By Kitchen, McCall, Oliveira, Menendez, H.B. No. 1475
77R10173 BDH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to master technology teacher certification, grants, and
1-3 stipends.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 21.411 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 21.411. MASTER TECHNOLOGY TEACHER GRANT PROGRAM. (a)
1-8 The commissioner shall establish a master technology teacher grant
1-9 program to encourage teachers to:
1-10 (1) become certified as master technology teachers;
1-11 and
1-12 (2) work with other teachers and with students in
1-13 order to increase the use of technology in each classroom.
1-14 (b) From funds appropriated for the purpose, the
1-15 commissioner shall make grants to school districts as provided by
1-16 this section to pay stipends to selected certified master
1-17 technology teachers. The commissioner shall give preference to
1-18 teachers who teach at high-need campuses.
1-19 (c) The commissioner shall annually identify each high-need
1-20 campus in a school district using criteria established by the
1-21 commissioner by rule. The commissioner shall also use the criteria
1-22 to rank campuses in order of greatest need.
1-23 (d) A school district may apply to the commissioner for
1-24 grants to be used to pay stipends to certified master technology
1-25 teachers in accordance with this section. Unless reduced under
2-1 Subsection (g) or (i), each grant is in the amount of $5,000. The
2-2 commissioner shall approve the application if the district:
2-3 (1) applies within the period and in the manner
2-4 required by rule adopted by the commissioner; and
2-5 (2) agrees to use each grant only for the purpose of
2-6 paying a year-end stipend to a master technology teacher:
2-7 (A) who holds a certificate issued under Section
2-8 21.0482;
2-9 (B) who teaches in a position prescribed by the
2-10 district;
2-11 (C) whose primary duties include serving as a
2-12 technology training mentor to other teachers for the amount of time
2-13 and in the manner established by the district and by rule adopted
2-14 by the commissioner; and
2-15 (D) who satisfies any other requirements
2-16 established by rule adopted by the commissioner.
2-17 (e) Unless reduced under Subsection (g) or (i), a stipend
2-18 under Subsection (d)(2) is in the amount of $5,000.
2-19 (f) The commissioner shall adopt rules for the distribution
2-20 of grants to school districts in years following the year of the
2-21 initial grant. A district that has been approved for a grant to
2-22 pay a stipend to a certified master technology teacher is not
2-23 required to reapply for a grant for two consecutive school years
2-24 following the year of the initial grant if the district:
2-25 (1) continues to pay a stipend as provided by
2-26 Subsection (g); and
2-27 (2) notifies the commissioner in writing, within the
3-1 period and in the manner prescribed by the commissioner, that the
3-2 circumstances on which the grant was based have not changed.
3-3 (g) The commissioner shall reduce payments to a school
3-4 district proportionately to the extent a teacher does not meet the
3-5 requirements under Subsection (d)(2) for the entire school year. A
3-6 district that employs more certified master technology teachers
3-7 than the number of grants available under this section shall select
3-8 the certified master technology teachers to whom to pay stipends
3-9 based on a policy adopted by the board of trustees of the district,
3-10 except that a district shall pay a stipend for two additional
3-11 consecutive school years to a teacher the district has selected for
3-12 and paid a stipend for a school year, who remains eligible for a
3-13 stipend under Subsection (d)(2), and for whom the district receives
3-14 a grant under this section for those years. A decision of the
3-15 district under this subsection is final and may not be appealed.
3-16 The district may not apportion among teachers a stipend paid for
3-17 with a grant the district receives under this section. The
3-18 district may use local money to pay additional stipends in amounts
3-19 determined by the district.
3-20 (h) A grant a school district receives under this section is
3-21 in addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42.
3-22 The commissioner shall distribute funds under this section with the
3-23 Foundation School Program payment to which the district is entitled
3-24 as soon as practicable after the end of the school year as
3-25 determined by the commissioner. A district to which Chapter 41
3-26 applies is entitled to the grants paid under this section. The
3-27 commissioner shall determine the timing of the distribution of
4-1 grants to a district that does not receive Foundation School
4-2 Program payments.
4-3 (i) This section does not create a property right to a grant
4-4 or stipend. A school district is entitled to a grant to carry out
4-5 the purposes of this section only to the extent the commissioner
4-6 makes the grant in accordance with this section and only to the
4-7 extent sufficient state funds are appropriated for those purposes.
4-8 If state funds are appropriated but are insufficient to fully fund
4-9 a grant, the commissioner shall determine the method of
4-10 distributing the funds.
4-11 (j) A decision of the commissioner concerning the amount of
4-12 money to which a school district is entitled under this section is
4-13 final and may not be appealed. Each district shall, in the manner
4-14 and at the time prescribed by the commissioner, provide to the
4-15 commissioner proof acceptable to the commissioner of the master
4-16 technology teacher certification of a teacher to whom the district
4-17 is paying a stipend under this section.
4-18 (k) The commissioner may audit the expenditure of money
4-19 appropriated for purposes of this section. A district's use of the
4-20 money appropriated for purposes of this section shall be verified
4-21 as part of the district audit under Section 44.008.
4-22 (l) A stipend a teacher receives under this section is not
4-23 considered in determining whether the district is paying the
4-24 teacher the minimum monthly salary under Section 21.402.
4-25 (m) The commissioner may adopt other rules as necessary to
4-26 implement this section.
4-27 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
5-1 amended by adding Section 21.0482 to read as follows:
5-2 Sec. 21.0482. MASTER TECHNOLOGY TEACHER CERTIFICATION. (a)
5-3 To ensure that there are teachers with special training to work
5-4 with other teachers and with students in order to increase the use
5-5 of technology in each classroom, the board shall establish a master
5-6 technology teacher certificate.
5-7 (b) The board shall issue a master technology teacher
5-8 certificate to each eligible person.
5-9 (c) To be eligible for a master technology teacher
5-10 certificate, a person must:
5-11 (1) hold a technology applications certificate issued
5-12 under this subchapter, satisfactorily complete the course of
5-13 instruction prescribed under Subdivision (2)(B), and satisfactorily
5-14 perform on the examination prescribed under Subdivision (2)(C); or
5-15 (2) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
5-16 subchapter and:
5-17 (A) have at least three years of teaching
5-18 experience;
5-19 (B) satisfactorily complete a knowledge-based
5-20 and skills-based course of instruction on interdisciplinary
5-21 technology applications and the science of teaching technology that
5-22 includes training in:
5-23 (i) effective technology instruction
5-24 techniques, including applications designed to meet the educational
5-25 needs of students with disabilities;
5-26 (ii) classroom teaching methodology that
5-27 engages student learning through the integration of technology;
6-1 (iii) digital learning competencies,
6-2 including Internet research, graphics, animation, website
6-3 mastering, and video technologies;
6-4 (iv) curriculum models designed to prepare
6-5 teachers to facilitate an active student learning environment; and
6-6 (v) effective professional peer mentoring
6-7 techniques;
6-8 (C) satisfactorily perform on an examination
6-9 developed in cooperation with the Telecommunications Infrastructure
6-10 Fund Board and administered at the conclusion of the course of
6-11 instruction prescribed under Paragraph (B); and
6-12 (D) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by
6-13 the board.
6-14 (d) The board may provide technology applications training
6-15 courses under Subsection (c)(2)(B) in cooperation with:
6-16 (1) regional education service centers; and
6-17 (2) other public or private entities, including any
6-18 state council on technology.
6-19 SECTION 3. Section 822.201(b), Government Code, is amended
6-20 to read as follows:
6-21 (b) "Salary and wages" as used in Subsection (a) means:
6-22 (1) normal periodic payments of money for service the
6-23 right to which accrues on a regular basis in proportion to the
6-24 service performed;
6-25 (2) amounts by which the member's salary is reduced
6-26 under a salary reduction agreement authorized by Chapter 610;
6-27 (3) amounts that would otherwise qualify as salary and
7-1 wages under Subdivision (1) but are not received directly by the
7-2 member pursuant to a good faith, voluntary written salary reduction
7-3 agreement in order to finance payments to a deferred compensation
7-4 or tax sheltered annuity program specifically authorized by state
7-5 law or to finance benefit options under a cafeteria plan qualifying
7-6 under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C.
7-7 Section 125), if:
7-8 (A) the program or benefit options are made
7-9 available to all employees of the employer; and
7-10 (B) the benefit options in the cafeteria plan
7-11 are limited to one or more options that provide deferred
7-12 compensation, group health and disability insurance, group term
7-13 life insurance, dependent care assistance programs, or group legal
7-14 services plans;
7-15 (4) performance pay awarded to an employee by a school
7-16 district as part of a total compensation plan approved by the board
7-17 of trustees of the district and meeting the requirements of
7-18 Subsection (e); [and]
7-19 (5) the benefit replacement pay a person earns under
7-20 Subchapter H, Chapter 659, as added by Chapter 417, Acts of the
7-21 74th Legislature, 1995, except as provided by Subsection (c); and
7-22 (6) stipends paid to teachers in accordance with
7-23 Sections [Section] 21.410 and 21.411, Education Code.
7-24 SECTION 4. The State Board for Educator Certification shall
7-25 propose rules establishing requirements and prescribing an
7-26 examination for master technology teacher certification not later
7-27 than September 1, 2003.
8-1 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
8-2 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
8-3 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
8-4 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
8-5 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.