By Cuellar H.B. No. 178
76R214 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 or school librarians enrolled at a public
1-4 institution of higher 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 54.219 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 54.219. CHILDREN OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS.
1-9 (a) The governing board of each institution of higher education
1-10 shall exempt a person who is a resident of this state and a child
1-11 of an eligible classroom teacher or librarian from the payment of
1-12 all tuition or all tuition and required fees when the child is
1-13 enrolled as an 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 or full-time librarian in the public schools in
1-19 this state or as a full-time teacher or librarian in the public
1-20 schools of another state, not including experience as a teaching
1-21 aide or administrator, and:
1-22 (1) is employed as a classroom teacher or full-time
1-23 librarian in a public school in this state; or
1-24 (2) has contracted to work as a classroom teacher or
2-1 full-time librarian in a public school in this state during all or
2-2 part of that semester or session or, if the child is enrolled for a
2-3 summer semester or session, has contracted to work as a classroom
2-4 teacher or full-time librarian in the public schools in this state
2-5 during the next school year.
2-6 (c) To be eligible for an exemption from the payment of all
2-7 tuition and required fees, a person must be a child of a person who
2-8 at the beginning of the semester or other equivalent academic
2-9 session for which an exemption is sought has 15 or more years of
2-10 experience as a classroom teacher or full-time librarian in the
2-11 public schools in this state or as a full-time teacher or librarian
2-12 in the public schools of another state, not including experience as
2-13 a teaching aide or administrator, and:
2-14 (1) is employed as a classroom teacher or full-time
2-15 librarian in a public school in this state; or
2-16 (2) has contracted to work as a classroom teacher or
2-17 full-time librarian in a public school in this state during all or
2-18 part of that semester or session or, if the child is enrolled for a
2-19 summer semester or session, has contracted to work as a classroom
2-20 teacher or librarian in this state during the next school year.
2-21 (d) A person is not eligible for an exemption under this
2-22 section if the person:
2-23 (1) has previously received an exemption under this
2-24 section for 10 semesters or other equivalent academic sessions at
2-25 any institution or institutions of higher education; or
2-26 (2) has received a baccalaureate degree.
2-27 (e) For purposes of Subsection (d), a summer term or other
3-1 academic session that is less than nine weeks in duration is
3-2 considered one-half of a regular semester or equivalent academic
3-3 session.
3-4 (f) A person attending an institution of higher education
3-5 who becomes eligible to receive an exemption from tuition under
3-6 Subsection (b) is eligible for a refund of the amount of money the
3-7 person paid to any institution of higher education for tuition as a
3-8 resident student in the three-year period preceding the beginning
3-9 of the first semester or session for which the person receives the
3-10 exemption.
3-11 (g) A person attending an institution of higher education
3-12 who becomes eligible to receive an exemption from tuition and fees
3-13 under Subsection (c) is eligible for a refund of the amount of
3-14 money the person paid to any institution of higher education for
3-15 tuition and fees as a resident student in the three-year period
3-16 preceding the beginning of the first semester or session for which
3-17 the person receives the exemption.
3-18 (h) To receive a refund under Subsection (f) or (g), the
3-19 person must apply to the institution from which the refund is
3-20 sought before the expiration of one year after the person becomes
3-21 eligible for the refund. The institution shall pay the refund from
3-22 any available funds of the institution.
3-23 (i) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
3-24 adopt:
3-25 (1) rules governing the granting or denial of an
3-26 exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
3-27 determination of eligibility for an exemption or for a refund of
4-1 tuition or fees previously paid; and
4-2 (2) a uniform application form for an exemption under
4-3 this section.
4-4 (j) An appropriation made to an institution of higher
4-5 education in any biennium should be adjusted to take into
4-6 consideration any tuition or fees exempted or any refund of tuition
4-7 or fees made in the preceding biennium under this section.
4-8 (k) In this section:
4-9 (1) "Child" means a child of any age, including an
4-10 adult child. The term includes an adopted child.
4-11 (2) "Classroom teacher" has the meaning assigned by
4-12 Section 5.001.
4-13 SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), this
4-14 Act takes effect beginning with the fall semester in 2000.
4-15 (b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
4-16 adopt rules and forms relating to the exemption of the children of
4-17 classroom teachers and school librarians under Section 54.219,
4-18 Education Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1,
4-19 2000.
4-20 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-26 passage, and it is so enacted.