The bill amends Education Code as it relates to education research centers. Under provisions of the bill, "cooperating agencies" includes the Higher Education Coordinating Board (Board), the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The bill requires the Board to establish at least one but not more than three education research centers. The commissioner of higher education would chair and maintain an advisory board, which would include representatives from each cooperating agencies and the directors of the education research centers, for the purpose of reviewing study proposals and appropriate data use by the education research centers. Each study conducted at a center must be approved by the advisory board. The cooperating agencies may use funds appropriated to the agency and available for the purpose of establishing the centers. After a center is established, the center would be supported by gifts or grants or by charges imposed by the center. For purposes of this fiscal note it assumed any costs associated with the bill will be supported by charges imposed by the centers.

Under provisions of the bill, TEA, TWC and the Board would execute agreements for the sharing of data for the purposes of facilitating education and workforce studies at education research centers. The Board would be required to maintain the data contributed by the cooperating agencies in a repository known as the "P-20/Workforce Data Repository" which will be operated by the board. Provisions of this section of the bill would be implemented within existing resources.