By McReynolds                                         H.B. No. 2362
         76R7652 KEL-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to tuition and fee exemptions for certain classroom
 1-3     teachers enrolled in education-related courses 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.  CLASSROOM TEACHERS.  (a)  The governing board
 1-9     of each institution of higher education shall exempt a person who
1-10     is a resident of this state and an eligible classroom teacher from
1-11     the payment of tuition and required fees for education-related
1-12     courses when the person is enrolled as a student at the
1-13     institution.  The exemption does not apply to a required fee that
1-14     is charged in the same amount to every student registered for a
1-15     semester without regard to the number of credit hours for which a
1-16     student is registered.
1-17           (b)  To be eligible for an exemption from the payment of
1-18     tuition and required fees under this section, a person must, at the
1-19     beginning of the semester or other equivalent academic session for
1-20     which an exemption is sought:
1-21                 (1)  be employed as a classroom teacher in this state;
1-22     or
1-23                 (2)  have contracted to work as a classroom teacher in
1-24     this state during all or part of that semester or session or, if
 2-1     the person is enrolled for a summer semester or session, have
 2-2     contracted to work as a classroom teacher in this state during the
 2-3     next school year.
 2-4           (c)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
 2-5     adopt:
 2-6                 (1)  rules governing the granting or denial of an
 2-7     exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
 2-8     determination of eligibility for an exemption; and
 2-9                 (2)  a uniform application form for an exemption under
2-10     this section.
2-11           (d)  An appropriation made to an institution of higher
2-12     education in any biennium should be adjusted to take into
2-13     consideration any tuition or fees exempted in the preceding
2-14     biennium under this section.
2-15           (e)  In this section:
2-16                 (1)  "Classroom teacher" has the meaning assigned by
2-17     Section 5.001(2).
2-18                 (2)  "Education-related course" means a course relating
2-19     to or supporting a subject area in which the classroom teacher is
2-20     certified or is seeking certification as an educator.  The term
2-21     does not include a course designed solely to satisfy the
2-22     requirements for certification as an administrator.
2-23           SECTION 2.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), this
2-24     Act takes effect beginning with the fall semester in 2000.
2-25           (b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
2-26     adopt rules or forms relating to the exemption of classroom
2-27     teachers under Section 54.219, Education Code, as added by this
 3-1     Act, not later than January 1, 2000.
 3-2           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-3     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-4     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-5     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-6     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 3-7     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 3-8     passage, and it is so enacted.