88R2764 MEW-F

By: Allen H.B. No. 770

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the salary and wages paid to public school employees; making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 21.402, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (c-2), (c-3), and (d) and amending Subsection (g) to read as follows:

(c-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for the 2023-2024 school year, a classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school nurse is entitled to a monthly salary that is at least equal to the sum of:

(1) the monthly salary the employee would have received for the 2023-2024 school year under the district's salary schedule for the 2022-2023 school year, if that schedule had been in effect for the 2023-2024 school year, including any local supplement and any money representing a career ladder supplement the employee would have received in the 2023-2024 school year; and

(2) $400.

(c-3) Subsection (c-2) and this subsection expire September 1, 2024.

(d) A classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school nurse employed by a school district in the 2023-2024 school year is, as long as the employee is employed by the same district, entitled to a salary that is at least equal to the salary the employee received for the 2023-2024 school year.

(g) The commissioner may adopt rules to govern the application of this section, including rules that:

(1) require the payment of a minimum salary under this section to a person employed in more than one capacity for which a minimum salary is provided and whose combined employment in those capacities constitutes full-time employment; and

(2) specify the credentials a person must hold to be considered a [speech pathologist or] school nurse under this section.

SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 48, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 48.2521 to read as follows:

Sec. 48.2521. ADDITIONAL STATE AID FOR SALARY INCREASES FOR CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES. (a) A school district, including a school district that is otherwise ineligible for state aid under this chapter, is entitled to state aid in an amount equal to the product of $4,000 multiplied by the number of classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses employed by the district.

(b) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this section.

SECTION 3. (a) The amount of $1 billion is appropriated from the economic stabilization fund to the foundation school fund for distribution by the commissioner of education during the state fiscal biennium beginning September 1, 2023, to school districts to provide one-time retention bonuses to district support staff.

(b) The commissioner of education shall distribute the amount appropriated under this section to school districts on the basis of the number of full-time district employees, other than administrators and employees subject to the minimum salary schedule under Section 21.402, Education Code.

(c) Each school district may use funds distributed under this section only to increase the salary that would otherwise be provided to district employees described by Subsection (b) of this section.

(d) This section takes effect only if this Act is approved by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in each house of the legislature, as provided by Section 49-g(m), Article III, Texas Constitution.

SECTION 4. Section 21.402(c-1), Education Code, is repealed.

SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.

SECTION 6. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this Act takes effect September 1, 2023.