HBA-MPM H.B. 1291 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1291
By: Garcia
Public Education
4/2/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law requires the appropriate class size and student performance
portions of campus report cards to be disseminated to parents, but does not
require dissemination of  information regarding the percentage of students
who did not graduate from high school in four years.  Providing such
information to a parent may help the parent determine if there are
attrition problems in the child's school.  House Bill 1291 requires this
information to be boldly and conspicuously printed in the campus report
card distributed to each parent. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the commissioner of education in
SECTION 1 (Section 39.052, Education Code) and SECTION 2 of this bill. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1291 amends the Education Code to include additional information
in the portions of a campus report card that is disseminated to the parent
or person having lawful control of a student (parent) at a high school
campus.  The bill specifies that the report card include the number and
percentages of students who did not complete the ninth through twelth
grades in four years displayed in conspicuous print and boldface type.  The
bill provides that the parent of a former campus student who has dropped
out of school also be provided the information as soon as practicable after
the student drops out. 

The bill requires the commissioner of education to adopt rules regarding
these provisions no later than January 1, 2002.  The bill provides that the
rules are applicable to public school campus report cards beginning with
the 2002-2003 school year. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.