C.S.H.B. 591 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 591 By: Delisi Defense Affairs and State-Federal Relations Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Military dependent children must go through frequent moves that often disrupt their educational progress. Records not transferring, credits not being awarded and repetitive test taking all present challenges that can frustrate a military family that transfers to and from various schools. In the 2001 legislative session, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) was given the authority to negotiate reciprocity agreements with other states in order to better facilitate the transfer of military families and dependents. C.S.H.B. 591 requires the TEA to pursue reciprocity agreements with other states, giving priority to certain states with a large number of military personnel. The bill would require the TEA to report the results of its efforts. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Requires the TEA to pursue reciprocity agreements with other states, addressing procedures for transferring student records, awarding credits for completed coursework and permitting a student to satisfy exit-level examination requirements with exit-level examinations administered in another state. SECTION 2. Requires the TEA to give priority to agreements with Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. This SECTION also requires the TEA to report the results of its efforts to specific members of the Legislature, explaining also, for each state with which agreements are not made, each factor contributing to the failure to reach an agreement. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, unless it receives the necessary votes for immediate effect. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 591 modifies the original bill by adding to SECTION 2 to require the TEA to give priority in reciprocity agreements to certain states. SECTION 2 also changes the reporting requirements to require the TEA to report in detail factors contributing to the failure to reach agreements with states.