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Amend CSHB 3646 (Senate committee printing) in SECTION 1.25
of the bill as follows:
(1) In the subchapter heading to added Subchapter I, Chapter
42, Education Code (page 13, line 65), strike "WEIGHTS" and
substitute "ALLOTMENTS, WEIGHTS,".
(2) In the section heading to added Section 42.451,
Education Code (page 13, line 67), strike "WEIGHTS" and substitute
"ALLOTMENTS, WEIGHTS,".
(3) Strike added Section 42.451(a), Education Code (page
13, line 67, through page 14, line 1), and substitute the following:
(a) The Select Committee on Public School Finance
Allotments, Weights, and Adjustments is established to conduct a
comprehensive review of allotments, weights, and adjustments under
the public school finance system.
(4) In added Section 42.451(b), Education Code (page 14,
line 2), strike "15" and substitute "18".
(5) In added Section 42.451(b), Education Code (page 14,
lines 9-13), strike added Subdivision (4) and substitute the
following:
(4) two public school teachers, two public school
principals, and two public school district superintendents, each
currently employed in this state and each appointed jointly by the
lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house of
representatives;
(6) In added Section 42.451, Education Code (page 14,
between lines 26 and 27), insert the following:
(b-1) The lieutenant governor and speaker of the house of
representatives shall ensure that the percentage of the total
number of members appointed under Subsections (b)(4) and (5) who
are employed by districts not required to take action under Chapter
41 is proportionate to the percentage of the total number of school
districts in this state that are not required to take action under
Chapter 41.
(7) In added Subchapter I, Chapter 42, Education Code (page
14, between lines 55 and 56), insert the following new Section
42.455 and renumber subsequent sections in Subchapter I
accordingly:
Sec. 42.455. OBJECTIVES OF REVIEW. (a) The committee shall
conduct a comprehensive review of the public school finance system
with emphasis on the adequacy and equity of the allotments,
formulas, weights, and adjustments.
(b) The review must include a thorough study of:
(1) the basic allotment, its adequacy in providing a
basic accredited program of education, and the levels of the
allotment necessary to fund various percentages of students and
school districts at amounts above the target revenue guaranteed
under Section 42.2516;
(2) how closely and appropriately each of the
following elements reflect and provide financing for costs beyond
the control of school districts:
(A) the adjustments for costs related to the
geographic variation in known resource costs and costs of
education, controlling for the impact of unequalized wealth,
including hold-harmless provisions, and properly reflecting the
impact of high concentrations of poverty on the compensation that
school districts must pay to attract and retain teachers of
comparable or appropriate quality;
(B) the adjustments for costs related to the size
and diseconomies of scale of school districts;
(C) the adjustments for costs related to the
varying instructional needs and characteristics of students and the
extent to which they provide each student with access to programs
and services that are appropriate to the student's educational
needs;
(D) other factors in addition to economic status
that correlate to student at-risk status and the need for
compensatory education, and the degree to which those factors
correspond to additional educational costs; and
(E) the manner in which these adjustments are
applied to and impact the overall finance system;
(3) the extent to which the finance system promotes
the achievement of the public education mission, objectives, and
goals provided by Chapter 4 and the policy and purposes provided by
this chapter;
(4) the extent to which the finance system is aligned
with preparing each student to meet the requirements prescribed by
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et
seq.);
(5) the extent to which the finance system is aligned
with preparing each student to meet the requirements prescribed by
the accountability system under Subtitle H and the impact of the
finance system on student achievement;
(6) the extent to which the finance system, including
the individual and district-level adjustments and the overall
adequacy of the system, is aligned with preparing each student for
college readiness, or where appropriate, for skilled workforce and
technical readiness;
(7) the extent to which the finance system is aligned
with the state policy of providing substantially equal access to
similar revenue per student at similar tax effort, considering all
state and local tax revenues of districts after acknowledging all
legitimate student and district cost differences, including the
extent to which non-formula funding from both state and local
sources affects the achievement of that policy;
(8) the extent to which the finance system is aligned
with the state policy of providing access to a substantially
equalized program of financing in excess of basic costs;
(9) the extent to which existing inequity in the
finance system correlates to student achievement and the
performance of districts and campuses on other important indicators
and aspects of the educational process;
(10) the extent to which the finance system adequately
and equitably assists school districts with financing the purchase,
construction, and maintenance of appropriate facilities and major
capital items; and
(11) the extent to which the finance system
appropriately adjusts for the impact of different market costs,
student demographics, growth rates, age and condition of existing
facilities, and other factors beyond the control of school
districts affecting the cost of facilities.
(8) In added Section 42.455(a), Education Code (page 14,
line 58), strike "weights" and substitute "allotments, weights,".