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State
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1842, Committee Report 1st House, Substituted: a negative impact of ($1,695,204) through the biennium ending August 31, 2017.
The
bill is expected to result in a cost of $880,016 in fiscal year 2016
and $815,188 each subsequent year. According to information provided by
the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the turnaround plans required under
the bill would be significantly more customized and detailed than the
current plans, which are based on a template, and TEA reports they would
require a new staff division to approve and monitor campus turnaround
plans. This estimate assumes one Director full-time equivalent (FTE),
four Program Specialist FTEs, and one Administrative Assistant FTE would
be required to approve and monitor campus turn-around plans, adopt
transition plans, conduct on-site investigations, identify deficiencies
and possible solutions, and provide technical assistance.
The estimated cost to expand the network capacity for the leased space is $12,828 in FY 2016 and $12,000 per year to maintain.
The
TEA would contract with RESCs at an estimated cost of $200,000 per year
to develop and deliver training on school reform planning processes.
The Legislative Budget Board reporting provisions in the bill can be accomplished with existing resources.
Local Government
Districts would be required to provide notification to parents of
students enrolled at a low performing campus seven days prior to a
public hearing regarding the targeted improvement plan.
Districts may contract with RESCs for services and may be required to retain other expertise or board of managers.
There
may be some administrative costs for required postings or
notifications, hiring of special experts or RESCs, or extensions of
conservators or management teams. However, such costs would only apply
to districts with low performing campuses and would vary depending on
the individual circumstances.
HB 1842 would amend the Education Code to require the commissioner to order a campus identified as unacceptable for two consecutive years to prepare and submit a campus turnaround plan. The bill specifies the required elements of campus turnaround plans and allows a district to request assistance from a regional education service center (RESC) to develop and implement the plan.
The bill would only allow the commissioner to approve a campus turnaround plan if the commissioner determines that the campus will satisfy student performance standards within two years following the plan's implementation. If the commissioner does not make this determination, the commissioner would be required to order appointment of a board of managers to govern the district.
This bill abridges the principle of limited government. The government has a responsibility for the educational quality of state schools. The provisions of this bill would reduce the education commissioner's power to reconstitute a school and remove low-performing administration from the district, therefore allowing a school potentially to continue under-performing and to continue providing students with a low quality of education. For this reason, we oppose HB 1842.
An amendment was added to HB 1842 when being heard on the House floor that would permit a school to submit a community school model for the turnaround plan. We oppose implementing community schools because the model protects the interests of adults as the expense of children and removes crucial state oversight to ensure children are receiving quality education.