By Naishtat H.B. No. 3142
76R8048 KEL-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to exempting certain courses of instruction or review from
1-3 proprietary school certification.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 132.002(a), Education Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (a) The following schools or educational institutions are
1-8 specifically exempt from this chapter and are not within the
1-9 definition of "proprietary school":
1-10 (1) a school or educational institution supported by
1-11 taxation from either a local or state source;
1-12 (2) nonprofit schools owned, controlled, operated, and
1-13 conducted by bona fide religious, denominational, eleemosynary, or
1-14 similar public institutions exempt from property taxation under the
1-15 laws of this state, but such schools may choose to apply for a
1-16 certificate of approval hereunder, and upon approval and issuance,
1-17 are subject to this chapter as determined by the commission;
1-18 (3) a school or training program that offers
1-19 instruction of purely avocational or recreational subjects as
1-20 determined by the commission;
1-21 (4) a course or courses of instruction or study
1-22 sponsored by an employer for the training and preparation of its
1-23 own employees, and for which no tuition fee is charged to the
1-24 student;
2-1 (5) a course or courses of study or instruction
2-2 sponsored by a recognized trade, business, or professional
2-3 organization for the instruction of the members of the organization
2-4 with a closed membership;
2-5 (6) private colleges or universities that award a
2-6 recognized baccalaureate, or higher degree, and that maintain and
2-7 operate educational programs for which a majority of the credits
2-8 given are transferable to a college, junior college, or university
2-9 supported entirely or partly by taxation from either a local or
2-10 state source;
2-11 (7) a school or course that is otherwise regulated and
2-12 approved under and pursuant to any other law or rulemaking process
2-13 of this state or approved for continuing education credit by an
2-14 organization that accredits courses for the maintenance of a
2-15 license, except as provided by Subsection (c);
2-16 (8) aviation schools or instructors approved by and
2-17 under the supervision of the Federal Aviation Administration;
2-18 (9) a school that offers intensive review of a
2-19 student's previously acquired education, training, or experience
2-20 [courses designed] to prepare the student [students] for an
2-21 examination that:
2-22 (A) the student by law may not take unless the
2-23 student has completed or substantially completed a particular
2-24 certificate or degree program; or
2-25 (B) the student is required to take as a
2-26 precondition for enrollment in, or consideration for admission to,
2-27 a particular certificate or degree program [certified public
3-1 accountancy tests, public accountancy tests, law school aptitude
3-2 tests, bar examinations, or medical college admissions tests];
3-3 (10) a private school offering primary or secondary
3-4 education, which may include a kindergarten or prekindergarten
3-5 program, and that satisfies the compulsory attendance requirements
3-6 of Section 25.085 pursuant to Section 25.086(a)(1);
3-7 (11) a course or courses of instruction by bona fide
3-8 electrical trade associations for the purpose of preparing students
3-9 for electrical tests required for licensing and for the purpose of
3-10 providing continuing education to students for the renewal of
3-11 electrical licenses;
3-12 (12) a nonprofit arts organization that has as its
3-13 primary purpose the provision of instruction in the dramatic arts
3-14 and the communications media to persons younger than 19 years of
3-15 age;
3-16 (13) a course or training program conducted by a
3-17 nonprofit association of air conditioning and refrigeration
3-18 contractors approved by the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
3-19 Contractors Advisory Board to provide instruction for technical,
3-20 business, or license examination preparation programs relating to
3-21 air conditioning and refrigeration contracting, as that term is
3-22 defined by the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor
3-23 License Law (Article 8861, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); [and]
3-24 (14) a course of instruction by a plumbing trade
3-25 association to prepare students for a plumbing test or program
3-26 required for licensing, certification, or endorsement or to provide
3-27 continuing education approved by the Texas State Board of Plumbing
4-1 Examiners; and
4-2 (15) a course of instruction in the use of a product
4-3 if the course is offered to a purchaser of the product or to the
4-4 purchaser's employee by a person who:
4-5 (A) manufactures or sells the product; and
4-6 (B) is not primarily in the business of
4-7 providing courses of instruction in product use.
4-8 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
4-9 to a course of instruction or review offered on or after the
4-10 effective date of this Act. A course of instruction or review
4-11 offered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
4-12 law in effect when the course was offered, and the former law is
4-13 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-14 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-15 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.