By:  Van de Putte                                     S.B. No. 1294
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the establishment of a pilot program by the Texas
 1-3     Workforce Commission to assist teachers in retaining employment in
 1-4     the field of child care.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is amended
 1-7     by adding Section 302.0055 to read as follows:
 1-8           Sec. 302.0055.  T.E.A.C.H. PILOT PROGRAM.  (a)  The
 1-9     commission shall establish a pilot program, to be known as the
1-10     Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H.) pilot
1-11     program, to assist teachers in retaining employment in the field of
1-12     child care.  In establishing and administering the program, the
1-13     commission may consult with any other early childhood teacher pilot
1-14     program.
1-15           (b)  The commission shall operate the pilot program in at
1-16     least three locations throughout the state, one of which must be an
1-17     urban community, one of which must be a rural community, and one of
1-18     which must be a community in the region of the state that borders
1-19     the United Mexican States.
1-20           (c)  To be eligible to participate in the pilot program, a
1-21     teacher must be employed in a child-care program that has a
1-22     provider agreement with a local workforce development board to
1-23     serve families that receive subsidized child-care services.
1-24           (d)  At each location in which the pilot program is operated,
1-25     the pilot program, at a minimum, shall:
 2-1                 (1)  provide coordination between the commission and
 2-2     the appropriate local workforce development board;
 2-3                 (2)  obtain incremental increases in financial and
 2-4     other support from public and private sources;
 2-5                 (3)  address the following issues with respect to each
 2-6     participating child-care teacher:
 2-7                       (A)  scholarships;
 2-8                       (B)  education;
 2-9                       (C)  compensation; and
2-10                       (D)  retention;
2-11                 (4)  obtain a financial commitment from participating
2-12     employers to provide graduated increases in compensation to the
2-13     employers' child-care teachers; and
2-14                 (5)  participate in the evaluation of the pilot program
2-15     as determined by the commission.
2-16           (e)  Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission
2-17     shall submit a report to the governor and the legislature regarding
2-18     the status and results of the T.E.A.C.H. pilot program.
2-19           (f)  This section expires September 1, 2005.
2-20           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.