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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Miera
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/2/2008
HB 555
SHORT TITLE Civic Education Programs
SB
ANALYST Aguilar
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY08
FY09
$20.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to HB-490
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Public Education Department (PED)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 555 appropriates $20 thousand from the general fund to Public Education Department
for the purpose of supporting programs that promote the importance of civic education.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $20 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general
fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2009 shall
revert to the general fund.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Although the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) refocused a generation-long emphasis
on the importance of “core" subjects such as math and reading in our schools, this renewed
concern with academics has a blind spot. Recent research points to a disturbing imbalance in the
mission of public education. It notes that the recent preoccupation of the nation with reshaping