By Luna                                               H.B. No. 3538
         76R3087 KEL-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to tuition and fee exemptions for certain classroom
 1-3     teachers seeking additional certification to teach in an area or
 1-4     field of acute teacher shortage.
 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 an eligible
1-10     classroom teacher from the payment of tuition and required fees for
1-11     certification-related courses.  The exemption does not apply to a
1-12     required fee that is charged in the same amount to every student
1-13     registered for a semester without regard to the number of credit
1-14     hours for which a student is registered.
1-15           (b)  To be eligible for an exemption from the payment of
1-16     tuition and required fees under this section, a classroom teacher
1-17     must:
1-18                 (1)  be a resident of this state;
1-19                 (2)  have taught for at least 10 school years in the
1-20     public schools of this state as a classroom teacher; and
1-21                 (3)  be seeking additional certification to teach in an
1-22     area or field of acute teacher shortage as designated by the
1-23     commissioner of education.
1-24           (c)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
 2-1     adopt:
 2-2                 (1)  rules governing the granting or denial of an
 2-3     exemption under this section, including rules relating to the
 2-4     determination of eligibility for an exemption; and
 2-5                 (2)  a uniform application form for an exemption under
 2-6     this section.
 2-7           (d)  In this section:
 2-8                 (1)  "Classroom teacher" means a person who holds a
 2-9     teaching certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
2-10                 (2)  "Certification-related course" means a course
2-11     offered by an institution in an area or field of acute teacher
2-12     shortage in which the classroom teacher is seeking additional
2-13     certification to teach.
2-14           SECTION 2.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), this
2-15     Act takes effect beginning with the fall semester in 2000.
2-16           (b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
2-17     adopt rules or forms relating to the exemption of classroom
2-18     teachers under Section 54.219, Education Code, as added by this
2-19     Act, not later than January 1, 2000.
2-20           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-25     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-26     passage, and it is so enacted.