By Stiles H.B. No. 1580
75R2605 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to tuition and fee exemptions for the children of certain
1-3 classroom teachers enrolled at a public institution of higher
1-4 education.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 54.217 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 54.217. CHILDREN OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS. (a) The
1-9 governing board of each institution of higher education shall
1-10 exempt a person who is a resident of this state and a child of an
1-11 eligible classroom teacher from the payment of all tuition or all
1-12 tuition and required fees when the child is enrolled as an
1-13 undergraduate student at the institution.
1-14 (b) To be eligible for an exemption from the payment of all
1-15 tuition, a person must be a child of a person who at the beginning
1-16 of the semester or other equivalent academic session for which an
1-17 exemption is sought has 10 or more years of experience as a
1-18 classroom teacher in this state or as a full-time teacher in the
1-19 public schools of another state, not including experience as a
1-20 teaching aide or administrator, and:
1-21 (1) is employed as a classroom teacher in this state;
1-22 or
1-23 (2) has contracted to work as a classroom teacher in
1-24 this state during all or part of that semester or session or, if
2-1 the child is enrolled for a summer semester or session, has
2-2 contracted to work as a classroom teacher in this state during the
2-3 next school year.
2-4 (c) To be eligible for an exemption from the payment of all
2-5 tuition and required fees, a person must be a child of a person who
2-6 at the beginning of the semester or other equivalent academic
2-7 session for which an exemption is sought has 15 or more years of
2-8 experience as a classroom teacher in this state or as a full-time
2-9 teacher in the public schools of another state, not including
2-10 experience as a teaching aide or administrator, and:
2-11 (1) is employed as a classroom teacher in this state;
2-12 or
2-13 (2) has contracted to work as a classroom teacher in
2-14 this state during all or part of that semester or session or, if
2-15 the child is enrolled for a summer semester or session, has
2-16 contracted to work as a classroom teacher in this state during the
2-17 next school year.
2-18 (d) A person is not eligible for an exemption under this
2-19 section if the person:
2-20 (1) has previously received an exemption under this
2-21 section for 10 semesters or other equivalent academic sessions at
2-22 any institution or institutions of higher education; or
2-23 (2) has received a baccalaureate degree.
2-24 (e) For purposes of Subsection (d), a summer term or other
2-25 academic session that is less than nine weeks in duration is
2-26 considered one-half of a regular semester or equivalent academic
2-27 session.
3-1 (f) A person attending an institution of higher education
3-2 who becomes eligible to receive an exemption from tuition under
3-3 Subsection (b) is eligible for a refund of the amount of money that
3-4 the person paid to any institution of higher education for tuition
3-5 as a resident student in the three-year period preceding the
3-6 beginning of the first semester or session for which the person
3-7 receives the exemption.
3-8 (g) A person attending an institution of higher education
3-9 who becomes eligible to receive an exemption from tuition and fees
3-10 under Subsection (c) is eligible for a refund of the amount of
3-11 money that the person paid to any institution of higher education
3-12 for tuition and fees as a resident student in the three-year period
3-13 preceding the beginning of the first semester or session for which
3-14 the person receives the exemption.
3-15 (h) To receive a refund under Subsection (f) or (g), the
3-16 person must apply to the institution from which the refund is
3-17 sought before the expiration of one year after the person becomes
3-18 eligible for the refund. The institution shall pay the refund from
3-19 any available funds of the institution.
3-20 (i) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
3-21 adopt:
3-22 (1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
3-23 exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
3-24 determination of eligibility for an exemption or for a refund of
3-25 tuition or fees previously paid; and
3-26 (2) a uniform application form for an exemption under
3-27 this section.
4-1 (j) An appropriation made to an institution of higher
4-2 education in any biennium should be adjusted to take into
4-3 consideration any tuition or fees exempted or any refund of tuition
4-4 or fees made in the preceding biennium under this section.
4-5 (k) In this section:
4-6 (1) "Child" means a child of any age, including an
4-7 adult child. The term includes an adopted child.
4-8 (2) "Classroom teacher" has the meaning assigned by
4-9 Section 5.001(2).
4-10 SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), this
4-11 Act takes effect beginning with the fall semester in 1998.
4-12 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
4-13 adopt rules or forms relating to the exemption of the children of
4-14 classroom teachers under Section 54.217, Education Code, as added
4-15 by this Act, not later than January 1, 1998.
4-16 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-21 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-22 passage, and it is so enacted.