State education agency duties shift to board and comptroller

The text as introduced · 2,583 words

89R3802 TSS-D

By: Hopper
H.B. No. 2657

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the abolition of the Texas Education Agency and

elimination of the position of commissioner of education, the

transfer of powers and duties to the State Board of Education and

the comptroller of public accounts, and the elimination of public

school accountability and assessment systems.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

ARTICLE 1. ABOLITION OF THE TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY

SECTION 1.01. Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by

adding Section 1.007 to read as follows:

Sec. 1.007. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF FORMER TEXAS

EDUCATION AGENCY AND COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION DUTIES. Except as

provided by Chapter 42:

(1) the powers, duties, and privileges of the former

Texas Education Agency and the former commissioner of education

under this code or other law are transferred to the State Board of

Education; and

(2) a reference in law to the Texas Education Agency or

the commissioner of education is a reference to the State Board of

Education.

SECTION 1.02. Sections 5.001(1) and (3), Education Code,

are amended to read as follows:

(1) "Agency" means the former Texas Education Agency.

(3) "Commissioner" means the former commissioner of

education.

SECTION 1.03. Subchapter A, Chapter 7, Education Code, is

amended by adding Section 7.0011 to read as follows:

Sec. 7.0011. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF POWERS AND DUTIES

TO STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. (a) In accordance with Section 1.007,

the powers and duties of the former Texas Education Agency under

Subchapter B and the powers and duties of the former commissioner of

education under Subchapter C are transferred to the board.

(b) The board shall carry out the educational functions

specifically delegated to the agency under Section 7.021 or to the

commissioner under Section 7.055 or to the agency or commissioner

under another provision of this code.

(c) A reference in this chapter to the agency or the

commissioner is a reference to the board.

SECTION 1.04. Section 7.003, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 7.003. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY. An educational

function not specifically delegated to [ the agency or ] the board or

the comptroller under this code is reserved to and shall be

performed by school districts or open-enrollment charter schools.

SECTION 1.05. Sections 7.102(b) and (d), Education Code,

are amended to read as follows:

(b) The board has the powers and duties provided by

Subsection (c) in addition to the powers and duties assigned to the

board by the constitution of this state or another provision of this

code [ , which shall be carried out with the advice and assistance of

the commissioner ].

(d) The board may adopt rules relating to school districts

or regional education service centers [ only ] as required to carry

out the [ specific ] duties assigned to the board [ by the

constitution or under Subsection (c) ].

SECTION 1.06. Subtitle I, Title 2, Education Code, is

amended by adding Chapter 42 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 42. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF POWERS AND DUTIES

Sec. 42.001. TRANSFER AND ALLOCATION OF AGENCY AND

COMMISSIONER POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The powers, duties, and

privileges of the former Texas Education Agency and the former

commissioner of education under this subtitle or other law relating

to public school finance and fiscal management are transferred to

the comptroller of public accounts.

(b) A reference in law to the agency or the commissioner

that relates to the powers and duties of the agency or commissioner

under this subtitle or other law relating to public school finance

and fiscal management is a reference to the comptroller of public

accounts.

Sec. 42.002. COMPTROLLER POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The

comptroller has the powers and duties provided by this section.

(b) The comptroller shall:

(1) distribute funds to open-enrollment charter

schools as required under Subchapter D, Chapter 12;

(2) establish advisory guidelines relating to the

fiscal management of a school district and report annually to the

board on the status of school district fiscal management as

required under Section 44.001;

(3) review school district budgets, audit reports, and

other fiscal reports as required under Sections 44.008 and 44.010

and prescribe forms for financial reports made by or for school

districts to the comptroller as required under Section 44.009;

(4) perform duties in connection with the guaranteed

bond program as prescribed by Subchapter C, Chapter 45;

(5) adopt an annual budget for operating the

Foundation School Program as prescribed by Subsection (c);

(6) perform duties in connection with the Foundation

School Program as prescribed by Chapter 48; and

(7) perform duties in connection with the options for

local revenue levels in excess of entitlement under Chapter 49.

(c) The budget the comptroller adopts under Subsection

(b)(5) for operating the Foundation School Program must be in

accordance with legislative appropriations and provide funds for

the administration and operation of public school finance and

fiscal management duties of the comptroller and any other necessary

expense. The budget must designate any expense of operating the

office of the comptroller or operating a program for which the State

Board of Education has responsibility that is paid from the

Foundation School Program. The budget must designate program

expenses that may be paid out of the foundation school fund, other

state funds, fees, federal funds, or funds earned under interagency

contract. Before adopting the budget, the comptroller must submit

the budget to the State Board of Education for review and, after

receiving any comments of the State Board of Education, present the

operating budget to the governor and the Legislative Budget Board.

The comptroller shall propose budget expenditures in a manner that

ensures that all payments are paid from the appropriate funds in a

timely and efficient manner.

SECTION 1.07. Section 48.004, Education Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 48.004. ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM. The

comptroller [ commissioner ] shall adopt rules and take action and

require reports consistent with this chapter as necessary to

implement and administer the Foundation School Program.

SECTION 1.08. Section 403.011(a), Government Code, is

amended to read as follows:

(a) The comptroller shall:

(1) obtain a seal with "Comptroller's Office, State of

Texas" engraved around the margin and a five-pointed star in the

center, to be used as the seal of the office to authenticate

official acts, except warrants drawn on the state treasury;

(2) adopt regulations the comptroller considers

essential to the speedy and proper assessment and collection of

state revenues;

(3) supervise, as the sole accounting officer of the

state, the state's fiscal concerns and manage those concerns as

required by law;

(4) require all accounts presented to the comptroller

for settlement not otherwise provided for by law to be made on forms

that the comptroller prescribes;

(5) prescribe and furnish the form or electronic

format to be used in the collection of public revenue;

(6) prescribe the mode and manner of keeping and

stating of accounts of persons collecting state revenue;

(7) prescribe forms or electronic formats of the same

class, kind, and purpose so that they are uniform in size,

arrangement, matter, and form;

(8) require each person receiving money or managing or

having disposition of state property of which an account is kept in

the comptroller's office periodically to render statements of the

money or property to the comptroller;

(9) require each person who has received and not

accounted for state money to settle the person's account;

(10) keep and settle all accounts in which the state is

interested;

(11) examine and settle the account of each person

indebted to the state, verify the amount or balance, and direct and

supervise the collection of the money;

(12) audit claims against the state the payment of

which is provided for by law, unless the audit is otherwise

specially provided for;

(13) determine the method for auditing claims against

the state in a cost-effective manner, including the use of

stratified and statistical sampling techniques in conjunction with

automated edits;

(14) maintain the necessary records and data for each

approved claim against the state so that an adequate audit can be

performed and the comptroller can submit a report to each house of

the legislature, upon request, stating the name and amount of each

approved claim;

(15) keep and state each account between the state and

the United States;

(16) keep journals through which all entries are made

in the ledger;

(17) draw warrants on the treasury for payment of all

money required by law to be paid from the treasury on warrants drawn

by the comptroller;

(18) suggest plans for the improvement and management

of the general revenue; [ and ]

(19) preserve the books, records, papers, and other

property of the comptroller's office and deliver them in good

condition to the successor to that office ; and

(20) perform the powers relating to public school

finance and fiscal management required by Section 42.002, Education

Code, including the maintenance and administration of the

Foundation School Program under Chapter 48 of that code .

SECTION 1.09. The following provisions of the Education

Code are repealed:

(1) Section 7.002;

(2) Section 7.004;

(3) Section 7.021(b)(13);

(4) Section 7.051;

(5) Section 7.052;

(6) Section 7.053;

(7) Section 7.054;

(8) Sections 7.055(b)(2), (6), (17), (32), (34), (35),

(36), (37), and (38);

(9) Section 7.055(c);

(10) Section 7.102(c)(29); and

(11) Sections 7.102(a) and (e).

SECTION 1.10. (a) On the effective date of this Act and

except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, the Texas

Education Agency is abolished and the position of commissioner of

education is eliminated, but the agency and position continue in

existence until December 1, 2025, for the sole purpose of

transferring, as applicable, all obligations, property, rights,

powers, duties, leases, contracts, software, data, and full-time

equivalent employee positions to the State Board of Education. The

State Board of Education assumes all of the obligations, property,

rights, powers, duties, leases, contracts, software, data, and

full-time equivalent employee positions of the Texas Education

Agency and commissioner of education as they exist immediately

before the effective date of this Act. All unexpended funds

appropriated to the Texas Education Agency are transferred to the

State Board of Education.

(b) Not later than December 21, 2025, the Texas Education

Agency and commissioner of education shall transfer, as applicable,

all obligations, property, rights, powers, duties, leases,

contracts, software, data, and full-time equivalent employee

positions relating to public school finance and fiscal management,

including the maintenance and administration of the Foundation

School Program under Chapter 48, Education Code, to the comptroller

of public accounts. The comptroller of public accounts assumes all

of the obligations, property, rights, powers, duties, leases,

contracts, software, data, and full-time equivalent employee

positions of the Texas Education Agency and commissioner of

education relating to public school finance and fiscal management,

including the maintenance and administration of the Foundation

School Program under Chapter 48, Education Code, as they exist

immediately before the effective date of this Act. All unexpended

funds appropriated to the Texas Education Agency relating to public

school finance and fiscal management, including the maintenance and

administration of the Foundation School Program under Chapter 48,

Education Code, are transferred to the comptroller of public

accounts.

(c) On September 1, 2025, all full-time equivalent employee

positions at the Texas Education Agency become positions at the

State Board of Education or comptroller of public accounts, as

appropriate, in accordance with Subsections (a) and (b) of this

section. On September 1, 2025, all employees who were employed by

the Texas Education Agency on August 31, 2025, become employees of

the State Board of Education or comptroller of public accounts, as

appropriate, in accordance with Subsections (a) and (b) of this

section.

(d) The Texas Education Agency, commissioner of education,

State Board of Education, and comptroller of public accounts shall,

in consultation with appropriate state entities, ensure that the

transfer of the obligations, property, rights, powers, duties,

leases, contracts, software, data, and full-time equivalent

employee positions of the Texas Education Agency and commissioner

of education under this section is completed not later than

December 1, 2025.

(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f) of this section,

all rules, fees, policies, procedures, decisions, and forms adopted

by the Texas Education Agency or commissioner of education are

continued in effect as rules, fees, policies, procedures,

decisions, and forms adopted by the State Board of Education until

amended or superseded by a rule, fee, policy, procedure, decision,

or form adopted by the State Board of Education. A complaint or

investigation pending on the effective date of this Act is

continued without change in status after the effective date of this

Act.

(f) All rules, fees, policies, procedures, decisions, and

forms adopted by the Texas Education Agency or commissioner of

education relating to public school finance or fiscal management,

including the maintenance and administration of the Foundation

School Program under Chapter 48, Education Code, are continued in

effect as rules, fees, policies, procedures, decisions, and forms

adopted by the comptroller of public accounts until amended or

superseded by a rule, fee, policy, procedure, decision, or form

adopted by the comptroller of public accounts.

(g) Not later than September 1, 2026, the State Board of

Education and comptroller of public accounts, as applicable, shall

adopt any rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by

this Act.

ARTICLE 2. REPEAL OF PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT

SYSTEM

SECTION 2.01. Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by

adding Section 1.008 to read as follows:

Sec. 1.008. REFERENCES TO PUBLIC SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY OR

ASSESSMENTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a reference

in law to an assessment instrument adopted, developed, required, or

administered under former Chapter 39 refers to an assessment

instrument adopted, developed, required, or administered by a

public elementary or secondary school that assesses student

performance in an equivalent manner to the referenced assessment

instrument, if applicable.

(b) If a public elementary or secondary school has not

adopted or developed an assessment instrument that assesses student

performance in an equivalent manner to an assessment instrument

adopted or developed under former Chapter 39, any law relating to

the assessment of students using that assessment instrument does

not apply to the school.

(c) A reference in law to an accreditation, a financial

accountability system, or any other accountability program or

system under former Chapter 39 or an accountability intervention or

sanction under former Chapter 39A is considered expired.

SECTION 2.02. Subtitle H, Title 2, Education Code, is

repealed.

SECTION 2.03. As soon as practicable after the effective

date of this Act but not later than December 1, 2025, the Texas

Education Agency shall remove a monitor, conservator, management

team, or board of managers appointed to a school district or

open-enrollment charter school by the agency under Chapter 39A,

Education Code, as it existed before the effective date of this Act,

and return the administration and control of the school district to

the board of trustees of the district or governing body of the

school.

SECTION 2.04. This article applies beginning with the

2025-2026 school year.

ARTICLE 3. EFFECTIVE DATE

SECTION 3.01. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of

this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

(b) Article 2 of 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, Article 2 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.