On Tuesday, March 15, House Public Education will be meeting and taking testimony on several bills including HB 400 and HB 500 by Representative Rob Eissler. The hearing will be held at 2pm or upon adjournment in E2.036. More details on that committee hearing can be found below in “Spotlight on hearings.”
HB 400, Eissler, relating to flexibility for public schools to administer primary and secondary education efficiently. Elements of the bill include:
- The bill stipulates that election agreements between school districts and other local governments must provide that a school district is responsible only for the proportion of election expenses that corresponds to the proportion of registered voters in the school district to the total number of registered voters in all political subdivisions participating in the joint election. Provides for uniform notice for certain school board hearings and meetings.
- Moves the 45 day notice of non-renewal provision to the last day of instruction rather than 45 days before. Allows for notice by certified mail or express delivery. Strikes language requiring that necessary reductions of personnel be made in reverse order of seniority.
- Addresses compensation plans.
- Modifies class size requirements for kindergarten through grade 4 to require a district wide average of 22 to 1 with a cap of 25 students in a classroom.
HB 500, Eissler, relating to end-of-course assessment instruments administered to public high school students. Elements of the bill include:
- Districts are authorized to adopt policies that determine whether, and if so, how, performance on End-Of-Course exams (EOCs) will be used to determine students’ final course grades. This applies to retakes of EOCs as well and begins with the 2011-12 school year.
- The bill preserves cumulative score requirements and requires the commissioner to convert scale scores to a 100-point scale scoring system.
- The bill creates flexibility for students’ ability to satisfy graduation requirements only for Recommended or Minimum High School Programs
- The bill authorizes TEA to maintain the TAKS tests as may be necessary for graduation purposes for this year’s (2010-11) 9th graders and as an option for the next two cohorts of incoming 9th grade students (2011-12 or 2012-13).