79S10149 KEL-D

By:  Shapleigh                                                    S.B. No. 31 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to tuition exemptions granted by public institutions of 
higher education to children of certain classroom teachers.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is 
amended by adding Section 54.220 to read as follows:
	Sec. 54.220.  CHILDREN OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS.  (a)  The 
governing board of an institution of higher education shall exempt 
from the payment of tuition a resident of this state enrolled as an 
undergraduate student at the institution who is a child of a person 
who at the beginning of the semester or other academic session for 
which an exemption is sought holds a National Board Certification, 
as defined by the National Board for Professional Teaching 
Standards, and has 10 or more years of experience as a classroom 
teacher in a critical teaching shortage field in one or more school 
districts in this state, not including experience as a teaching 
aide or administrator, and:
		(1)  is employed by a school district in this state as a 
classroom teacher in a critical teaching shortage field; or
		(2)  has contracted with a school district in this 
state to work as a classroom teacher in a critical teaching shortage 
field during all or part of that semester or session or, if the 
child is enrolled for a summer term or other academic session, has 
contracted with a school district in this state to work as a 
classroom teacher in a critical teaching shortage field during the 
next school year.
	(b)  A person is not eligible for an exemption under this 
section if the person:
		(1)  has previously received an exemption under this 
section for 10 semesters or summer sessions at any institution or 
institutions of higher education; or
		(2)  has received a baccalaureate degree.                              
	(c)  For purposes of Subsection (b), a summer session that is 
less than nine weeks in duration is considered one-half of a summer 
session.
	(d)  A person attending an institution of higher education 
who becomes eligible to receive an exemption from tuition under 
Subsection (a) is eligible for a refund of the amount of money that 
the person paid to any institution of higher education for tuition 
as a resident student in the three-year period preceding the 
beginning of the first semester or session for which the person 
receives the exemption.
	(e)  To receive a refund under Subsection (d), the person 
must apply to the institution from which the refund is sought before 
the expiration of one year after the person becomes eligible for the 
refund.  The institution shall pay the refund from any available 
funds of the institution.
	(f)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall 
adopt:       
		(1)  rules governing the granting or denial of an 
exemption under this section, including rules relating to the 
determination of eligibility for an exemption or for a refund of 
previously paid tuition; and
		(2)  a uniform application form for an exemption under 
this section. 
	(g)  In the funding formulas established under Section 
61.059 for a biennium, the coordinating board shall take into 
account any tuition exempted or any refund of tuition made in the 
preceding biennium under this section.
	(h)  In this section:                                                   
		(1)  "Child" means a child of any age, including an 
adult child.  The term includes an adopted child.
		(2)  "Classroom teacher" has the meaning assigned by 
Section 5.001(2).
		(3)  "Critical teaching shortage field" means an 
instructional field designated by the commissioner of education as 
experiencing a critical shortage of teachers.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this 
section, this Act takes effect beginning with the 2006 fall 
semester.
	(b)  The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall 
adopt rules and forms relating to the exemption of the children of 
classroom teachers under Section 54.220, Education Code, as added 
by this Act, not later than January 1, 2006.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the 
legislative session.