85R1189 GCB-F
By: Garcia S.B. No. 192
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a comprehensive review by the Texas Education Agency of
weights, allotments, and adjustments under the public school
finance system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.010 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.010. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE
WEIGHTS, ALLOTMENTS, AND ADJUSTMENTS. (a) The agency shall
conduct a comprehensive review of weights, allotments, and
adjustments under the public school finance system, including all
current weights, allotments, and adjustments provided under this
chapter and any additional weights, allotments, and adjustments
that the agency determines may be appropriate. The review must
determine the effectiveness of existing weights, allotments, and
adjustments in fulfilling the mission of the public education
system stated in Section 4.001(a) and furthering the state policy
stated in Section 42.001. At a minimum, the review must determine
how closely and appropriately each of the following elements
reflects and provides financing for costs beyond the control of
school districts:
(1) adjustments for costs related to the geographic
variation in known resource costs and costs of education,
controlling for the impact of unequalized wealth and hold-harmless
provisions, and properly reflecting the impact of high
concentrations of poverty on the compensation that school districts
must pay to attract and retain teachers of comparable or
appropriate quality;
(2) adjustments for costs related to the size and
diseconomies of scale of school districts;
(3) adjustments for costs related to the varying
instructional needs and characteristics of students and the extent
to which the adjustments provide each student with access to
programs and services that are appropriate to the student's
educational needs;
(4) other factors, in addition to economic status,
that correlate to at-risk status and the need for compensatory
education, and the degree to which those factors correspond to
additional educational costs; and
(5) the manner in which the cost adjustments are
applied to and affect the overall school finance system.
(b) The review of the adjustments described in Subsection
(a)(1) must:
(1) address all uncontrollable costs that can
reasonably be quantified;
(2) consider the qualifications, experience, and
turnover rate of personnel and the impact of those factors on
student achievement in considering the adequacy and comparability
of salaries;
(3) properly address the impact of factors that have a
large impact on certain types of school districts, such as extreme
isolation, regardless of general state impact;
(4) include only factors for which a rational economic
argument can be made;
(5) be carefully constructed to make sure that a cost
factor does not significantly affect more than one variable; and
(6) not be artificially adjusted to meet predetermined
outcomes and must not use arbitrary limits.
(c) In determining whether any additional weights,
allotments, and adjustments are appropriate under the public school
finance system, as required by Subsection (a), the agency shall
include consideration of an additional weight for educational
services provided to students in prekindergarten on a half-day
basis and on a full-day basis.
(d) The agency may contract with one or more consultants if
necessary to enable the agency to perform its duties under this
section.
(e) The Legislative Budget Board, the comptroller, the
state auditor, and any other state agency, official, or personnel
shall cooperate with the agency in carrying out its duties under
this section.
(f) Not later than December 1, 2018, the agency shall
provide a report that:
(1) states the findings of the review conducted under
this section; and
(2) includes recommendations for updated weights,
allotments, and adjustments and any other statutory changes
considered appropriate by the agency.
(g) This section expires January 1, 2019.
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, 2017.