Amend SB 4 by inserting the following new SECTION,
appropriately numbered, and by renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of
the bill accordingly:
SECTION _____. (a) Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter K to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER K. TEXAS TROOPS TO TEACHERS PROGRAM
Sec. 21.501. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "program"
means the Texas Troops to Teachers Program.
Sec. 21.502. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The agency shall
establish a program to:
(1) assist persons who have served in the armed forces
of the United States and are separated from active duty to obtain
certification as an elementary or secondary school teacher in this
state; and
(2) facilitate the employment of those persons by
school districts that have a shortage of teachers.
Sec. 21.503. ELIGIBILITY. A person is eligible for the
program if the person:
(1) has served in the armed forces of the United
States;
(2) is honorably discharged, retired, or released from
active duty on or after October 1, 1990, after at least six years
of continuous active duty service immediately before the
discharge, retirement, or release;
(3) has received a baccalaureate or advanced degree
from a public or private institution of higher education accredited
by a regional accrediting agency or group that is recognized by a
nationally recognized accreditation board; and
(4) satisfies any other criteria for selection jointly
prescribed by the agency and the State Board for Educator
Certification.
Sec. 21.504. INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS. (a) The agency
shall develop an application for the program.
(b) The agency and the State Board for Educator
Certification shall distribute the applications and information
regarding the program.
Sec. 21.505. SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS. (a) The agency
shall select persons to participate in the program on the basis of
applications submitted to the agency.
(b) Each application must be submitted:
(1) in the form and contain the information the agency
requires; and
(2) in a timely manner.
(c) An application is considered to be submitted in a timely
manner for purposes of Subsection (b)(2) if the application is
submitted:
(1) not later than October 5, 1999, in the case of an
applicant discharged, retired, or released from active duty before
January 19, 1999; or
(2) except as provided by Subdivision (1), not later
than the first anniversary of the date of the applicant's
discharge, retirement, or release from active duty.
Sec. 21.506. LIMITATION ON IMPLEMENTATION. The agency may
not select a person to participate in the program unless the agency
has sufficient state appropriations to pay the stipend provided by
Section 21.509 at the time of the selection.
Sec. 21.507. PREFERENCES. (a) In selecting persons to
participate in the program, the agency shall give preference to a
person who:
(1) has significant educational or military experience
in science, mathematics, or engineering and agrees to seek
employment as a teacher in one of those subjects in a public
elementary or secondary school in this state; or
(2) has significant educational or military experience
in a field other than science, mathematics, or engineering
identified by the agency as a field important for state educational
objectives and agrees to seek employment as a teacher in a subject
related to that field in a public elementary or secondary school in
this state.
(b) The commissioner shall determine the level of experience
considered significant for purposes of this section.
Sec. 21.508. AGREEMENT. A person selected to participate in
the program must enter into a written agreement with the agency
under which the person agrees to:
(1) obtain, within the period the agency by rule
requires, certification as an elementary or secondary school
teacher in this state; and
(2) accept, during the first school year that begins
after the date the person becomes certified, an offer of full-time
employment as an elementary or secondary school teacher with a
school district in this state.
Sec. 21.509. STIPEND. The agency shall pay to each
participant in the program a stipend of $5,000.
Sec. 21.510. REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A participant in the
program who fails to obtain certification or employment as required
in the agreement under Section 21.508 or who voluntarily leaves or
is terminated for cause from the employment after teaching in a
public elementary or secondary school in this state for less than
five school years shall reimburse the agency for the portion of the
stipend that bears the same ratio to the amount of the stipend as
the unserved portion of required service bears to the five years of
required service.
(b) The obligation to reimburse the agency under this
section is, for all purposes, a debt to the state. A discharge in
bankruptcy under Title 11, United States Code, does not release a
participant from the obligation to reimburse the agency. The
amount owed bears interest at the rate equal to the highest rate
being paid by the United States on the day the reimbursement is
determined to be due for securities that have maturities of 90 days
or less, and the interest accrues from the day the participant
receives notice of the amount due.
(c) For purposes of this section, a participant in the
program is not considered to be in violation of an agreement under
Section 21.508 during any period in which the participant:
(1) is pursuing a full-time course of study related to
the field of teaching at a public or private institution of higher
education approved by the State Board for Educator Certification;
(2) is serving on active duty as a member of the armed
forces of the United States;
(3) is temporarily totally disabled for a period not
to exceed three years as established by sworn affidavit of a
qualified physician;
(4) is unable to secure employment for a period not to
exceed one year because of care required by a disabled spouse;
(5) is seeking and unable to find full-time employment
as a teacher in a public elementary or secondary school for a
single period not to exceed 27 months; or
(6) satisfies the provisions of any additional
reimbursement exception adopted by the agency.
(d) A participant is excused from reimbursement under
Subsection (a) if:
(1) the participant becomes permanently totally
disabled as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified
physician; or
(2) the agency waives reimbursement in the case of
extreme hardship to the participant.
Sec. 21.511. The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement
this subchapter.
(b) If the commissioner of education determines that federal
funds are available for a federal program with the general purposes
of Subchapter K, Chapter 21, Education Code, as added by Subsection
(a) of this section, such as for a program under 10 U.S.C. Section
1151, the commissioner of education shall discontinue the Texas
Troops to Teachers Program and shall file notice of that
discontinuation with the secretary of state to be published in the
Texas Register.