By Delisi H.B. No. 1451
76R4496 CAS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the Texas Troops to Teachers Program.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-5 Subchapter K to read as follows:
1-6 SUBCHAPTER K. TEXAS TROOPS TO TEACHERS PROGRAM
1-7 Sec. 21.501. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter, "program"
1-8 means the Texas Troops to Teachers Program.
1-9 Sec. 21.502. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The agency shall
1-10 establish a program to:
1-11 (1) assist persons who have served in the armed forces
1-12 of the United States and are separated from active duty to obtain
1-13 certification as an elementary or secondary school teacher in this
1-14 state; and
1-15 (2) facilitate the employment of those persons by
1-16 school districts that have a shortage of teachers.
1-17 Sec. 21.503. ELIGIBILITY. A person is eligible for the
1-18 program if the person:
1-19 (1) has served in the armed forces of the United
1-20 States;
1-21 (2) is honorably discharged, retired, or released from
1-22 active duty on or after October 1, 1990, after at least six years
1-23 of continuous active duty service immediately before the
1-24 discharge, retirement, or release;
2-1 (3) has received a baccalaureate or advanced degree
2-2 from an institution of higher education accredited by a regional
2-3 accrediting agency or group that is recognized by a nationally
2-4 recognized accreditation board; and
2-5 (4) satisfies any other criteria for selection jointly
2-6 prescribed by the agency and the State Board for Educator
2-7 Certification.
2-8 Sec. 21.504. INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS. (a) The agency
2-9 shall develop an application for the program.
2-10 (b) The agency and the State Board for Educator
2-11 Certification shall distribute the applications and information
2-12 regarding the program.
2-13 Sec. 21.505. SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS. (a) The agency
2-14 shall select persons to participate in the program on the basis of
2-15 applications submitted to the agency.
2-16 (b) Each application must be submitted:
2-17 (1) in the form and contain the information the agency
2-18 requires; and
2-19 (2) in a timely manner.
2-20 (c) An application is considered to be submitted in a timely
2-21 manner for purposes of Subsection (b)(2) if the application is
2-22 submitted:
2-23 (1) not later than October 5, 1999, in the case of an
2-24 applicant discharged, retired, or released from active duty before
2-25 January 19, 1999; or
2-26 (2) except as provided by Subdivision (1), not later
2-27 than the first anniversary of the date of the applicant's
3-1 discharge, retirement, or release from active duty.
3-2 Sec. 21.506. LIMITATION ON IMPLEMENTATION. The agency may
3-3 not select a person to participate in the program unless the agency
3-4 has sufficient state appropriations to pay the stipend provided by
3-5 Section 21.509 at the time of the selection.
3-6 Sec. 21.507. PREFERENCES. (a) In selecting persons to
3-7 participate in the program, the agency shall give preference to a
3-8 person who:
3-9 (1) has significant educational or military experience
3-10 in science, mathematics, or engineering and agrees to seek
3-11 employment as a teacher in one of those subjects in a public
3-12 elementary or secondary school in this state; or
3-13 (2) has significant educational or military experience
3-14 in a field other than science, mathematics, or engineering
3-15 identified by the agency as a field important for state educational
3-16 objectives and agrees to seek employment as a teacher in a subject
3-17 related to that field in a public elementary or secondary school in
3-18 this state.
3-19 (b) The commissioner shall determine the level of experience
3-20 considered significant for purposes of this section.
3-21 Sec. 21.508. AGREEMENT. A person selected to participate in
3-22 the program must enter into a written agreement with the agency
3-23 under which the person agrees to:
3-24 (1) obtain, within the period the agency by rule
3-25 requires, certification as an elementary or secondary school
3-26 teacher in this state; and
3-27 (2) accept, during the first school year that begins
4-1 after the date the person becomes certified, an offer of full-time
4-2 employment as an elementary or secondary school teacher with a
4-3 school district in this state.
4-4 Sec. 21.509. STIPEND. The agency shall pay to each
4-5 participant in the program a stipend of $5,000.
4-6 Sec. 21.510. REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A participant in the
4-7 program who fails to obtain certification or employment as required
4-8 in the agreement under Section 21.508 or who voluntarily leaves or
4-9 is terminated for cause from the employment after teaching in a
4-10 public elementary or secondary school in this state for less than
4-11 five school years shall reimburse the agency for the portion of the
4-12 stipend that bears the same ratio to the amount of the stipend as
4-13 the unserved portion of required service bears to the five years of
4-14 required service.
4-15 (b) The obligation to reimburse the agency under this
4-16 section is, for all purposes, a debt to the state. A discharge in
4-17 bankruptcy under Title 11, United States Code, does not release a
4-18 participant from the obligation to reimburse the agency. The
4-19 amount owed bears interest at the rate equal to the highest rate
4-20 being paid by the United States on the day the reimbursement is
4-21 determined to be due for securities that have maturities of 90 days
4-22 or less, and the interest accrues from the day the participant
4-23 receives notice of the amount due.
4-24 (c) For purposes of this section, a participant in the
4-25 program is not considered to be in violation of an agreement under
4-26 Section 21.508 during any period in which the participant:
4-27 (1) is pursuing a full-time course of study related to
5-1 the field of teaching at an institution of higher education
5-2 approved by the State Board for Educator Certification;
5-3 (2) is serving on active duty as a member of the armed
5-4 forces of the United States;
5-5 (3) is temporarily totally disabled for a period not
5-6 to exceed three years as established by sworn affidavit of a
5-7 qualified physician;
5-8 (4) is unable to secure employment for a period not to
5-9 exceed one year because of care required by a disabled spouse;
5-10 (5) is seeking and unable to find full-time employment
5-11 as a teacher in a public elementary or secondary school for a
5-12 single period not to exceed 27 months; or
5-13 (6) satisfies the provisions of any additional
5-14 reimbursement exception adopted by the agency.
5-15 (d) A participant is excused from reimbursement under
5-16 Subsection (a) if:
5-17 (1) the participant becomes permanently totally
5-18 disabled as established by sworn affidavit of a qualified
5-19 physician; or
5-20 (2) the agency waives reimbursement in the case of
5-21 extreme hardship to the participant.
5-22 Sec. 21.511. The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement
5-23 this subchapter.
5-24 SECTION 2. If the commissioner of education determines that
5-25 federal funds are available for a federal program with the general
5-26 purposes of Subchapter K, Chapter 21, Education Code, as added by
5-27 this Act, such as for a program under 10 U.S.C. Section 1151, the
6-1 commissioner of education shall discontinue the Texas Troops to
6-2 Teachers Program and shall file notice of that discontinuation with
6-3 the secretary of state to be published in the Texas Register.
6-4 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-10 passage, and it is so enacted.