HBA-CCH H.B. 1293 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1293
By: Garcia
Public Education
4/2/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law does not require the commissioner of education (commissioner)
to order closure of a campus whose performance is below a certain standard
of quality for education. In establishing greater accountability standards
for schools in the state, it may be important to establish orders of
closure for schools whose performance standards are consistently less than
adequate. House Bill 1293 requires the commissioner to order closure of a
campus that has been low-performing for any three years in a five-year
period. 

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1293 amends the Education Code to require the commissioner of
education (commissioner) to order closure of the school program on a campus
that has been a low-performing campus for any three years in a five-year
period. The commissioner is authorized to allow the campus to continue to
operate if the commissioner approves a written report submitted by the
school district that includes an explanation for the campus's low
performance and a proposed plan for improving the campus's performance no
later than the following school year.  The bill provides that a rating of a
campus as low-performing for the 20002001 school year or an earlier school
year is not aggregated with ratings for the 2001-2002 school year and later
school years. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.  The Act applies beginning with the 2001-2002 school
year.