By Kitchen H.B. No. 1475
77R3820 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 the classroom.
1-14 (b) From funds appropriated for the purpose, the
1-15 commissioner shall make grants to school districts and
1-16 open-enrollment charter schools as provided by this section to pay
1-17 stipends to selected certified master technology teachers. The
1-18 commissioner shall give preference to teachers who teach at
1-19 high-need campuses.
1-20 (c) The commissioner shall annually identify each high-need
1-21 campus in a school district and each high-need open-enrollment
1-22 charter school campus using criteria established by the
1-23 commissioner by rule. The commissioner shall also use the criteria
1-24 to rank campuses in order of greatest need.
2-1 (d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
2-2 apply to the commissioner for grants to be used to pay stipends to
2-3 certified master technology teachers in accordance with this
2-4 section. Unless reduced under Subsection (g) or (i), each grant is
2-5 in the amount of $5,000. The commissioner shall approve the
2-6 application if the district or school:
2-7 (1) applies within the period and in the manner
2-8 required by rule adopted by the commissioner; and
2-9 (2) agrees to use each grant only for the purpose of
2-10 paying a year-end stipend to a master technology teacher:
2-11 (A) who holds a certificate issued under Section
2-12 21.0482;
2-13 (B) who teaches in a position prescribed by the
2-14 district or school;
2-15 (C) whose primary duties include serving as a
2-16 technology training mentor to other teachers for the amount of time
2-17 and in the manner established by the district or school and by rule
2-18 adopted by the commissioner; and
2-19 (D) who satisfies any other requirements
2-20 established by rule adopted by the commissioner.
2-21 (e) Unless reduced under Subsection (g) or (i), a stipend
2-22 under Subsection (d)(2) is in the amount of $5,000.
2-23 (f) The commissioner shall adopt rules for the distribution
2-24 of grants to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools
2-25 in years following the year of the initial grant. A district or
2-26 school that has been approved for a grant to pay a stipend to a
2-27 certified master technology teacher is not required to reapply for
3-1 a grant for two consecutive school years following the year of the
3-2 initial grant if the district or school:
3-3 (1) continues to pay a stipend as provided by
3-4 Subsection (g); and
3-5 (2) notifies the commissioner in writing, within the
3-6 period and in the manner prescribed by the commissioner, that the
3-7 circumstances on which the grant was based have not changed.
3-8 (g) The commissioner shall reduce payments to a school
3-9 district or open-enrollment charter school proportionately to the
3-10 extent a teacher does not meet the requirements under Subsection
3-11 (d)(2) for the entire school year. A district or school that
3-12 employs more certified master technology teachers than the number
3-13 of grants available under this section shall select the certified
3-14 master technology teachers to whom to pay stipends based on a
3-15 policy adopted by the board of trustees of the district or the
3-16 governing body of the school, except that a district or school
3-17 shall pay a stipend for two additional consecutive school years to
3-18 a teacher the district or school has selected for and paid a
3-19 stipend for a school year, who remains eligible for a stipend under
3-20 Subsection (d)(2), and for whom the district or school receives a
3-21 grant under this section for those years. A decision of the
3-22 district or school under this subsection is final and may not be
3-23 appealed. The district or school may not apportion among teachers
3-24 a stipend paid for with a grant the district or school receives
3-25 under this section. The district or school may use local money to
3-26 pay additional stipends in amounts determined by the district or
3-27 school.
4-1 (h) A grant a school 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 Foundation School Program payment to which the
4-6 district or school is entitled as soon as practicable after the end
4-7 of the school year as determined by the commissioner. A district
4-8 to which Chapter 41 applies is entitled to the grants paid under
4-9 this section. The commissioner shall determine the timing of the
4-10 distribution of grants to a district that does not receive
4-11 Foundation School Program payments.
4-12 (i) This section does not create a property right to a grant
4-13 or stipend. A school district or open-enrollment charter school is
4-14 entitled to a grant to carry out the purposes of this section only
4-15 to the extent the commissioner makes the grant in accordance with
4-16 this section and only to the extent sufficient state funds are
4-17 appropriated for those purposes. If state funds are appropriated
4-18 but are insufficient to fully fund a grant, the commissioner shall
4-19 reduce the grant paid to each district or school in the manner
4-20 provided under Section 42.253(h) and each district or school shall
4-21 reduce the stipend the district or school pays to each teacher
4-22 under this section proportionately so that each selected teacher
4-23 receives the same amount of money.
4-24 (j) A decision of the commissioner concerning the amount of
4-25 money to which a school district or open-enrollment charter school
4-26 is entitled under this section is final and may not be appealed.
4-27 Each district or open-enrollment charter school shall, in the
5-1 manner and at the time prescribed by the commissioner, provide to
5-2 the commissioner proof acceptable to the commissioner of the master
5-3 technology teacher certification of a teacher to whom the district
5-4 or school is paying a stipend under this section.
5-5 (k) The commissioner may audit the expenditure of money
5-6 appropriated for purposes of this section. A district's use of the
5-7 money appropriated for purposes of this section shall be verified
5-8 as part of the district audit under Section 44.008.
5-9 (l) A stipend a teacher receives under this section is not
5-10 considered in determining whether the district is paying the
5-11 teacher the minimum monthly salary under Section 21.402.
5-12 (m) The commissioner may adopt other rules as necessary to
5-13 implement this section.
5-14 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
5-15 amended by adding Section 21.0482 to read as follows:
5-16 Sec. 21.0482. MASTER TECHNOLOGY TEACHER CERTIFICATION. (a)
5-17 To ensure that there are teachers with special training to work
5-18 with other teachers and with students in order to increase the use
5-19 of technology in the classroom, the board shall establish a master
5-20 technology teacher certificate.
5-21 (b) The board shall issue a master technology teacher
5-22 certificate to each eligible person.
5-23 (c) To be eligible for a master technology teacher
5-24 certificate, a person must:
5-25 (1) hold a technology applications certificate issued
5-26 under this subchapter and satisfactorily complete a course of
5-27 instruction as prescribed under Subdivision (2)(B); or
6-1 (2) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
6-2 subchapter and:
6-3 (A) have at least three years of teaching
6-4 experience;
6-5 (B) satisfactorily complete a knowledge-based
6-6 and skills-based course of instruction on technology applications
6-7 and the science of teaching technology that includes training in:
6-8 (i) effective technology instruction
6-9 techniques; and
6-10 (ii) effective professional peer mentoring
6-11 techniques; and
6-12 (C) 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 January 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.