1-1 By: Keffer (Senate Sponsor - Sibley) H.B. No. 2307
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999;
1-3 May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Education; May 14, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0;
1-6 May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2307 By: Sibley
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to assistance to certain low-performing public school
1-11 districts.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
1-14 amended by adding Section 21.410 to read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 21.410. MASTER READING TEACHER GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The
1-16 commissioner shall establish a master reading teacher grant program
1-17 to encourage teachers to:
1-18 (1) become certified as master reading teachers; and
1-19 (2) work with other teachers and with students in
1-20 order to improve student reading performance.
1-21 (b) From funds appropriated for the purpose, the
1-22 commissioner shall make grants to school districts as provided by
1-23 this section to pay stipends to selected certified master reading
1-24 teachers who teach at high-need companies.
1-25 (c) The commissioner shall annually identify each high-need
1-26 campus in a school district using criteria established by the
1-27 commissioner by rule, including performance on the reading
1-28 assessment instrument administered under Section 39.023. The
1-29 commissioner shall also use the criteria to rank campuses in order
1-30 of greatest need.
1-31 (d) A school district may apply to the commissioner for
1-32 grants for each high-need campus identified by the commissioner to
1-33 be used to pay stipends to certified master reading teachers in
1-34 accordance with this section. Unless reduced under Subsection (g)
1-35 or (i), each grant is in the amount of $5,000. The commissioner
1-36 shall approve the application if the district:
1-37 (1) applies within the period and in the manner
1-38 required by rule adopted by the commissioner; and
1-39 (2) agrees to use each grant only for the purpose of
1-40 paying a year-end stipend to a master reading teacher:
1-41 (A) who holds a certificate issued under Section
1-42 21.0481;
1-43 (B) who teaches in a position prescribed by the
1-44 district at a high-need campus identified by the commissioner;
1-45 (C) whose primary duties include:
1-46 (i) teaching reading; and
1-47 (ii) serving as a reading teaching mentor
1-48 to other teachers for the amount of time and in the manner
1-49 established by the district and by rule adopted by the
1-50 commissioner; and
1-51 (D) who satisfies any other requirements
1-52 established by rule adopted by the commissioner.
1-53 (e) Unless reduced under Subsection (g) or (i), a stipend
1-54 under Subsection (d)(2) is in the amount of $5,000.
1-55 (f) The commissioner shall adopt rules for the distribution
1-56 of grants to school districts following the year of the initial
1-57 grant. A district that has been approved for a grant to pay a
1-58 stipend to a certified master reading teacher is not required to
1-59 reapply for a grant for two consecutive school years following the
1-60 year of the intitial grant if the district:
1-61 (1) continues to pay a stipend as provided by
1-62 Subsection (g); and
1-63 (2) notifies the commissioner in writing, within the
1-64 period and in the manner prescribed by the commissioner, that the
2-1 circumstances on which the grant was based have not changed.
2-2 (g) The commissioner shall reduce payments to a school
2-3 district proportionately to the extent a teacher does not meet the
2-4 requirements under Subsection (d)(2) for the entire school year. A
2-5 district that employs more certified master reading teachers than
2-6 the number of grants available under this section shall select the
2-7 certified master reading teachers to whom to pay stipends based on
2-8 a policy adopted by the board of trustees of the district, except
2-9 that a district shall pay a stipend for two additional consecutive
2-10 school years to a teacher the district has selected for and paid a
2-11 stipend for a school year, who remains eligible for a stipend under
2-12 Subsection (d)(2), and for whom the district receives a grant under
2-13 this section for those years. A decision of the district under
2-14 this subsection is final and may not be appealed. The district may
2-15 not apportion among teachers a stipend paid for with a grant the
2-16 district receives under this section. The district may use local
2-17 money to pay additional stipends in amounts determined by the
2-18 district.
2-19 (h) A grant a school district receives under this section is
2-20 in addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42.
2-21 The commissioner shall distribute funds under this section with the
2-22 Foundation School Program payment to which the district is entitled
2-23 as soon as practicable after the end of the school year as
2-24 determined by the commissioner. A district to which Chapter 41
2-25 applies is entitled to the grants paid under this section. The
2-26 commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
2-27 grants to a district that does not receive Foundation School
2-28 Program payments.
2-29 (i) This section does not create a property right to a grant
2-30 or stipend. A school district is entitled to a grant to carry out
2-31 the purposes of this section only to the extent the commissioner
2-32 makes the grant in accordance with this section and only to the
2-33 extent sufficient state funds are appropriated for those purposes.
2-34 If state funds are appropriated but are insufficient to fully fund
2-35 a grant, the commissioner shall reduce the grant paid to each
2-36 district shall reduce the stipend the district pays to each teacher
2-37 under this section proportionately so that each selected teacher
2-38 receives the same amount of money.
2-39 (j) A decision of the commissioner concerning the amount of
2-40 money to which a school district is entitled under this section is
2-41 final and may not be appealed. Each district shall, in the manner
2-42 and at the time prescribed by the commissioner, provide to the
2-43 commissioner proof acceptable to the commissioner of the master
2-44 reading teacher certification of a teacher to whom the district is
2-45 paying a stipend under this section.
2-46 (k) The commissioner may audit the expenditure of money
2-47 appropriated for purposes of this section. A district's use of the
2-48 money appropriated for purposes of this section shall be verified
2-49 as part of the district audit under Section 44.008.
2-50 (l) A stipend a teacher receives under this section is not
2-51 considered in determining whether the district is paying the
2-52 teacher the minimum monthly salary under Section 21.402.
2-53 (m) The commissioner may adopt other rules as necessary to
2-54 implement this section.
2-55 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
2-56 amended by adding Section 21.0481 to read as follows:
2-57 Sec. 21.0481. MASTER READING TEACHER CERTIFICATION. (a) To
2-58 ensure that there are teachers with special training to work with
2-59 other teachers and with students in order to improve student
2-60 reading performance, the board shall establish a master reading
2-61 teacher certificate.
2-62 (b) The board shall issue a master reading teacher
2-63 certificate to each eligible person.
2-64 (c) To be eligible for a master reading teacher certificate,
2-65 a person must:
2-66 (1) hold a reading specialist certificate issued under
2-67 this subchapter and satisfactorily complete a course of instruction
2-68 as prescribed under Subdivision (2)(B); or
2-69 (2) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
3-1 subchapter and:
3-2 (A) have at least three years of teaching
3-3 experience;
3-4 (B) satisfactorily complete a knowledge-based
3-5 and skills-based course of instruction on the science of teaching
3-6 children to read that includes training in:
3-7 (i) effective reading instruction
3-8 techniques, including effective techniques for students whose
3-9 primary language is a language other than English;
3-10 (ii) identification of dyslexia and
3-11 related reading disorders and effective reading instruction
3-12 techniques for students with those disorders; and
3-13 (iii) effective professional peer
3-14 mentoring techniques;
3-15 (C) perform satisfactorily on the master reading
3-16 teacher certification examination prescribed by the board; and
3-17 (D) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by
3-18 the board.
3-19 SECTION 3. Subchapter J, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
3-20 amended by adding Section 21.453 to read as follows:
3-21 Sec. 21.453. STAFF DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT. (a) The staff
3-22 development account is an account in the general revenue fund. The
3-23 account consists of gifts, grants, donations, appropriations for
3-24 the purpose of staff development under this subchapter, and any
3-25 other money transferred by law to the account. Funds in the
3-26 account may be used only as provided by this section.
3-27 (b) The commissioner may allocate funds from the account to
3-28 regional education service centers to provide staff development
3-29 resources to school districts that:
3-30 (1) are rated academically unacceptable;
3-31 (2) have one or more campuses rated as low-performing;
3-32 or
3-33 (3) are otherwise in need of assistance as indicated
3-34 by the academic performance of students, as determined by the
3-35 commissioner.
3-36 (c) A school district that receives resources under this
3-37 section must pay to the commissioner for deposit in the account an
3-38 amount equal to one-half of the cost of the resources provided to
3-39 the district.
3-40 (d) The commissioner may adopt rules governing the
3-41 allocation and use of funds under this section.
3-42 SECTION 4. Section 39.075(c), Education Code, is amended to
3-43 read as follows:
3-44 (c) Based on the results of a special accreditation
3-45 investigation, the commissioner may lower the district's
3-46 accreditation rating and may take appropriate action under
3-47 Subchapter G. Regardless of whether the commissioner lowers the
3-48 district's accreditation rating, the commissioner may take action
3-49 under Sections 39.131(a)(1) through (8) if the commissioner
3-50 determines that the action is necessary to improve any area of a
3-51 district's performance, including the district's financial
3-52 accounting practices.
3-53 SECTION 5. Section 822.201(b), Government Code, as amended
3-54 by Chapters 330 and 1035, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
3-55 Session, 1997, is amended to read as follows:
3-56 (b) "Salary and wages" as used in Subsection (a) means:
3-57 (1) normal periodic payments of money for service the
3-58 right to which accrues on a regular basis in proportion to the
3-59 service performed;
3-60 (2) amounts by which the member's salary is reduced
3-61 under a salary reduction agreement authorized by Chapter 610;
3-62 (3) amounts that would otherwise qualify as salary and
3-63 wages under Subdivision (1) but are not received directly by the
3-64 member pursuant to a good faith, voluntary written salary reduction
3-65 agreement in order to finance payments to a deferred compensation
3-66 or tax sheltered annuity program specifically authorized by state
3-67 law or to finance benefit options under a cafeteria plan qualifying
3-68 under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.)
3-69 Section 125), if:
4-1 (A) the program or benefit options are made
4-2 available to all employees of the employer; and
4-3 (B) the benefit options in the cafeteria plan
4-4 are limited to one or more options that provide deferred
4-5 compensation, group health and disability insurance, group term
4-6 life insurance, dependent care assistance programs, or group legal
4-7 services plans; [and]
4-8 (4) performance pay awarded to an employee by a school
4-9 district as part of a total compensation plan approved by the board
4-10 of trustees of the district;[.]
4-11 (5) [(4)] the benefit replacement pay a person earns
4-12 under Subchapter H, Chapter 659, as added by Chapter 417, Acts of
4-13 the 74th Legislature, 1995, except as provided by Subsection (c);
4-14 and
4-15 (6) stipends paid to teachers in accordance with
4-16 Section 21.410, Education Code.
4-17 SECTION 6. The State Board for Educator Certification shall
4-18 propose rules establishing requirements and prescribing an
4-19 examination for master reading teacher certification not later than
4-20 January 1, 2001.
4-21 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-26 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-27 passage, and it is so enacted.
4-28 * * * * *