89R3802 TSS-D
By: Hopper H.B. No. 2657
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the abolition of the Texas Education Agency and
elimination of the position of commissioner of education, the
transfer of powers and duties to the State Board of Education and
the comptroller of public accounts, and the elimination of public
school accountability and assessment systems.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
ARTICLE 1. ABOLITION OF THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
SECTION 1.01. Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by
adding Section 1.007 to read as follows:
Sec. 1.007. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF FORMER TEXAS
EDUCATION AGENCY AND COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION DUTIES. Except as
provided by Chapter 42:
(1) the powers, duties, and privileges of the former
Texas Education Agency and the former commissioner of education
under this code or other law are transferred to the State Board of
Education; and
(2) a reference in law to the Texas Education Agency or
the commissioner of education is a reference to the State Board of
Education.
SECTION 1.02. Sections 5.001(1) and (3), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(1) "Agency" means the former Texas Education Agency.
(3) "Commissioner" means the former commissioner of
education.
SECTION 1.03. Subchapter A, Chapter 7, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 7.0011 to read as follows:
Sec. 7.0011. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF POWERS AND DUTIES
TO STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. (a) In accordance with Section 1.007,
the powers and duties of the former Texas Education Agency under
Subchapter B and the powers and duties of the former commissioner of
education under Subchapter C are transferred to the board.
(b) The board shall carry out the educational functions
specifically delegated to the agency under Section 7.021 or to the
commissioner under Section 7.055 or to the agency or commissioner
under another provision of this code.
(c) A reference in this chapter to the agency or the
commissioner is a reference to the board.
SECTION 1.04. Section 7.003, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 7.003. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY. An educational
function not specifically delegated to [the agency or] the board or
the comptroller under this code is reserved to and shall be
performed by school districts or open-enrollment charter schools.
SECTION 1.05. Sections 7.102(b) and (d), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) The board has the powers and duties provided by
Subsection (c) in addition to the powers and duties assigned to the
board by the constitution of this state or another provision of this
code [, which shall be carried out with the advice and assistance of
the commissioner].
(d) The board may adopt rules relating to school districts
or regional education service centers [only] as required to carry
out the [specific] duties assigned to the board [by the
constitution or under Subsection (c)].
SECTION 1.06. Subtitle I, Title 2, Education Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 42 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 42. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 42.001. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF AGENCY AND
COMMISSIONER POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The powers, duties, and
privileges of the former Texas Education Agency and the former
commissioner of education under this subtitle or other law relating
to public school finance and fiscal management are transferred to
the comptroller of public accounts.
(b) A reference in law to the agency or the commissioner
that relates to the powers and duties of the agency or commissioner
under this subtitle or other law relating to public school finance
and fiscal management is a reference to the comptroller of public
accounts.
Sec. 42.002. COMPTROLLER POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The
comptroller has the powers and duties provided by this section.
(b) The comptroller shall:
(1) distribute funds to open-enrollment charter
schools as required under Subchapter D, Chapter 12;
(2) establish advisory guidelines relating to the
fiscal management of a school district and report annually to the
board on the status of school district fiscal management as
required under Section 44.001;
(3) review school district budgets, audit reports, and
other fiscal reports as required under Sections 44.008 and 44.010
and prescribe forms for financial reports made by or for school
districts to the comptroller as required under Section 44.009;
(4) perform duties in connection with the guaranteed
bond program as prescribed by Subchapter C, Chapter 45;
(5) adopt an annual budget for operating the
Foundation School Program as prescribed by Subsection (c);
(6) perform duties in connection with the Foundation
School Program as prescribed by Chapter 48; and
(7) perform duties in connection with the options for
local revenue levels in excess of entitlement under Chapter 49.
(c) The budget the comptroller adopts under Subsection
(b)(5) for operating the Foundation School Program must be in
accordance with legislative appropriations and provide funds for
the administration and operation of public school finance and
fiscal management duties of the comptroller and any other necessary
expense. The budget must designate any expense of operating the
office of the comptroller or operating a program for which the State
Board of Education has responsibility that is paid from the
Foundation School Program. The budget must designate program
expenses that may be paid out of the foundation school fund, other
state funds, fees, federal funds, or funds earned under interagency
contract. Before adopting the budget, the comptroller must submit
the budget to the State Board of Education for review and, after
receiving any comments of the State Board of Education, present the
operating budget to the governor and the Legislative Budget Board.
The comptroller shall propose budget expenditures in a manner that
ensures that all payments are paid from the appropriate funds in a
timely and efficient manner.
SECTION 1.07. Section 48.004, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 48.004. ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM. The
comptroller [commissioner] shall adopt rules and take action and
require reports consistent with this chapter as necessary to
implement and administer the Foundation School Program.
SECTION 1.08. Section 403.011(a), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall:
(1) obtain a seal with "Comptroller's Office, State of
Texas" engraved around the margin and a five-pointed star in the
center, to be used as the seal of the office to authenticate
official acts, except warrants drawn on the state treasury;
(2) adopt regulations the comptroller considers
essential to the speedy and proper assessment and collection of
state revenues;
(3) supervise, as the sole accounting officer of the
state, the state's fiscal concerns and manage those concerns as
required by law;
(4) require all accounts presented to the comptroller
for settlement not otherwise provided for by law to be made on forms
that the comptroller prescribes;
(5) prescribe and furnish the form or electronic
format to be used in the collection of public revenue;
(6) prescribe the mode and manner of keeping and
stating of accounts of persons collecting state revenue;
(7) prescribe forms or electronic formats of the same
class, kind, and purpose so that they are uniform in size,
arrangement, matter, and form;
(8) require each person receiving money or managing or
having disposition of state property of which an account is kept in
the comptroller's office periodically to render statements of the
money or property to the comptroller;
(9) require each person who has received and not
accounted for state money to settle the person's account;
(10) keep and settle all accounts in which the state is
interested;
(11) examine and settle the account of each person
indebted to the state, verify the amount or balance, and direct and
supervise the collection of the money;
(12) audit claims against the state the payment of
which is provided for by law, unless the audit is otherwise
specially provided for;
(13) determine the method for auditing claims against
the state in a cost-effective manner, including the use of
stratified and statistical sampling techniques in conjunction with
automated edits;
(14) maintain the necessary records and data for each
approved claim against the state so that an adequate audit can be
performed and the comptroller can submit a report to each house of
the legislature, upon request, stating the name and amount of each
approved claim;
(15) keep and state each account between the state and
the United States;
(16) keep journals through which all entries are made
in the ledger;
(17) draw warrants on the treasury for payment of all
money required by law to be paid from the treasury on warrants drawn
by the comptroller;
(18) suggest plans for the improvement and management
of the general revenue; [and]
(19) preserve the books, records, papers, and other
property of the comptroller's office and deliver them in good
condition to the successor to that office; and
(20) perform the powers relating to public school
finance and fiscal management required by Section 42.002, Education
Code, including the maintenance and administration of the
Foundation School Program under Chapter 48 of that code.
SECTION 1.09. The following provisions of the Education
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 7.002;
(2) Section 7.004;
(3) Section 7.021(b)(13);
(4) Section 7.051;
(5) Section 7.052;
(6) Section 7.053;
(7) Section 7.054;
(8) Sections 7.055(b)(2), (6), (17), (32), (34), (35),
(36), (37), and (38);
(9) Section 7.055(c);
(10) Section 7.102(c)(29); and
(11) Sections 7.102(a) and (e).
SECTION 1.10. (a) On the effective date of this Act and
except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, the Texas
Education Agency is abolished and the position of commissioner of
education is eliminated, but the agency and position continue in
existence until December 1, 2025, for the sole purpose of
transferring, as applicable, all obligations, property, rights,
powers, duties, leases, contracts, software, data, and full-time
equivalent employee positions to the State Board of Education. The
State Board of Education assumes all of the obligations, property,
rights, powers, duties, leases, contracts, software, data, and
full-time equivalent employee positions of the Texas Education
Agency and commissioner of education as they exist immediately
before the effective date of this Act. All unexpended funds
appropriated to the Texas Education Agency are transferred to the
State Board of Education.
(b) Not later than December 21, 2025, the Texas Education
Agency and commissioner of education shall transfer, as applicable,
all obligations, property, rights, powers, duties, leases,
contracts, software, data, and full-time equivalent employee
positions relating to public school finance and fiscal management,
including the maintenance and administration of the Foundation
School Program under Chapter 48, Education Code, to the comptroller
of public accounts. The comptroller of public accounts assumes all
of the obligations, property, rights, powers, duties, leases,
contracts, software, data, and full-time equivalent employee
positions of the Texas Education Agency and commissioner of
education relating to public school finance and fiscal management,
including the maintenance and administration of the Foundation
School Program under Chapter 48, Education Code, as they exist
immediately before the effective date of this Act. All unexpended
funds appropriated to the Texas Education Agency relating to public
school finance and fiscal management, including the maintenance and
administration of the Foundation School Program under Chapter 48,
Education Code, are transferred to the comptroller of public
accounts.
(c) On September 1, 2025, all full-time equivalent employee
positions at the Texas Education Agency become positions at the
State Board of Education or comptroller of public accounts, as
appropriate, in accordance with Subsections (a) and (b) of this
section. On September 1, 2025, all employees who were employed by
the Texas Education Agency on August 31, 2025, become employees of
the State Board of Education or comptroller of public accounts, as
appropriate, in accordance with Subsections (a) and (b) of this
section.
(d) The Texas Education Agency, commissioner of education,
State Board of Education, and comptroller of public accounts shall,
in consultation with appropriate state entities, ensure that the
transfer of the obligations, property, rights, powers, duties,
leases, contracts, software, data, and full-time equivalent
employee positions of the Texas Education Agency and commissioner
of education under this section is completed not later than
December 1, 2025.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f) of this section,
all rules, fees, policies, procedures, decisions, and forms adopted
by the Texas Education Agency or commissioner of education are
continued in effect as rules, fees, policies, procedures,
decisions, and forms adopted by the State Board of Education until
amended or superseded by a rule, fee, policy, procedure, decision,
or form adopted by the State Board of Education. A complaint or
investigation pending on the effective date of this Act is
continued without change in status after the effective date of this
Act.
(f) All rules, fees, policies, procedures, decisions, and
forms adopted by the Texas Education Agency or commissioner of
education relating to public school finance or fiscal management,
including the maintenance and administration of the Foundation
School Program under Chapter 48, Education Code, are continued in
effect as rules, fees, policies, procedures, decisions, and forms
adopted by the comptroller of public accounts until amended or
superseded by a rule, fee, policy, procedure, decision, or form
adopted by the comptroller of public accounts.
(g) Not later than September 1, 2026, the State Board of
Education and comptroller of public accounts, as applicable, shall
adopt any rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by
this Act.
ARTICLE 2. REPEAL OF PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT
SYSTEM
SECTION 2.01. Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by
adding Section 1.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 1.008. REFERENCES TO PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY OR
ASSESSMENTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a reference
in law to an assessment instrument adopted, developed, required, or
administered under former Chapter 39 refers to an assessment
instrument adopted, developed, required, or administered by a
public elementary or secondary school that assesses student
performance in an equivalent manner to the referenced assessment
instrument, if applicable.
(b) If a public elementary or secondary school has not
adopted or developed an assessment instrument that assesses student
performance in an equivalent manner to an assessment instrument
adopted or developed under former Chapter 39, any law relating to
the assessment of students using that assessment instrument does
not apply to the school.
(c) A reference in law to an accreditation, a financial
accountability system, or any other accountability program or
system under former Chapter 39 or an accountability intervention or
sanction under former Chapter 39A is considered expired.
SECTION 2.02. Subtitle H, Title 2, Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 2.03. As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act but not later than December 1, 2025, the Texas
Education Agency shall remove a monitor, conservator, management
team, or board of managers appointed to a school district or
open-enrollment charter school by the agency under Chapter 39A,
Education Code, as it existed before the effective date of this Act,
and return the administration and control of the school district to
the board of trustees of the district or governing body of the
school.
SECTION 2.04. This article applies beginning with the
2025-2026 school year.
ARTICLE 3. EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 3.01. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
(b) Article 2 of 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, Article 2 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.