Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1118 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R3104 ANG-F
2	2	By: VanDeaver H.B. No. 1118
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6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the creation of a Texas Commission on Assessment and
10	10	Accountability.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 39A, Education Code, is amended by
13	13	adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
14	14	SUBCHAPTER H. TEXAS COMMISSION ON ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
15	15	Sec. 39A.351. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "commission"
16	16	means the Texas Commission on Assessment and Accountability.
17	17	Sec. 39A.352. TEXAS COMMISSION ON ASSESSMENT AND
18	18	ACCOUNTABILITY. (a) The commission is established to develop and
19	19	make recommendations for improvements to the current public school
20	20	assessment and accountability systems.
21	21	(b) The commission is composed of 19 members, consisting of:
22	22	(1) four members appointed by the governor;
23	23	(2) seven members appointed by the lieutenant
24	24	governor;
25	25	(3) seven members appointed by the speaker of the
26	26	house of representatives; and
27	27	(4) a member of the State Board of Education, as
28	28	designated by the chair of that board.
29	29	(c) The members appointed by the governor must have an
30	30	interest in public education and include at least:
31	31	(1) one person who is a current classroom teacher:
32	32	(A) in a grade and subject for which an
33	33	assessment instrument required under Section 39.023 is
34	34	administered; and
35	35	(B) with at least 10 years of teaching experience
36	36	at a school that receives federal funding under Title I, Elementary
37	37	and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et
38	38	seq.);
39	39	(2) one person who is a member of the business
40	40	community; and
41	41	(3) one person who is a member of the civic community.
42	42	(d) The appointments made by the lieutenant governor and the
43	43	speaker of the house of representatives must each consist of:
44	44	(1) three members of the applicable legislative
45	45	chamber;
46	46	(2) a superintendent in the public school system;
47	47	(3) an elected member of the board of trustees of a
48	48	school district;
49	49	(4) a parent of a student in the public school system;
50	50	and
51	51	(5) a public school district staff member who serves
52	52	on the Texas Accountability Advisory Group established by rule.
53	53	(e) In making appointments under Subsections (b)(1), (2),
54	54	and (3), the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
55	55	house of representatives shall coordinate to ensure that the
56	56	membership of the commission reflects, to the extent possible, the
57	57	ethnic and geographic diversity of this state.
58	58	Sec. 39A.353. PRESIDING OFFICER AND MEMBERS. (a) The
59	59	governor shall designate the presiding officer of the commission.
60	60	(b) A commission member may not be an employee, contractor,
61	61	consultant, or vendor of the agency or a regional education service
62	62	center.
63	63	Sec. 39A.354. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT. A member of
64	64	the commission is not entitled to compensation for service on the
65	65	commission but is entitled to reimbursement for actual and
66	66	necessary expenses incurred in performing commission duties.
67	67	Sec. 39A.355. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND FUNDING. (a) The
68	68	agency shall provide administrative support for the commission.
69	69	The agency, with assistance as necessary from the Texas Higher
70	70	Education Coordinating Board, shall provide data and analysis as
71	71	requested by the commission, including data available in the
72	72	education research centers established under Section 1.005.
73	73	(b) Funding for the administrative and operational expenses
74	74	of the commission shall be provided by legislative appropriation
75	75	made to the agency for that purpose.
76	76	Sec. 39A.356. RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The commission shall
77	77	develop recommendations under this subchapter to address issues
78	78	related to the public school statewide assessment system,
79	79	including:
80	80	(1) test construction and administration methods that
81	81	ensure validity, readability, and fairness for all students;
82	82	(2) assessment options to inform instruction
83	83	throughout the school year;
84	84	(3) any disproportionate impact of assessments on
85	85	students receiving each tier of the compensatory education
86	86	allotment and other special populations, and appropriate policy
87	87	responses;
88	88	(4) the costs and instructional time devoted to the
89	89	administration of state-required assessment instruments, and
90	90	options for minimizing those costs and that time by combining
91	91	assessments and classroom instruction; and
92	92	(5) privacy, security, and confidentiality protocols
93	93	regarding the personal information of a student receiving online
94	94	instruction or assessment.
95	95	(b) The commission shall develop recommendations under this
96	96	subchapter to address issues related to the public school academic
97	97	accountability rating system, including:
98	98	(1) characteristics of and measures used by effective
99	99	schools beyond state-required assessment instruments and ways to
100	100	incorporate those characteristics and measures into a fairer
101	101	accountability system;
102	102	(2) the correlation of accountability results with
103	103	special student populations, including educationally disadvantaged
104	104	students and students who are not educationally disadvantaged, for
105	105	each domain rating and overall rating, and the effect of enrollment
106	106	in open-enrollment charter schools and magnet or other voluntary
107	107	programs on the composition of student populations of district
108	108	campuses and the application of accountability measures; and
109	109	(3) the appropriateness and effectiveness of current
110	110	district and campus sanctions and any correlation between sanctions
111	111	imposed and campuses or districts serving particular student
112	112	populations.
113	113	(c) The commission shall include and consider
114	114	recommendations made by the existing Texas Accountability Advisory
115	115	Group established by rule.
116	116	(d) The commission may establish one or more working groups
117	117	composed of not more than five members of the commission to study,
118	118	discuss, and address specific policy issues and recommendations to
119	119	refer to the commission for consideration.
120	120	Sec. 39A.357. REPORT. Not later than December 31, 2026, the
121	121	commission shall prepare and deliver a report to the governor and
122	122	the legislature that recommends statutory changes to improve the
123	123	public school assessment and accountability systems.
124	124	Sec. 39A.358. PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION. (a)
125	125	The commission may hold public meetings as needed to fulfill its
126	126	duties under this subchapter.
127	127	(b) The commission is subject to Chapters 551 and 552,
128	128	Government Code.
129	129	SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any other law, the commissioner
130	130	of education may not assign A through F ratings to an independent
131	131	school district or district campus under Chapter 39, Education
132	132	Code, following the 2024-2025 school year. Sanctions in effect
133	133	under Chapter 39A, Education Code, continue in effect after the
134	134	effective date of this Act but may not be increased, and additional
135	135	sanctions may not be imposed.
136	136	SECTION 3. For purposes of a sanction imposed by the
137	137	commissioner of education on an independent school district or a
138	138	district campus under Chapter 39A, Education Code, based on
139	139	multi-year performance measures, the 2024-2025 school year may not
140	140	be considered but does not interrupt a series of measures
141	141	continuing in effect from the 2023-2024 school year.
142	142	SECTION 4. Nothing in this Act prohibits the commissioner
143	143	of education from reducing or suspending an existing sanction based
144	144	on meeting performance standards adopted by rule or under Section
145	145	11.174, Education Code.
146	146	SECTION 5. (a) The commissioner of education shall apply to
147	147	the federal government for appropriate waivers or amendments to the
148	148	application of federal law as necessary to allow implementation of
149	149	this Act.
150	150	(b) The commissioner of education may take appropriate
151	151	measures to assess students and evaluate academic performance
152	152	following the 2024-2025 school year only to the extent required by
153	153	federal law.
154	154	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
155	155	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
156	156	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
157	157	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
158	158	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.