New Section 42.2516 is right at the beginning of this bill. It provides additional state money to schools. This is the $500 per student per year (statewide, $600 million a year) that all high schools will receive when the Senate report to HB 1 was adopted.
Sec. 39.114. HIGH SCHOOL ALLOTMENT. (a) Except as provided
by Subsection (b), a school district or campus must use funds
allocated under Section 42.2516(b)(3) to:
(1) implement or administer a college readiness
program that provides academic support and instruction to prepare
underachieving students for entrance into an institution of higher
education;
(2) implement or administer a program that encourages
students to pursue advanced academic opportunities, including
early college high school programs and dual credit, advanced
placement, and international baccalaureate courses;
(3) implement or administer a program that provides
opportunities for students to take academically rigorous course
work, including four years of mathematics and four years of science
at the high school level;
(4) implement or administer a program, including
online course support and professional development, that aligns the
curriculum for grades six through 12 with postsecondary curriculum
and expectations; or
(5) implement or administer other high school
completion and success initiatives in grades six through 12
approved by the commissioner.
(b) A school district may use funds allocated under Section
42.2516(b)(3) on any instructional program in grades six through 12
other than an athletic program if:
(1) the district is recognized as exceptional by the
commissioner under the academic accountability indicator adopted
under Section 39.051(b)(13); and
(2) the district's completion rates for grades nine
through 12 meet or exceed completion rate standards required by the
commissioner to achieve a rating of exemplary under Section 39.072.
(b-1) Subsection (b) applies beginning with the 2008&endash;2009
school year. This subsection expires September 1, 2009.
(c) An open-enrollment charter school is entitled to an
allotment under this section in the same manner as a school
district.
(d) The commissioner shall adopt rules to administer this
section, including rules related to the permissible use of funds
allocated under this section to an open-enrollment charter school.
by Charles Kuffner
Off the Kuff
May 05, 2006
http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/007280.html
There's now a proposal within HB1, still under consideration by the Senate Finance Committee, to require a fourth year of science and math in Texas high schools.
[I]f state lawmakers approve a proposal that's part of the school finance package now being considered, high schools would expect students to graduate with four years of math and science classes under the "recommended" high school curriculum. The curriculum currently includes three years of math and science.
The proposal is part of the Senate version of House Bill 1, which its Finance Committee will continue debating today.
[...]
About two-thirds of Texas high school graduates in 2004 followed either the "recommended" or more rigorous "distinguished" plan, said Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe.
That number probably will increase because the state began requiring students in 2004 to follow the recommended path unless they opt out with the approval of a parent or guardian.
Ratcliffe said the agency has not estimated the cost of the proposed math and science change but said the science requirement could be more costly because schools may need more lab space. She also pointed out that qualified math and science teachers are sometimes difficult for schools to find.
House Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, would give high schools another $500 per student per year, or almost $600 million statewide.
[...]
Debate over education reforms has derailed previous efforts in the Legislature to change the tax structure, which is why Perry has directed lawmakers to focus first on the tax questions.
Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, said that considering an extra year of math and science may need to wait until the next regular, 140-day legislative session, which begins in January.
"I don't find the idea of four years of math and science at all objectionable," Strama said. "I just want to make sure we don't allow the educational reforms to get in the way of lowering property taxes and increasing funding for public education."
For the record, Stuyvesant High School required four years of math and science. It was not uncommon, at least in my day, to take biology and chemistry concurrently, so you could be science-free as a senior, but you still had those two classes plus physics and a year of freshman intro science. Most people came in having already taken algebra, which counted towards the requirement, so you could also be math-free as a senior if you'd passed pre-calc as a junior.
I think it goes without saying that I support this idea, though if it has to wait till a regular session to get implemented I can live with that. I do have to wonder how you can contemplate this on the one hand and a shortsighted, idiotic refusal to buy current math textbooks for fifth graders on another, but then believing six impossible things before breakfast seems to be a prerequisite around here.
As you might imagine, the Science Teachers Association of Texas (STAT) is foursquare behind this proposal. Here's a letter (Word doc) they sent to Finance Committee Chair Steve Ogden expressing that support. As always with things like this, if you have an opinion, a call to your Rep or Senator is never out of order.
By Jason Embry, Corrie MacLaggan
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, May 04, 2006
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/05/4finance.html
McCallum High School junior Ashley Flowers, 18, plans to take pre-calculus pass-fail next year, and she won't take science at all.
"Your senior year, you shouldn't really have seven classes a day," said the aspiring first-grade teacher who's thinking of applying to St. Edward's University. "You should concentrate on . . . where you should go to college, stuff like that."
But if state lawmakers approve a proposal that's part of the school finance package now being considered, high schools would expect students to graduate with four years of math and science classes under the "recommended" high school curriculum. The curriculum currently includes three years of math and science.
The proposal is part of the Senate version of House Bill 1, which its Finance Committee will continue debating today.
"I'm 100 percent in favor of that," San Marcos High School Principal Chad Kelly said of the proposed change. "I believe our students need to be challenged with upper-level science and math to prepare them for college or other life opportunities after high school."
But Cynthia Clinesmith, assistant superintendent of the Lake Travis school district, said such a mandate would restrict flexibility for students.
Clinesmith worries that classes in her district's engineering academy, for example, might not count toward state math requirements even though math concepts are built into the curriculum. "We feel we are offering a wonderful array of classes, and we don't want anything that blocks that in any way," she said.
The proposal would help provide the work force that companies often look for when deciding where to locate, said Drew Scheberle, vice president for education at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. "This is going to help us ensure that more Texans are eligible for jobs being created in Texas," he said.
About two-thirds of Texas high school graduates in 2004 followed either the "recommended" or more rigorous "distinguished" plan, said Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Graves Ratcliffe.
That number probably will increase because the state began requiring students in 2004 to follow the recommended path unless they opt out with the approval of a parent or guardian.
Ratcliffe said the agency has not estimated the cost of the proposed math and science change but said the science requirement could be more costly because schools may need more lab space. She also pointed out that qualified math and science teachers are sometimes difficult for schools to find.
House Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, would give high schools another $500 per student per year, or almost $600 million statewide.
Along with the new high school requirements and funding, Shapiro's bill would reduce property taxes by 11 percent this fall, increase teacher salaries by $2,000 and phase out a health insurance stipend for nonteachers such as secretaries, bus drivers and cafeteria workers.
The education measures are not in the version of H.B. 1 that the House approved last week, which was limited to cutting property taxes. If the full Senate approves those measures, the House must decide whether to go along with them or call for a conference committee to negotiate differences.
Less than two weeks remain in the 30-day legislative session that Gov. Rick Perry called to respond to the Supreme Court's order that lawmakers change the tax system that pays for public schools.
Most of the session thus far has focused on raising business and cigarette taxes in order to pay for a one-third cut in school property tax rates over two years. A business tax overhaul has already been sent to Perry.
Debate over education reforms has derailed previous efforts in the Legislature to change the tax structure, which is why Perry has directed lawmakers to focus first on the tax questions.
Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, said that considering an extra year of math and science may need to wait until the next regular, 140-day legislative session, which begins in January.
"I don't find the idea of four years of math and science at all objectionable," Strama said. "I just want to make sure we don't allow the educational reforms to get in the way of lowering property taxes and increasing funding for public education."
Austin school officials declined to comment on the proposed changes.
jembry@statesman.com; 445-3654
cmaclaggan@statesman.com; 445-3548