards
and assessment and accountability systems.
(c) From among school districts and eligible
open-enrollment charter schools that apply using the form and in
the time and manner established by commissioner rule, the
commissioner may select not more than 30 [20] participants for the
consortium. The districts selected by the commissioner must
represent a range of district types, sizes, and diverse student
populations, as determined by the commissioner in accordance with
commissioner rule. To be eligible to participate in the
consortium, an open-enrollment charter school must have been
awarded a [an exemplary] distinction designation under Subchapter
G, Chapter 39, during the preceding school year.
(d) The number of students enrolled in consortium
participants may not be greater than a number equal to 10 [five]
percent of the total number of students enrolled in public schools
in this state according to the most recent agency data.
(j) The [With the assistance of the] school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools participating in the consortium[,
the commissioner] shall submit reports concerning the performance
and progress of the consortium to the governor, [and] the
legislature, the State Board of Education, and the commissioner not
later than December 1 of each even-numbered year[, 2012, and not
later than December 1, 2014]. [The report submitted not later than
December 1, 2012, must include any recommendation by the
commissioner concerning legislative authorization for the
commissioner to waive a prohibition, requirement, or restriction
that applies to a consortium participant. That report must also
include a plan for an effective and efficient accountability system
for consortium participants that balances academic excellence and
local values to inspire learning and, at the state level,
contingent on any necessary waiver of federal law, may incorporate
use of a stratified random sampling of students or other objective
methodology to hold consortium participants accountable while
attempting to reduce the number of state assessment instruments
that are required to be administered to students. The commissioner
shall seek a federal waiver, to any extent necessary, to prepare for
implementation of the plan if enacted by the legislature. This
subsection expires January 1, 2018.]
SECTION 2. 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, 2015.