84R3062 KKA-F
	By: Garcia	S.B. No. 556

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to a comprehensive review by the Texas Education Agency of
	weights, allotments, and adjustments under the public school
	finance system.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 42.010 to read as follows:
	Sec. 42.010.  COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCE
	WEIGHTS, ALLOTMENTS, AND ADJUSTMENTS. (a) The agency shall
	conduct a comprehensive review of weights, allotments, and
	adjustments under the public school finance system, including all
	current weights, allotments, and adjustments provided under this
	chapter and any additional weights, allotments, and adjustments
	that the agency determines may be appropriate.  The review must
	determine the effectiveness of existing weights, allotments, and
	adjustments in fulfilling the mission of the public education
	system stated in Section 4.001(a) and furthering the state policy
	stated in Section 42.001. At a minimum, the review must determine
	how closely and appropriately each of the following elements
	reflects and provides financing for costs beyond the control of
	school districts:
	(1)  adjustments for costs related to the geographic
	variation in known resource costs and costs of education,
	controlling for the impact of unequalized wealth and 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;
	(2)  adjustments for costs related to the size and
	diseconomies of scale of school districts;
	(3)  adjustments for costs related to the varying
	instructional needs and characteristics of students and the extent
	to which the adjustments provide each student with access to
	programs and services that are appropriate to the student's
	educational needs;
	(4)  other factors, in addition to economic status,
	that correlate to at-risk status and the need for compensatory
	education, and the degree to which those factors correspond to
	additional educational costs; and
	(5)  the manner in which the cost adjustments are
	applied to and affect the overall school finance system.
	(b)  The review of the adjustments described in Subsection
	(a)(1) must:
	(1)  address all uncontrollable costs that can
	reasonably be quantified;
	(2)  consider the qualifications, experience, and
	turnover rate of personnel and the impact of those factors on
	student achievement in considering the adequacy and comparability
	of salaries;
	(3)  properly address the impact of factors that have a
	large impact on certain types of school districts, such as extreme
	isolation, regardless of general state impact;
	(4)  include only factors for which a rational economic
	argument can be made;
	(5)  be carefully constructed to make sure that a cost
	factor does not significantly affect more than one variable; and
	(6)  not be artificially adjusted to meet predetermined
	outcomes and must not use arbitrary limits.
	(c)  In determining whether any additional weights,
	allotments, and adjustments are appropriate under the public school
	finance system, as required by Subsection (a), the agency shall
	include consideration of an additional weight for educational
	services provided to students in prekindergarten on a half-day
	basis and on a full-day basis.
	(d)  The agency may contract with one or more consultants if
	necessary to enable the agency to perform its duties under this
	section.
	(e)  The Legislative Budget Board, the comptroller, the
	state auditor, and any other state agency, official, or personnel
	shall cooperate with the agency in carrying out its duties under
	this section.
	(f)  Not later than December 1, 2016, the agency shall
	provide a report that:
	(1)  states the findings of the review conducted under
	this section; and
	(2)  includes recommendations for updated weights,
	allotments, and adjustments and any other statutory changes
	considered appropriate by the agency.
	(g)  This section expires January 1, 2017.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2015.