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H.B. No. 2808
AN ACT
relating to the P-16 Council and to the functioning of certain
educational programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.076, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.076. P-16 COUNCIL [COOPERATION BETWEEN STATE
AGENCIES OF EDUCATION]. (a) It is the policy of the State of Texas
that the entire system of education supported with public funds be
coordinated to provide the citizens with efficient, effective, and
high quality educational services and activities. The P-16 Council
[board and the State Board of Education], in conjunction with
[such] other agencies as may be appropriate, shall ensure that
long-range plans and educational programs for the state
[established by the boards] complement the functioning of the
entire system of public education, extending from early childhood
education through postgraduate study. [In assuring that plans and
programs are coordinated, the boards shall use the P-16 Council
established under Section 61.077.]
(b) The P-16 Council is composed of the commissioner of
education, the commissioner of higher education, the executive
director of the Texas Workforce Commission, the executive director
of the State Board for Educator Certification, and the commissioner
of assistive and rehabilitative services. The commissioner of
higher education and the commissioner of education shall serve as
co-chairs of the council.
(c) The co-chairs may appoint three additional members who
are education professionals, agency representatives, business
representatives, or other members of the community. Members
appointed to the council under this subsection serve two-year terms
expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year.
(d) The council shall meet at least once each calendar
quarter and may hold other meetings as necessary at the call of the
co-chairs. Each member of the council or the member's designee
shall make a report of the council's activities at least twice
annually to the governing body of the member's agency, except that
the commissioner of education or that commissioner's designee shall
report to the State Board of Education and the commissioner of
assistive and rehabilitative services or that commissioner's
designee shall report to the executive commissioner of the Health
and Human Services Commission.
(e) The council shall coordinate plans and programs [of the
two boards], including curricula, instructional programs,
research, and other functions as appropriate. This coordination
shall include the following areas:
(1) equal educational opportunity for all Texans;
(2) college recruitment, with special emphasis on the
recruitment of minority students;
(3) preparation of high school students for further
study at colleges and universities;
(4) reduction of the dropout rate and dropout
prevention;
(5) teacher education, recruitment, and retention;
(6) testing and assessment; and
(7) adult education programs.
(f) The council shall examine and make recommendations
regarding the alignment of secondary and postsecondary education
curricula and testing and assessment. This subsection does not
require the council to establish curriculum or testing or
assessment standards.
(g) The council shall advise the board and the State Board
of Education on the coordination of postsecondary career and
technology activities, career and technology teacher education
programs offered or proposed to be offered in the colleges and
universities of this state, and other relevant matters, including:
(1) coordinating postsecondary career and technology
education and the articulation between postsecondary career and
technology education and secondary career and technology
education;
(2) facilitating the transfer of responsibilities for
the administration of postsecondary career and technology
education from the State Board of Education to the board in
accordance with Section 111(a)(I) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational
Education Act (Pub. L. No. 98–524);
(3) advising the State Board of Education, when it
acts as the State Board for Career and Technology Education, on the
following:
(A) the transfer of federal funds to the board
for allotment to eligible public postsecondary institutions of
higher education;
(B) the career and technology education funding
for projects and institutions as determined by the board when the
State Board for Career and Technology Education is required by
federal law to endorse those determinations;
(C) the development and updating of the state
plan for career and technology education and the evaluation of
programs, services, and activities of postsecondary career and
technology education and amendments to the state plan for career
and technology education as may relate to postsecondary education;
(D) other matters related to postsecondary
career and technology education; and
(E) the coordination of curricula, instructional
programs, research, and other functions as appropriate, including
school-to-work and school-to-college transition programs and
professional development activities; and
(4) advising the Texas Workforce Investment Council on
educational policy issues related to workforce preparation.
(h) On or before January 1, 2007, the P-16 Council shall:
(1) review existing school district programs that
provide high school students with the opportunity to enroll in
advanced academic courses offered through dual credit and
concurrent enrollment programs, including reviewing courses
currently approved by districts and offered by institutions of
higher education for dual and concurrent enrollment credit;
(2) review the high school curriculum required for the
recommended high school program under Section 28.025 and study the
feasibility of offering a revised curriculum that would provide
graduating high school students with at least 12 hours of advanced
academic courses or college-level coursework offered through dual
credit and concurrent enrollment programs provided under
agreements between high schools and institutions of higher
education; and
(3) prepare and deliver a report based on the review
and study to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of
the house of representatives, and the presiding officer of the
standing committee of each house of the legislature with primary
jurisdiction over public education.
(i) Subsection (h) and this subsection expire January 2,
2007.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 61.077, Education Code, as amended
by Chapters 61, 818, and 820, Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, is repealed.
(b) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
another Act of the 79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 3. Not later than September 1, 2006, the
Legislative Budget Board shall:
(1) study the resource needs of high-quality early
childhood care and education programs, including Head Start, Early
Head Start, prekindergarten, after-school programs, and licensed
child-care programs; and
(2) report the board's findings and recommendations to
the P-16 Council, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, and the 79th Legislature
regarding:
(A) the results of the study described by
Subdivision (1);
(B) recommended options to secure additional
funding for the programs described by Subdivision (1); and
(C) a recommended plan to implement, in phases,
full-day prekindergarten programs for at-risk children and to
expand the eligibility criteria for those programs.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2808 was passed by the House on April
28, 2005, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2808 on May 27, 2005, by a non-record
vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2808 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor