By: White, Minjarez, Dominguez H.B. No. 114
(Senate Sponsor - Birdwell)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 2019;
April 15, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on
Veteran Affairs & Border Security; April 26, 2019, reported
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 26, 2019,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing public high school students information
regarding the availability of college credit awarded for military
experience, education, and training obtained during military
service.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 33.007, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-2) to read as
follows:
(b) During the first school year a student is enrolled in a
high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment
charter school, and again during each year of a student's
enrollment in high school or at the high school level, a school
counselor shall provide information about postsecondary education
to the student and the student's parent or guardian. The
information must include information regarding:
(1) the importance of postsecondary education;
(2) the advantages of earning an endorsement and a
performance acknowledgment and completing the distinguished level
of achievement under the foundation high school program under
Section 28.025;
(3) the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for
a high school equivalency examination relative to the benefits of
taking courses leading to a high school diploma;
(4) financial aid eligibility;
(5) instruction on how to apply for federal financial
aid;
(6) the center for financial aid information
established under Section 61.0776;
(7) the automatic admission of certain students to
general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section
51.803;
(8) the eligibility and academic performance
requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M,
Chapter 56;
(9) the availability of programs in the district under
which a student may earn college credit, including advanced
placement programs, dual credit programs, joint high school and
college credit programs, and international baccalaureate programs;
[and]
(10) the availability of education and training
vouchers and tuition and fee waivers to attend an institution of
higher education as provided by Section 54.366 for a student who is
or was previously in the conservatorship of the Department of
Family and Protective Services; and
(11) the availability of college credit awarded by
institutions of higher education to veterans and military
servicemembers for military experience, education, and training
obtained during military service as described by the informational
materials developed under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code.
(b-2) Information provided under Subsection (b)(11) must
explain to any student who is enlisted or intends to enlist in the
armed forces of the United States the informational materials
developed under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code.
SECTION 2. Section 302.0031, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) For purposes of Section 33.007(b)(11), Education Code,
the commission, in cooperation with the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board, shall develop and annually make available to
each school district and each open-enrollment charter school that
offers a high school program informational materials regarding the
availability of college credit awarded by institutions of higher
education to veterans and military servicemembers for military
experience, education, and training obtained during military
service, including information regarding the program under this
section.
SECTION 3. Section 33.007, Education Code, as amended by
this Act, applies beginning with the 2020-2021 school year.
SECTION 4. Not later than September 1, 2020, the Texas
Workforce Commission, in cooperation with the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, shall develop and make available to
each school district and each open-enrollment charter school that
offers a high school program the informational materials required
under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 5. 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, 2019.
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