By Delisi H.B. No. 724
76R4077 JSA-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to student loan repayment assistance for classroom
1-3 teachers.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter M, Chapter 61, Education Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER M. TEXAS CLASSROOM TEACHERS
1-8 LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM [OF CERTAIN TEACHER EDUCATION LOANS]
1-9 Sec. 61.701. REPAYMENT AUTHORIZED. The [coordinating] board
1-10 shall [may] provide, in accordance with this subchapter and board
1-11 rules, assistance in the repayment of student loans for classroom
1-12 teachers who apply and qualify for the assistance.
1-13 Sec. 61.702. ELIGIBILITY. (a) To be eligible to receive
1-14 loan repayment assistance under this subchapter, a person [teacher]
1-15 must:
1-16 (1) apply to the [coordinating] board; [and]
1-17 (2) have completed at least one year of employment in
1-18 the elementary or secondary schools of this state in an area or
1-19 field of acute teacher shortage as designated by the commissioner
1-20 of education;
1-21 (3) be a Texas resident as defined by board rules;
1-22 (4) have satisfactorily completed a baccalaureate
1-23 degree from a public or private institution of higher education
1-24 accredited by a recognized accrediting agency with a cumulative
2-1 grade-point average of at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale or the
2-2 equivalent on another grading scale;
2-3 (5) hold an educator certificate in any field or
2-4 subject issued by the State Board of Educator Certification;
2-5 (6) be employed by a public school district in this
2-6 state as a full-time classroom teacher, as determined by the
2-7 employing school district or districts; and
2-8 (7) have an outstanding balance on a student loan
2-9 eligible for repayment assistance under this subchapter [State
2-10 Board of Education].
2-11 (b) A person is not eligible to receive loan repayment
2-12 assistance under this subchapter if the person has been convicted
2-13 of a felony, a crime involving moral turpitude, or an offense under
2-14 Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or under the law of any other
2-15 jurisdiction involving a controlled substance as defined by Chapter
2-16 481, Health and Safety Code [The coordinating board may provide by
2-17 rule for repayment assistance on a pro rata basis for teachers
2-18 employed part-time in an elementary or secondary school of this
2-19 state in an area or field of acute teacher shortage as designated
2-20 by the State Board of Education].
2-21 Sec. 61.703. LOAN REPAYMENT; LIMITATIONS [LIMITATION]. (a)
2-22 For each whole school year that a person qualifies for loan
2-23 repayment assistance under this subchapter, the person is eligible
2-24 for repayment assistance in an amount not to exceed the lesser of:
2-25 (1) one-fifth of the total amount of the person's
2-26 outstanding student loans that qualify for repayment assistance
2-27 when the person is initially determined to be eligible for
3-1 assistance; or
3-2 (2) $3,000.
3-3 (b) A person may not receive repayment assistance in excess
3-4 of the amount of the person's outstanding student loans eligible
3-5 for repayment assistance at the time the payment is made.
3-6 (c) A teacher may not receive repayment assistance under
3-7 this subchapter [grants] for more than five years.
3-8 Sec. 61.704. ELIGIBLE LOANS. (a) A person may receive [The
3-9 coordinating board may provide] repayment assistance under this
3-10 subchapter only for the repayment of a state or federal guaranteed
3-11 [any] student loan [for education at an institution of higher
3-12 education, including loans for undergraduate education, received by
3-13 a teacher through any lender].
3-14 (b) The [coordinating] board may not provide repayment
3-15 assistance for a student loan that is in default at the time of the
3-16 person's [teacher's] application.
3-17 Sec. 61.705. DISQUALIFICATION FROM PROGRAM [REPAYMENT]. A
3-18 person is disqualified from the program and forfeits the right to
3-19 loan repayment assistance for the school year if during the school
3-20 year the person:
3-21 (1) receives an unsatisfactory performance evaluation
3-22 from an employing school district;
3-23 (2) ceases employment as a full-time classroom teacher
3-24 as required by Section 61.702(a)(6); or
3-25 (3) is dismissed from any employment by a public
3-26 school district. [(a) The coordinating board shall deliver any
3-27 repayment made under this subchapter in a lump sum payable to the
4-1 lender and the teacher, in accordance with federal law.]
4-2 [(b) A repayment made under this subchapter may be applied
4-3 to the principal amount of the loan and to interest that accrues.]
4-4 Sec. 61.706. INTERRUPTION OF TEACHING DUTIES. The board
4-5 shall grant a person who is otherwise eligible for loan repayment
4-6 assistance and who serves as a classroom teacher as required by
4-7 Section 61.702(a)(6) for at least one month of the school year a
4-8 portion of the loan repayment assistance the person would have
4-9 received for teaching for the entire school year, prorated
4-10 according to the portion of the school year the person actually
4-11 served as a classroom teacher, if the person demonstrates to the
4-12 board that the person is unable to complete the school year as a
4-13 classroom teacher because the person:
4-14 (1) is called to active duty as a member of the armed
4-15 services of the United States;
4-16 (2) becomes permanently or temporarily disabled so
4-17 that the person is unable to teach;
4-18 (3) enrolls as a full-time student at an institution
4-19 of higher education; or
4-20 (4) is subject to any other hardship or special
4-21 circumstances the board determines to be just cause to provide the
4-22 person with additional time to satisfy the teaching obligation.
4-23 Sec. 61.707. ADVISORY COMMITTEES. The [coordinating] board
4-24 may appoint advisory committees from outside the board's membership
4-25 to assist the board in performing its duties under this subchapter.
4-26 Sec. 61.708 [61.707]. ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS. The
4-27 [coordinating] board may accept gifts, grants, and donations for
5-1 the purposes of this subchapter.
5-2 Sec. 61.709 [61.708]. RULES. (a) The [coordinating] board
5-3 shall adopt rules necessary for the administration of this
5-4 subchapter[, including a rule that sets a maximum amount of
5-5 repayment assistance that may be received by a teacher in one
5-6 year].
5-7 (b) The [coordinating] board shall distribute a copy of the
5-8 rules adopted under this section and pertinent information in this
5-9 subchapter to:
5-10 (1) each institution of higher education that offers a
5-11 teacher education program;
5-12 (2) any other appropriate state agency; and
5-13 (3) any appropriate professional association.
5-14 Sec. 61.710. FUNDING. The loan repayment assistance program
5-15 is funded by amounts appropriated for the program from the state
5-16 lottery account or from other available sources, including gifts,
5-17 grants, and donations accepted for that purpose.
5-18 SECTION 2. Section 466.355(b), Government Code, is amended
5-19 to read as follows:
5-20 (b) Money in the state lottery account may be used only for
5-21 the following purposes and shall be distributed as follows:
5-22 (1) the payment of prizes to the holders of winning
5-23 tickets;
5-24 (2) the payment of costs incurred in the operation and
5-25 administration of the lottery, including any fees received by a
5-26 lottery operator, provided that the costs incurred in a fiscal
5-27 biennium may not exceed an amount equal to 12 percent of the gross
6-1 revenue accruing from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
6-2 (3) the establishment of a pooled bond fund, lottery
6-3 prize reserve fund, unclaimed prize fund, and prize payment
6-4 account; [and]
6-5 (4) the transfer to the Texas Higher Education
6-6 Coordinating Board of any amount appropriated for the current state
6-7 fiscal year for the Texas Classroom Teachers Loan Repayment Program
6-8 under Subchapter M, Chapter 61, Education Code; and
6-9 (5) the balance, after creation of a reserve
6-10 sufficient to pay the amounts needed or estimated to be needed
6-11 under Subdivisions (1) through (4) [(3)], to be transferred to the
6-12 foundation school fund, on or before the 15th day of each month.
6-13 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect beginning with the 1999
6-14 fall semester.
6-15 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-20 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-21 passage, and it is so enacted.