By: Dutton H.B. No. 5170 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to public school finance and public education. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 30.003, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (f-1) to read as follows: (b-1) For purposes of subsection (b), the maintenance and debt service taxes imposed by the district is reduced by the district's amount of local revenue in excess of entitlement for that year under Section 48.257. (f-1) The commissioner shall determine the total amount that the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Texas School for the Deaf would have received from school districts in accordance with this section if the following provisions had not reduced the districts' share of the cost of providing education services: (1) H.B. No. 1, Acts of the 79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session, 2006; (2) Section 45.0032; (3) Section 48.255; and (4) Section 48.2551.; and (5) Section 30.003 (b-1). Section 2. Section 46.003, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) to read as follows: Sec. 46.003. SCHOOL FACILITIES ALLOTMENT. (a) For each year, except as provided by Sections 46.005 and 46.006, a school district is guaranteed a specified amount per student in state and local funds for each cent of tax effort, up to the maximum rate under Subsection (b), to pay the principal of and interest on eligible bonds issued to construct, acquire, renovate, or improve an instructional facility. The amount of state support is determined by the formula: FYA = (FYL X ADA X BTR X 100) - (BTR X (DPV/100)) where: "FYA" is the guaranteed facilities yield amount of state funds allocated to the district for the year; "FYL" is the dollar amount guaranteed level of state and local funds per student per cent of tax effort, which is $4535 or a greater amount for any year provided by appropriation; "ADA" is the greater of the number of students in average daily attendance, as determined under Section 48.005, in the district or 400; "BTR" is the district's bond tax rate for the current year, which is determined by dividing the amount budgeted by the district for payment of eligible bonds by the quotient of the district's taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if applicable, Section 48.258, divided by 100; and "DPV" is the district's taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if applicable, Section 48.258. Section 3. Section 46.032, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) to read as follows: Sec. 46.032. ALLOTMENT. (a) Each school district is guaranteed a specified amount per student in state and local funds for each cent of tax effort to pay the principal of and interest on eligible bonds. The amount of state support, subject only to the maximum amount under Section 46.034, is determined by the formula: EDA = (EDGL X ADA X EDTR X 100) - (EDTR X (DPV/100)) where: "EDA" is the amount of state funds to be allocated to the district for assistance with existing debt; "EDGL" is the dollar amount guaranteed level of state and local funds per student per cent of tax effort, which is the lesser of: (1) $4540 or a greater amount for any year provided by appropriation; or (2) the amount that would result in a total additional amount of state funds under this subchapter for the current year equal to $60 million in excess of the state funds to which school districts would have been entitled under this section if the guaranteed level amount were $35; "ADA" is the number of students in average daily attendance, as determined under Section 48.005, in the district; "EDTR" is the existing debt tax rate of the district, which is determined by dividing the amount budgeted by the district for payment of eligible bonds by the quotient of the district's taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if applicable, under Section 48.258, divided by 100; and "DPV" is the district's taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M, Chapter 403, Government Code, or, if applicable, under Section 48.258. Section 4. Section 48.0071, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) as follows: (d) This section expires September 1, 2023. Section 5. Section 48.051, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as follows: (a) For each student in average daily attendance, not including the time students spend each day in special education programs in an instructional arrangement other than mainstream or career and technology education programs, for which an additional allotment is made under Subchapter C, a district is entitled to an allotment equal to the lesser of $6,210160 or the amount that results from the following formula: A = $6,210160 X TR/MCR X IF where: "A" is the allotment to which a district is entitled; "TR" is the district's tier one maintenance and operations tax rate, as provided by Section 45.0032.; and "MCR" is the district's maximum compressed tax rate, as determined under Section 48.2551.; and "IF" is the statewide inflation factor determined under Section 48.0512. (b) A greater amount for any school year may be provided by appropriation. (c) During any school year for which the maximum amount of the basic allotment provided under Subsection (a) or (b) is greater than the maximum amount provided for the preceding school year, a school district must use at least 30 percent of the amount, if the amount is greater than zero, that equals the product of the average daily attendance of the district multiplied by the amount of the difference between the district's funding under this chapter per student in average daily attendance for the current school year and the preceding school year to provide compensation increases to full-time district employees other than administrators as follows: (1) 75 percent must be used to increase the compensation paid to classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses, prioritizing differentiated compensation for classroom teachers with more than five years of experience; and (2) 25 percent may be used as determined by the district to increase compensation paid to full-time district employees. (c-1) A school district employee who received a salary increase under Subsection (c) from a school district for the 2019-2020 school year is, as long as the employee remains employed by the same district and the district is receiving at least the same amount of funding as the amount of funding the district received for the 2019-2020 school year, entitled to salary that is at least equal to the salary the employee received for the 2019-2020 school year. This subsection does not apply if the board of trustees of the school district at which the employee is employed: (1) complies with Sections 21.4021, 21.4022, and 21.4032 in reducing the employee's salary; and (2) has adopted a resolution declaring a financial exigency for the district under Section 44.011. (c-2) A reduction in the salary of a school district employee described by Subsection (c-1) is subject to the rights granted to the employee under this code. (d) In this section, "compensation" includes benefits such as insurance premiums. (e) For purposes of calculating the amount of the required compensation increases under Subsection (c), increases to an allotment under Sections 48.111, 48.115, 48.151, 48.152, 48.252, and 48.277 are excluded from the calculation. Section 6. Section 48.0512, Education Code, is added to read as follows: Sec. 48.0512. INFLATION FACTOR FOR BASIC ALLOTMENT. (a) In the second year of each biennium, the basic allotment under Section 48.051 is adjusted by a factor equivalent to the average annual percentage increase in the Texas Consumer Price Index for the preceding 10-year period. (b) In school years where an adjustment under Subsection (a) would result in a reduction to the basic allotment, then the basic allotment would equal the value for the first year of the biennium. Section 7. Section 48.101, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) to read as follows: (a) Small and mid-sized districts are entitled to an annual allotment in accordance with this section. In this section: (1) "AA" is the district's annual allotment per student in average daily attendance; (2) "ADA" is the number of students in average daily attendance for which the district is entitled to an allotment under Section 48.051, excluding students counted in average daily attendance under Section 48.0071(b) for districts eligible to operate virtual programs under Section 48.007(c); and (3) "BA" is the basic allotment determined under Section 48.051. Section 8. Section 48.110, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (d) to read as follows: (d) For each annual graduate in a cohort described by Subsection (b) who demonstrates college, career, or military readiness as described by Subsection (f) in excess of the minimum number of students determined for the applicable district cohort under Subsection (c), a school district is entitled to an annual outcomes bonus of: (1) if the annual graduate is educationally disadvantaged, $5,000; (2) if the annual graduate is not educationally disadvantaged, $3,000; and (3) if the annual graduate is enrolled in a special education program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, $42,000, regardless of whether the annual graduate is educationally disadvantaged. Section 9. Section 48.111, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (c), (c-1), (d), (d-1), (d-2), and (d-3) to read as follows: (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a A school district is entitled to an annual allotment equal to the basic allotment multiplied by the applicable weight under Subsection (a-1) for each enrolled student equal to the difference, if the difference is greater than zero, that results from subtracting 250 from the difference between the number of students enrolled in the district during the school year immediately preceding the current school year and the number of students enrolled in the district during the school year six years preceding the current school year. (a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), the agency shall assign the following weights: (1) 0.48 for each student enrolled at a district in the top 40 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of students calculated under Subsection (a); (2) 0.33 for each student enrolled at a district in the middle 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of students calculated under Subsection (a); and (3) 0.18 for each student enrolled at a district in the bottom 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of students calculated under Subsection (a). (a-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a-1), for the 2021-2022 school year, instead of using the weights under that subsection, the agency shall substitute the following weights: (1) 0.45 for each student enrolled at a district in the top 40 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of students calculated under Subsection (a); (2) 0.30 for each student enrolled at a district in the middle 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of students calculated under Subsection (a); and (3) 0.15 for each student enrolled at a district in the bottom 30 percent of districts, as determined based on the number of students calculated under Subsection (a). (a-3) Subsection (a-2) and this subsection expire September 1, 2024. (b) For purposes of Subsection (a), in determining the number of students enrolled in a school district, the commissioner shall exclude students enrolled in the district who receive full-time instruction through the state virtual school network under Chapter 30A. (c) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the total amount that may be used to provide allotments under Subsection (a) may not exceed $320 million. If the total amount of allotments to which districts are entitled under Subsection (a) for a school year exceeds the amount permitted under this subsection, the commissioner shall proportionately reduce each district's allotment under this section. (c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), the total amount that may be used to provide allotments under Subsection (a) may not exceed: (1) for the 2021-2022 school year, $270 million; (2) for the 2022-2023 school year, $310 million; and (3) for the 2023-2024 school year, $315 million. (c-2) Subsection (c-1) and this subsection expire September 1, 2025. (d) Subject to the limitation under Subsection (d-1), for the 2021-2022 school year, the agency shall provide to each school district, regardless of whether the district is entitled to an allotment under Subsection (a) for the 2021-2022 school year, an amount equal to the difference, if the difference is greater than zero, between the amount of the allotment for the 2019-2020 school year under this section, as this section existed on September 1, 2019, and the amount of the allotment for the 2021-2022 school year. (d-1) The total amount that may be used to provide funding under Subsection (d) may not exceed $40 million. If the total amount of funding to which districts are entitled under Subsection (d) for a school year exceeds the amount permitted under this subsection, the commissioner shall proportionately reduce each district's amount under Subsection (d). (d-2) The amounts to which school districts are entitled under Subsection (d) are not subject to the amount limitations described by Subsections (c) and (c-1). (d-3) Subsections (d), (d-1), (d-2), and this subsection expire September 1, 2023. Section 10. Section 48.202, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a-1) to read as follows: (a-1) 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 available to a school district at the 96th percentile of wealth per weighted student or the amount that results from multiplying $6,2106,160, or the greater amount provided under Section 48.051(b), if applicable, by 0.016, for the first eight cents by which the district's maintenance and operations tax rate exceeds the district's tier one tax rate; and (2) subject to Subsection (f), the amount that results from multiplying $6,210$6,160, or the greater amount provided under Section 48.051(b), if applicable, by 0.008, for the district's maintenance and operations tax effort that exceeds the amount of tax effort described by Subdivision (1). Section 11. Section 48.252, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows: (b-1) For purposes of calculating an amount under (b)(2), the agency shall calculate the amount to which the district would be entitled to under this Chapter using the enrichment tax rate as defined under Section 45.0032(b) for the school year prior to the district entering into a contract to operate a district campus as provided by Section 11.174. Section 12. Section 48.257, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (h) and (i) as follows: (h) Subsection (i) applies only to a school district: (1) for which Subsection (a) applies for the current school year, (2) that received an allotment under Section 48.277 for the 2023-2024 school year, and (3) that adopted a maintenance and operations tax rate for the 2022-2023 school year of at least the district's maximum compressed tax rate under Section 48.2551 plus five cents per $100 valuation of taxable property. (i) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) through (g), if a district's maintenance and operations revenue per student in average daily attendance after the required reduction under Subsection (a) would be less than the district's 2023-2024 maintenance and operations revenue per student in average daily attendance, excluding Sections 48.278, 48.279, and 48.281, the agency shall decrease the amount of the required reduction under Subsection (a) by an amount of local funds necessary to provide additional revenue up to the district's maintenance and operations revenue per student in average daily attendance for the 2023-2024 school year. Section 13. Section 49.201, Education Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 49.201. AGREEMENT. The board of trustees of a district with a local revenue level in excess of entitlement 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 local revenue level to a level that is equal to or less than the level established under Section 48.257. 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' local revenue level being greater than the level established under Section 48.257 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 49.153, 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 14. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.