By Tillery                                            H.B. No. 1501
         76R5161 CAS-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to providing grants for training programs for certain
 1-3     teachers.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 21.005 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 21.005.  GRANTS FOR TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS.  (a)  The
 1-8     agency may award a grant for a program to train teachers to teach
 1-9     in bilingual education programs under Subchapter B, Chapter 29, or
1-10     to teach a subject for which there is a critical shortage of
1-11     teachers.  An eligible program may be developed jointly by:
1-12                 (1)  one or more school districts and an accredited
1-13     educator preparation program; or
1-14                 (2)  one or more school districts, an accredited
1-15     educator preparation program, and a community college.
1-16           (b)  Funds awarded under this section may be used only to
1-17     provide scholarships to students who seek a bachelor's degree and
1-18     the teacher certification or endorsement necessary for teaching in
1-19     a bilingual education program or a subject for which, as determined
1-20     under rules adopted by the commissioner, there is a critical
1-21     shortage of teachers.
1-22           (c)  To receive a grant under this section, the entities
1-23     developing the program must submit an application to the
1-24     commissioner.  The application must include the information
 2-1     required by the commissioner and be submitted by the date specified
 2-2     by the commissioner.
 2-3           (d)  The agency shall award grants under this section on a
 2-4     competitive basis.  In awarding a grant, the agency shall give
 2-5     preference to an application submitted by a school district or
 2-6     group of school districts that has a critical shortage of teachers
 2-7     for a bilingual education program or a particular subject.  A
 2-8     school district that has received an exception from the agency
 2-9     under Section 29.054 is considered to have a critical shortage of
2-10     teachers for a bilingual education program.
2-11           (e)  The entities developing a program that receives a grant
2-12     under this section shall select the recipients of scholarships
2-13     under the program.  To be eligible for a scholarship under the
2-14     program on the basis of a critical shortage of teachers for a
2-15     bilingual education program, a person must be fluent in English and
2-16     in another language that is offered in the bilingual education
2-17     program of a school district participating in the grant program.
2-18     The entities shall:
2-19                 (1)  give first priority to paraprofessional employees
2-20     of a school district participating in the program; and
2-21                 (2)  give second priority to a student transferring to
2-22     the educator preparation program from a community college
2-23     participating in the program.
2-24           (f)  A student who receives a scholarship under this section
2-25     must commit to at least two years of service in the school district
2-26     participating in the program under which the student received a
2-27     scholarship.
 3-1           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-2     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-3     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-4     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-5     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 3-6     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 3-7     passage, and it is so enacted.