By: Eissler	H.B. No. 2365

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to certain responsibilities of education research centers
	and to a joint advisory board for education research centers.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 1.005, Education Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (e), (g), and (k) and adding Subsections
	(g-1), (l), and (m) to read as follows:
	(e)  A center shall conduct research for the benefit of
	education in this state, including research relating to the impact
	of state and federal education programs, the performance of
	educator preparation programs, public school finance, and the best
	practices of school districts with regard to classroom instruction,
	bilingual education programs, special language programs, and
	business practices.  A center shall support policy and academic
	research, including support of graduate student research in this
	state.
	(g)  In conducting research under this section, a center:
	(1)  may use data on student performance, including
	data that is confidential under the Family Educational Rights and
	Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g), the center has
	collected from the Texas Education Agency, the coordinating board,
	any public or private institution of higher education, and any
	school district; and
	(2)  shall comply with rules adopted by the
	commissioner of education and the coordinating board to protect the
	confidentiality of [student] information used or stored at the
	center, including rules establishing procedures to ensure that
	confidential [student] information is not duplicated or removed
	from a center in an unauthorized manner.
	(g-1)  Confidential information provided to a center by the
	Texas Education Agency or the coordinating board must be protected
	by procedures to ensure that any unique identifying number is not
	traceable to any individual.
	The procedures must be maintained as
	confidential by the Texas Education Agency and the coordinating
	board. The procedures may not be shared with a center or used for
	any purpose other than for purposes of this section. Social
	security numbers, names, and birth dates may not be accessed for the
	purpose of research at a center.
	(k)  In implementing this section, the commissioner of
	education may use funds appropriated to the agency and available
	for the purpose of establishing the centers.  After a center is
	established, the cost of complying with this section and Section
	1.006, including necessary personnel costs at the Texas Education
	Agency and the coordinating board and the costs of operation of each
	center, must be funded by gifts and grants accepted under
	Subsection (h)(1) and fees imposed under Subsection (h)(2).  Fees
	adopted under Subsection (h)(2) must be set in an amount sufficient
	to provide for the continued operation of the center.
	(l)  Each center shall administer the process for reviewing
	research proposals developed under Section 1.006(e)(4) and shall
	forward to the joint advisory board only proposals of high quality
	as determined using criteria developed under Section 1.006(e)(4).
	(m)  On behalf of a center, the commissioner of education and
	the coordinating board may pursue and enter data agreements with:
	(1)  another agency of this state; and
	(2)  the state education agency of another state,
	giving priority to the agencies of those states that send the
	highest number of students to this state or that receive the highest
	number of students from this state.
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 1, Education Code, is amended by adding
	Section 1.006 to read as follows:
	Sec. 1.006.  JOINT ADVISORY BOARD FOR EDUCATION RESEARCH
	CENTERS. (a) In this section, "center" means a center for education
	research authorized by Section 1.005.
	(b)  The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
	higher education shall co-chair a joint advisory board to adopt
	policies governing the operations of the centers, including a
	process for review and approval of center research involving
	confidential information. The commissioner of education and the
	commissioner of higher education each may delegate duties as
	co-chair, including voting, to an employee of the Texas Education
	Agency or the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, as
	appropriate.
	(c)  The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
	higher education shall jointly appoint not more than three
	additional members to the joint advisory board to serve one-year
	terms. The chief executive officer of each public institution of
	higher education of which a center is a part shall appoint not more
	than two additional members to the joint advisory board to serve
	one-year terms.  A member of the joint advisory board serves at the
	pleasure of the appropriate appointing authority.  A member may be
	reappointed each year to an additional term.
	(d)  The joint advisory board shall meet at the call of the
	co-chairs at least twice each year.
	(e)  The joint advisory board shall:
	(1)  establish a schedule of fees to fund the cost of
	data processing by the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
	Education Coordinating Board;
	(2)  develop a plan for establishing access at public
	institutions of higher education to data;
	(3)  develop policies to give state agencies acting for
	a governmental purpose and public entities performing studies
	authorized by the legislature priority in access to and use of
	center research;
	(4)  develop, in consultation with each center, a
	process for reviewing center research proposals and criteria for
	evaluating proposal quality that emphasize the benefits to
	education in this state and use of accepted social science research
	methods;
	(5)  identify, in consultation with each center, the
	type of data that the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher
	Education Coordinating Board send annually to each center without
	the necessity of a request for that data by a center and a schedule
	on which the data is sent; and
	(6)  perform other duties as necessary to advise each
	center.
	SECTION 3.  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, 2011.