HBA-JRA S.B. 516 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 516
By: Ogden
Public Education
4/26/1999
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, Texas law requires a student to withdraw from school in order to
be eligible to take the high school equivalency examination.  This
prohibits a school district from keeping at-risk students in programs that
help prepare them for the examination.  S.B. 516 requires the Texas
Education Agency to develop a program for school districts to prepare
eligible students who are at risk of dropping out of school to take a high
school equivalency examination. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Education Agency in SECTION 1
(Section 29.086, Education Code) of this bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 29, Education Code, by adding
Section 29.086, as follows: 

Sec. 29.086.  SCHOOL DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY EXAMINATION PROGRAMS.
(a)  Requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to develop a program for
school districts to prepare eligible students who are at risk of dropping
out of school to take a high school equivalency examination (equivalency
examination). 

(b)  Requires a district that participates in the program to offer
preparatory classes for the equivalency examination to each eligible
student. 

(c)  Provides that a student is eligible to participate in the program if
the student is 16 years of age or older at the beginning of the school year
or semester, the student and the student's parent or guardian agree to the
student's participation, there is a reasonable expectation that the student
will not graduate on schedule and passing an equivalency examination would
be in the student's best interest, there is a reasonable expectation that
the student will be able to perform satisfactorily of the equivalency
examination on completion of the program, and any other conditions
specified by TEA are satisfied. 

(d)  Requires a district to inform each student who has completed the
program of the time and place at which the student is authorized to take
the equivalency examination.   

(e)  Requires TEA to adopt rules to ensure that students are not encouraged
to participate in the program solely as a means to divert students with
discipline problems or poor academic performance into the program as an
alternative to regular high school graduation.   


(f)  Requires TEA to request permission from the General Educational
Development Testing Service to administer the service's equivalency
examination to students enrolled in high school who participate in the
program. 

(g)  Requires TEA to include the number of students enrolled in the program
and the number of students in the program who performed satisfactorily on
the equivalency  examination in its comprehensive biennial report required
under Section 39.182 (Comprehensive Biennial Report). 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 7.111(a), Education Code, to make conforming
changes. 

SECTION 3.  Amends Section 25.086(a), Education Code, to make conforming
changes. 

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.
            Effective date: upon passage.