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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Asbill

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/08/2007

3/13/2007 HB

SHORT TITLE State Payment for Mandatory Assessments

SB 501/aSEC/aHEC

ANALYST Aguilar

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$0.1

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to appropriations contained in the General Appropriations Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Office of Educational Accountability (OEA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amendment to Senate Bill 501 as amended makes technical

changes to language referring to tests and assessments. The amendment also changes the grades

to be assessed annually from grades three to nine to grades three to eight. This aligns the bill

with state and No Child Left Behind Act assessment requirements.

The amendment adds language that prior to establishing a preliminary unit value the department

shall determine the amount of money required to pay for the cost of district and school level

academic assessments and transfer the amount to the department’s operating budget.

The amendment contains a delayed repeal of July 1, 2010.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Moving funds for paying the district and school level costs of testing to the department will

reduce the unit value accordingly.

Senate Bill 501/aSEC/aHEC – Page

2

The SEG contains approximately $7.4 million for assessment costs, while the 2006 cost of

assessments was approximately $6.6 million.

Synopsis of SEC Amendment

The Senate Education Committee Amendment to Senate Bill 502 removes students from the

measure of adequately yearly progress and makes technical changes to language.

Synopsis of Original Bill

Senate Bill 501 provides that the department will pay the costs of required academic

assessments, including development, administration and technical support.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act measures adequate yearly progress for schools

and school districts, not individual students. Striking the reference to “student" aligns the

language in the bill with NCLB.

Technical changes to language updates and clarifies references to annual student assessments.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

Item 2 of the amendment refers to Page 2, lines 2 and 3, strikes and replaces language. To take

the required action the reference should be to lines 1 and 2.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

From FY’00 through FY’07, the Legislature appropriated $24.6 million for mandatory student

assessment. Of that total, $17.2 million was appropriated for nonrecurring test development

costs, and $7.4 million was appropriated for the recurring costs of test printing, shipping,

scoring, and results reporting.

The state already pays for the cost of assessments as the distribution to schools through the

funding formula contains $7.4 million annually for these costs.

Both PED and OEA note the need for additional appropriations to cover the costs of the

provisions contained in SB-501, however these costs could be covered by removing the $7.4

million from the SEG distribution and including it in the PED base budget or creating a fund to

draw from for these costs. It is important to note the amount necessary to pay for these costs

may vary year-to-year as enrollment fluctuates or the cost of assessment instruments rises.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

PED notes that currently the costs of statewide student education assessments are shared by PED

and the public school districts. This arrangement was implemented many years ago, placing

responsibility on districts for ordering testing materials. Perhaps it was then believed that

districts could more accurately estimate the number of test booklets needed than could PED.

Though districts pay for testing materials, PED provides sufficient funding through the formula

Senate Bill 501/aSEC/aHEC – Page

3

to cover their costs.

PED pays the cost of ongoing test development. The 89 districts pay the costs of printing and

shipping tests, scoring and printing reports on school and district results.

The cost-sharing arrangement has not resulted in accurate test booklet orders. Districts tend to

order more tests than they need, presumably to prepare for unexpected circumstances. Though

districts are refunded for returning unused tests, the vendor absorbs the cost and the tests are

destroyed. Ultimately the state pays for unused tests.

A number of districts have requested that PED pay all costs for the assessments to reduce the

administrative burden required to budget and manage assessment funds.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

PED will incur some additional costs as a result of this bill, however the agency should be able

to cover these costs within existing appropriations.

PA/nt:csd