BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 580

By: Howard

Public Education

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Interested parties cite The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy in asserting that parenthood is a leading cause of dropping out of school among teenage girls. These same parties report that school districts once accessed funding for child-care services from the Life Skills Program for Student Parents Grant, but that the grant did not receive appropriations during a recent legislative session due to budget constraints.  However, the parties point out that the compensatory education allotment is a special weighted allotment in the Foundation School Program used to support educationally disadvantaged students, including pregnant students, and such allotment funding covers certain permissible costs that are supplementary to the regular education program and that currently do not include child-care services. H.B. 580 seeks to enhance dropout prevention efforts by allowing the use of compensatory education allotment funding to provide assistance with child care to students at risk of dropping out of school.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 580 amends the Education Code to authorize compensatory education allotment funding to be used to provide child-care services or assistance with child-care expenses for students at risk of dropping out of school because of pregnancy or being parents or to pay the costs of day care or associated transportation through a life skills program for student parents.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.