S.B. No. 1142

	AN ACT
	relating to an adult high school diploma and industry certification
	charter school pilot program for adults 19 to 50 years of age.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter H, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 29.259 to read as follows:
	Sec. 29.259.  ADULT HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA AND INDUSTRY
	CERTIFICATION CHARTER SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM. (a)  In this section,
	"adult education" means services and instruction provided below the
	college level for adults by a nonprofit entity described by
	Subsection (e).
	(b)  The commissioner shall establish an adult high school
	diploma and industry certification charter school pilot program as
	provided by this section as a strategy for meeting industry needs
	for a sufficiently trained workforce within the state.
	(c)  The agency shall adopt and administer a standardized
	secondary exit-level assessment instrument appropriate for
	assessing adult education program participants who successfully
	complete high school curriculum requirements under a program
	provided under this section.  The commissioner shall determine the
	level of performance considered to be satisfactory on the secondary
	exit-level assessment instrument for receipt of a high school
	diploma by an adult education program participant in a program
	provided under this section.
	(d)  Notwithstanding any other law and in addition to the
	number of charters allowed under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, a
	charter under the pilot program may, on the basis of an application
	submitted, be granted to a single nonprofit entity described by
	Subsection (e) to provide an adult education program for not more
	than 150 individuals described by Subsection (g) to successfully
	complete:
	(1)  a high school program that can lead to a diploma;
	and
	(2)  career and technology education courses that can
	lead to industry certification.
	(e)  A nonprofit entity may be granted a charter under this
	section only if the entity:
	(1)  has a successful history of providing education
	services, including industry certifications and job placement
	services, to adults 18 years of age and older whose educational and
	training opportunities have been limited by educational
	disadvantages, disabilities, homelessness, criminal history, or
	similar circumstances; and
	(2)  agrees to commit at least $1 million to the adult
	education program offered.
	(f)  A nonprofit entity granted a charter under this section
	may partner with a public junior college to provide career and
	technology courses that lead to industry certification.
	(g)  A person who is at least 19 years of age and not more
	than 50 years of age is eligible to enroll in the adult education
	program under this section if the person has not earned a high
	school equivalency certificate and:
	(1)  has failed to complete the curriculum requirements
	for high school graduation; or
	(2)  has failed to perform satisfactorily on an
	assessment instrument required for high school graduation.
	(h)  The nonprofit entity must include in its charter
	application the information required by Subsection (i).
	(i)  A charter granted under this section must:
	(1)  include a description of the adult education
	program to be offered under this section; and
	(2)  establish specific, objective standards for
	receiving a high school diploma, including satisfactory
	performance on the standardized secondary exit-level assessment
	instrument described by Subsection (c).
	(j)  Funding for an adult education program under this
	section is provided based on the following:
	(1)  for participants who are 26 years of age and older,
	an amount per participant from available general revenue funds
	appropriated for the pilot program equal to the statewide average
	amount of state funding per student in weighted average daily
	attendance that would be allocated under the Foundation School
	Program to an open-enrollment charter school under Section 12.106
	were the student under 26 years of age; and
	(2)  for participants who are at least 19 years of age
	and under 26 years of age, an amount per participant through the
	Foundation School Program equal to the amount of state funding per
	student in weighted average daily attendance that would be
	allocated under the Foundation School Program for the student's
	attendance at an open-enrollment charter school in accordance with
	Section 12.106.
	(k)  Sections 12.107 and 12.128 apply as though funds under
	this section were funds under Subchapter D, Chapter 12.
	(l)  Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,
	beginning December 1, 2016, the agency shall prepare and deliver to
	the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of
	representatives, and presiding officer of each standing
	legislative committee with primary jurisdiction over public
	education or economic development a report that:
	(1)  evaluates any adult education program operated
	under a charter granted under this section; and
	(2)  makes recommendations regarding the abolition,
	continuation, or expansion of the pilot program.
	(m)  The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
	administer the pilot program under this section.  In adopting
	rules, the commissioner may modify charter school requirements only
	to the extent necessary for the administration of a charter school
	under this section that provides for adult education.
	SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 42.003, Education Code,
	is amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A student is entitled to the benefits of the Foundation
	School Program if, on September 1 of the school year, the student:
	(1)  is 5 years of age or older and under 21 years of age
	and has not graduated from high school, or is at least 21 years of
	age and under 26 years of age and has been admitted by a school
	district to complete the requirements for a high school diploma; or
	(2)  is at least 19 years of age and under 26 years of
	age and is enrolled in an adult high school diploma and industry
	certification charter school pilot program under Section 29.259.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1142 passed the Senate on
	April 10, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
	the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 16, 2013, by the
	following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1142 passed the House, with
	amendment, on May 10, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 99,
	Nays 36, two present not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor