HBA-JRA C.S.S.B. 1784 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.S.B. 1784
By: Gallegos
Public Education
5/19/1999
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The United States has one of the highest university dropout rates in the
industrialized world -- 37 percent.  Among the 29 member nations of the
OECD, the U.S. high school graduation rate, at 72 percent, is next to last,
surpassing only Mexico. The study also reported Americans are among the
industrialized world's least literate populations. Yet U.S. spending per
pupil is among the highest in the group at all levels of education.  

C.S.S.B. 1784 establishes provisions to be used in a private or public
community-based dropout recovery education program to provide alternative
education programs for students at risk of dropping out of school. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 29.081(e), Education Code, to set forth
provisions for a private or public community-based dropout recovery
education program that is used by a school district for students at risk of
dropping out of school.  Establishes that the programs must provide not
less than four hours of instructional time per day, employ as faculty and
administrators persons with baccalaureate or advanced degrees, provide at
least one instructor for each 28 students, perform satisfactorily according
to specific performance indicators and accountability standards, and comply
with this title (Public Education) and rules adopted under this title,
except as otherwise provided by this subsection.  Deletes existing text
which provides that the program must grade students' work, offer course
credit, modify instructional time requirements, and establish methods of
evaluating subject mastery. 

SECTION 2.  Makes application of this Act prospective beginning with the
1999-2000 school year. 

SECTION 3.Emergency clause.
  Effective date: upon passage.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

The substitute makes conforming changes in the caption.

The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 1 by further amending
Section 29.081(e), Education Code.  Section 29.081(e) of the substitute
sets forth provisions for a private or public community-based dropout
recovery education program that is used by a school district for students
at risk of dropping out of school.  The substitute specifies that the
programs must provide not less than four hours of instructional time per
day, employ as faculty and administrators persons with baccalaureate or
advanced degrees, provide at least one instructor for each 28 students,
perform satisfactorily according to specific performance indicators and
accountability standards, and comply with this title (Public Education) and
rules adopted under this title, except as otherwise provided by this
subsection.  The original required a school district, when utilizing a
community-based dropout  recovery education program, to develop goals,
objectives, and guidelines that best address the needs of students at risk
of dropping out of school.  The original set forth requirements for the
guidelines.  
 
The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 2 to make the application
of this Act prospective beginning with the 1999-2000 school year, rather
than setting forth the effective date. 

The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 3 by using the long
emergency clause in the substitute, rather than the short emergency clause.