By Bivins S.B. No. 3
76R9436 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to master reading teacher certification and allotments.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
1-5 amended by adding Section 21.0481 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 21.0481. MASTER READING TEACHER CERTIFICATION. The
1-7 board shall issue a master reading teacher certificate to each
1-8 eligible person. To be eligible for a master reading teacher
1-9 certificate, a person must:
1-10 (1) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
1-11 subchapter;
1-12 (2) have at least three years of teaching experience;
1-13 (3) satisfactorily complete a knowledge- and
1-14 skills-based course of instruction on the science of teaching
1-15 children to read that includes training in:
1-16 (A) effective reading instruction techniques;
1-17 (B) identification of dyslexia and related
1-18 reading disorders and effective reading instruction techniques for
1-19 students with those disorders; and
1-20 (C) effective professional peer mentoring
1-21 techniques;
1-22 (4) perform satisfactorily on the master reading
1-23 teacher certification examination prescribed by the board that
1-24 reflects proficiency in the knowledge and skills necessary to teach
2-1 children to read; and
2-2 (5) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by the
2-3 board.
2-4 SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
2-5 amended by adding Section 21.410 to read as follows:
2-6 Sec. 21.410. MASTER READING TEACHER ALLOTMENTS. (a) A
2-7 school district or open-enrollment charter school is entitled to an
2-8 annual allotment out of state funds specifically appropriated for
2-9 that purpose in an amount equal to $5,000 for every 1,000 students
2-10 in average daily attendance in the district, not including students
2-11 enrolled at a low-performing campus, except that:
2-12 (1) a district with 1,000 or fewer students in average
2-13 daily attendance is entitled to an annual allotment of at least
2-14 $5,000; and
2-15 (2) a district with more than 1,000 but fewer than
2-16 2,001 students in average daily attendance is entitled to an annual
2-17 allotment of at least $10,000.
2-18 (b) In addition to an allotment under Subsection (a), a
2-19 district or open-enrollment charter school is entitled to an annual
2-20 allotment out of state funds specifically appropriated for that
2-21 purpose of $14,000 for each individual low-performing campus.
2-22 (c) A district or open-enrollment charter school shall use
2-23 the money the district or school receives under Subsection (a) or
2-24 (b) to pay one $5,000 stipend for every $5,000 received, and two
2-25 $7,000 stipends for every $14,000 received for low-performing
2-26 campuses. A stipend may be paid only to a master reading teacher:
2-27 (1) who holds a certificate issued under Section
3-1 21.4081; and
3-2 (2) whose primary duties include:
3-3 (A) teaching reading; and
3-4 (B) serving as a reading teaching mentor to
3-5 other teachers for the amount of time and in the manner established
3-6 by the district or school and by rule adopted by the commissioner.
3-7 (d) The district or open-enrollment charter school shall pay
3-8 a stipend of $5,000 to a certified master reading teacher who
3-9 teaches at a campus that is not low-performing and $7,000 to a
3-10 certified master reading teacher who teaches at a low-performing
3-11 campus. The commissioner shall reduce payments to a district or
3-12 school proportionately to the extent a teacher does not meet the
3-13 requirements under Subsection (c) for the entire school year. A
3-14 district or school that employs more certified master reading
3-15 teachers than the number of stipends available under Subsections
3-16 (a) and (b) shall select the certified master reading teachers to
3-17 whom to pay those stipends based on a policy adopted by the board
3-18 of trustees of the district or the governing body of the school.
3-19 The decision of the district or school is final and may not be
3-20 appealed. The district or school may not apportion among teachers
3-21 a stipend paid for with money the district or school receives under
3-22 Subsection (a) or (b). The district or school may use local money
3-23 to pay additional stipends in amounts determined by the district or
3-24 school.
3-25 (e) A district may distribute the assignment of certified
3-26 master reading teachers among campuses as the district determines
3-27 best meets the needs of district students.
4-1 (f) An allotment a district or open-enrollment charter
4-2 school receives under this section is in addition to any funding
4-3 the district or school receives under Chapter 12 or 42, as
4-4 applicable. The commissioner shall distribute funds under this
4-5 section with the next Foundation School Program payment to which
4-6 the district or school is entitled. A district to which Chapter 41
4-7 applies is entitled to the allotments paid under this section. The
4-8 commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
4-9 funds to a district that does not receive Foundation School Program
4-10 payments.
4-11 (g) This section does not create a property right to an
4-12 allotment or stipend. A district or open-enrollment charter school
4-13 is entitled to an allotment to carry out the purposes of this
4-14 section only to the extent sufficient state funds are appropriated
4-15 for those purposes. If state funds are appropriated but are
4-16 insufficient to fully fund an allotment, the commissioner shall
4-17 reduce the allotment paid to each district or school in the manner
4-18 provided under Section 42.253(h) and each district or school shall
4-19 reduce the stipend the district or school pays to each teacher
4-20 under Subsection (d) proportionately so that each selected teacher
4-21 receives the same amount of money.
4-22 (h) A decision of the commissioner concerning the amount of
4-23 money to which a district or open-enrollment charter school is
4-24 entitled under this section is final and may not be appealed. Each
4-25 district or open-enrollment charter school shall, in the manner and
4-26 at the time prescribed by the commissioner, provide to the
4-27 commissioner:
5-1 (1) proof acceptable to the commissioner of the master
5-2 reading teacher certification of a teacher to whom the district or
5-3 school is paying a stipend under this section; and
5-4 (2) information necessary for the commissioner to
5-5 compute the amount of allotments under this section.
5-6 (i) The commissioner may audit the expenditure of money
5-7 appropriated for purposes of this section. A district's use of the
5-8 money appropriated for purposes of this section shall be verified
5-9 as part of the district audit under Section 44.008.
5-10 (j) A stipend a teacher receives under this section is not
5-11 considered in determining whether the district is paying the
5-12 teacher the minimum monthly salary under Section 21.402.
5-13 (k) The commissioner by rule shall define campus for
5-14 purposes of this section. The commissioner may adopt other rules
5-15 as necessary to implement this section.
5-16 (l) For purposes of this section:
5-17 (1) average daily attendance is determined in
5-18 accordance with Section 42.005; and
5-19 (2) a campus is considered to be low-performing if the
5-20 campus is below the standard established under Section 39.073(b)
5-21 for student performance on any assessment instrument prescribed
5-22 under Section 39.023.
5-23 SECTION 3. Section 822.201(b), Government Code, as amended
5-24 by Chapters 330 and 1035, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
5-25 Session, 1997, is amended to read as follows:
5-26 (b) "Salary and wages" as used in Subsection (a) means:
5-27 (1) normal periodic payments of money for service the
6-1 right to which accrues on a regular basis in proportion to the
6-2 service performed;
6-3 (2) amounts by which the member's salary is reduced
6-4 under a salary reduction agreement authorized by Chapter 610;
6-5 (3) amounts that would otherwise qualify as salary and
6-6 wages under Subdivision (1) but are not received directly by the
6-7 member pursuant to a good faith, voluntary written salary reduction
6-8 agreement in order to finance payments to a deferred compensation
6-9 or tax sheltered annuity program specifically authorized by state
6-10 law or to finance benefit options under a cafeteria plan qualifying
6-11 under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
6-12 Section 125), if:
6-13 (A) the program or benefit options are made
6-14 available to all employees of the employer; and
6-15 (B) the benefit options in the cafeteria plan
6-16 are limited to one or more options that provide deferred
6-17 compensation, group health and disability insurance, group term
6-18 life insurance, dependent care assistance programs, or group legal
6-19 services plans; [and]
6-20 (4) performance pay awarded to an employee by a school
6-21 district as part of a total compensation plan approved by the board
6-22 of trustees of the district;[.]
6-23 (5) [(4)] the benefit replacement pay a person earns
6-24 under Subchapter H, Chapter 659, as added by Chapter 417, Acts of
6-25 the 74th Legislature, 1995, except as provided by Subsection (c);
6-26 and
6-27 (6) stipends paid to teachers in accordance with
7-1 Section 21.410, Education Code.
7-2 SECTION 4. (a) The State Board for Educator Certification
7-3 shall propose rules establishing requirements and prescribing an
7-4 examination for master reading teacher certification not later than
7-5 January 1, 2001.
7-6 (b) For the 2000-2001 school year, a school district or
7-7 open-enrollment charter school may pay stipends in accordance with
7-8 district or school policy and Section 21.410, Education Code, as
7-9 added by this Act, to teachers who hold a reading specialist
7-10 certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code,
7-11 rather than a master reading teacher certificate, and who
7-12 satisfactorily complete training prescribed by the Texas Education
7-13 Agency to teach reading to students. After the 2000-2001 school
7-14 year, a school district or open-enrollment charter school may pay
7-15 the stipends only to teachers who hold master reading teacher
7-16 certificates.
7-17 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
7-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-22 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-23 passage, and it is so enacted.