Bill Caption

Relating to the adult high school charter school program.

Fiscal Notes

Estimated Two­ year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for SB 1615, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($1,600,721) through the biennium ending August 31, 2023.

The Texas Education Agency is required to implement this Act only if the legislature appropriates money specifically for that purpose. If the legislature does not appropriate money specifically for that purpose, the agency may, but is not required to, implement the Act using other appropriations available for the purpose.

Bill Analysis

SB 1615 would update and revise requirements for the adult high school charter school program. Updated requirements would include majority teacher-led instruction, no-cost child care, life coaching at a ratio of one coach to 100 students, instructional support for students with disabilities, access to career and technical courses, career readiness training, postsecondary counseling, and job placement. Additionally, the bill would establish an advisory committee to advise the commissioner of education on the accountability system, performance framework, and assessment tools appropriate for adult learners. Adjustments to the funding method for the program would also be made. 

Vote Recommendation Notes

When we opposed the creation of the original pilot program in 2013 we said "HB 1831 would create an obligation for the state to educate adults beyond the traditional high school age, creating a new dependency on the government for adult education. Charitable organizations currently address the need for assisting adults who need a high school diploma or the high school equivalency." As a matter of principle, we continue to hold this view. Taxpayer subsidized adult education programs are not a proper function of state government. Once students mature to adulthood, they should take on the full mantle of adulthood, including the full benefits and obligations thereof. 

However, to the extent that the public education system in this state has failed in the fulfilment of its basic constitutional duty to provide a quality education to Texas schoolchildren, the state does have an interest and possibly an obligation to provide a backstop for students whom the education system has abjectly failed. While not an ideal solution, programs such as these may offer a long term benefit to taxpayers because they cost less than the social services that would otherwise be used absent the education these programs provide. 

The very fact that legislators feel a need to consider programs such as these should be taken as an implicit rebuke of the public education system in this state, and a tacit acknowledgement that the system has failed and must be reformed. The long term solution to the problem this legislation seeks to address is to enact a systemic overhaul of public education in Texas. Until that is achieved, we will never have a shortage of people needing adult education.

In the short term, to the extent this program may benefit some Texans whom the public school system has failed to educate, and who would otherwise utilize more expensive taxpayer-funded programs, we will remain neutral on SB 1615.