78S40852 CAS-D
By: Ellis H.B. No. 60
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the minimum salary for certain professional school
district personnel.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.402, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (i) and (j) to read
as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), (e), or (f), a
school district must pay each classroom teacher or[,] full-time
member of the district's professional support staff [librarian,
full-time counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time
school nurse] not less than the minimum monthly salary, based on the
employee's level of experience, determined by the following
formula:
MS = SF x FS
where:
"MS" is the minimum monthly salary;
"SF" is the applicable salary factor specified by Subsection
(c); and
"FS" is the amount, as determined by the commissioner under
Subsection (b), of state and local funds per weighted student
available to a district eligible to receive state assistance under
Section 42.302 with an enrichment tax rate, as defined by Section
42.302, equal to the maximum rate authorized under Section 42.303,
except that the amount of state and local funds per weighted student
does not include the amount attributable to the increase in the
guaranteed level made by Chapter 1187 [H.B. No. 3343], Acts of the
77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001.
(i) From funds appropriated for the purpose, the
commissioner shall distribute to each school district for each
school year sufficient funds to pay each classroom teacher $150 for
each month of the teacher's contract and to pay each member of the
district's professional support staff $50 for each month of the
employee's contract. Funds a teacher or member of a district's
professional support staff receives under this subsection are not
considered in determining whether the district is paying the
minimum monthly salary under this section. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this section, as long as a classroom teacher or
member of the district's professional support staff is employed by
the same district, the employee is entitled to a monthly salary in
an amount at least equal to the per month distributions under this
subsection, the gross monthly salary the employee received for the
2003-2004 school year, and any increases in that salary the
district is to pay under the district's salary schedule. Funds
distributed to a school district under this subsection are in
addition to any funding the district receives under Chapter 42 or
from any other source. A district to which Chapter 41 applies is
entitled to funds under this subsection. If state funds are
appropriated but are insufficient to fully fund this subsection,
the commissioner shall reduce the amount distributed to each
district under this subsection and the district shall reduce the
amount the district pays to each teacher and member of the
district's professional support staff from funds distributed under
this subsection proportionately so that each teacher receives the
same amount from funds distributed under this subsection and each
member of a district's professional support staff receives the same
amount from funds distributed under this subsection. A decision of
the commissioner concerning the amount of money to which a school
district is entitled under this subsection is final and may not be
appealed.
(j) In this section, "professional support staff" includes
a supervisor who is not a campus administrator, as determined by
commissioner rule, a librarian, a counselor certified under
Subchapter B, a school nurse, an educational diagnostician, a
therapist, a psychologist, an associate psychologist, and any other
person who holds a position designated as a professional support
staff position by commissioner rule.
SECTION 2. Sections 21.403(a) and (c), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A teacher or member of a school district's professional
support staff[, librarian, counselor, or nurse] shall advance one
step on the minimum salary schedule under Section 21.402 for each
year of experience as a teacher or member of a district's
professional support staff[, librarian, counselor, or nurse] until
step 20 is reached.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt rules for determining the
experience for which a teacher or member of a school district's
professional support staff[, librarian, counselor, or nurse] is to
be given credit in placing the employee [teacher, librarian,
counselor, or nurse] on the minimum salary schedule. A district
shall credit the teacher or member of the district's professional
support staff[, librarian, counselor, or nurse] for each year of
experience without regard to whether the years are consecutive.
SECTION 3. Section 30.102(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) A classroom teacher or[,] full-time member of the
professional support staff, as defined by Section 21.402,
[librarian, full-time counselor certified under Subchapter B,
Chapter 21, or full-time school nurse] employed by the commission
is entitled to receive as a minimum salary the monthly salary
specified by Section 21.402. A classroom teacher or[,] full-time
member of the professional support staff [librarian, full-time
counselor, or full-time school nurse] may be paid, from funds
appropriated to the commission, a salary in excess of the minimum
specified by that section, but the salary may not exceed the rate of
pay for a similar position in the public schools of an adjacent
school district.
SECTION 4. Section 42.2512(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A school district, including a [school] district that is
otherwise ineligible for state aid under this chapter, is entitled
to state aid in an amount, as determined by the commissioner, equal
to the difference, if any, between:
(1) an amount equal to the product of $3,000
multiplied by the number of classroom teachers and[,] full-time
members of the professional support staff, as defined by Section
21.402, [librarians, full-time counselors certified under
Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses] employed by
the district and entitled to a minimum salary under Section 21.402;
and
(2) an amount equal to 80 percent of the amount of
additional funds to which the district is entitled due to the
increases made by Chapter 396 [S.B. No. 4], Acts of the 76th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1999, to:
(A) the equalized wealth level under Section
41.002;
(B) the basic allotment under Section 42.101; and
(C) the guaranteed level of state and local funds
per weighted student per cent of tax effort under Section 42.302.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2004.