This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.
79S30521 SLO-D
By: Shapleigh S.B. No. 30
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to national certification of public school teachers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. (a) The legislature
finds that if Texas is to have world-class schools, then Texas must
first have a world-class teaching force.
(b) The legislature also finds that certification by the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, developed by
teachers for teachers:
(1) is a symbol of and tool for professional teaching
excellence;
(2) establishes advanced standards for an experienced
teacher by testing the teacher's knowledge against standards of
other highly trained teachers throughout the country; and
(3) ensures that teachers meet high professional
standards of commitment and competence.
(c) The legislature also finds that an independent,
multiyear study of more than 600,000 students in North Carolina
found that the students of teachers who were nationally certified
experienced an increase in reading and math assessment instrument
scores by an average of seven percent.
(d) The legislature also finds that of the approximately
289,000 teachers in Texas, only 144 of those teachers are
nationally certified, compared with 4,938 nationally certified
teachers in Florida and 2,644 nationally certified teachers in
California.
(e) The legislature also finds that in order for Texas
students to compete with students from other states, as Texas moves
toward a knowledge-based economy, Texas must encourage teachers to
pursue national certification. The 21st Century Educational
Excellence Program for National Certification serves that goal by
establishing a statewide program to assist Texas teachers in
achieving national certification.
SECTION 2. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter N to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER N. 21ST CENTURY EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE PROGRAM
FOR NATIONAL CERTIFICATION
Sec. 21.651. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Board" means the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards.
(2) "Program" means the 21st Century Educational
Excellence Program for National Certification.
Sec. 21.652. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The agency shall
establish the 21st Century Educational Excellence Program for
National Certification to encourage teachers in critical subject
areas to obtain national certification by the board.
Sec. 21.653. APPLICATION; SELECTION OF APPLICANTS. (a)
The agency shall select not more than 500 school district or
open-enrollment charter school teachers to participate in the
program each year.
(b) In selecting teachers to participate in the program, the
agency shall give preference to a teacher who is certified by the
State Board for Educator Certification in bilingual education,
mathematics, science, special education, elementary reading, or
another teaching field identified by the commissioner as
experiencing a critical shortage of teachers in this state in the
year in which the teacher applies to participate in the program.
(c) The agency shall adopt:
(1) procedures for submitting an application to
participate in the program; and
(2) criteria for the selection of teachers to
participate in the program.
Sec. 21.654. PAYMENT OF CERTIFICATION COSTS. (a) A teacher
who participates in the program is entitled to receive funds as
provided by this section to pay costs of certification charged by
the board, including application fees.
(b) The agency shall pay the teacher an amount not to exceed
85 percent of the cost of certification using funds appropriated
for that purpose. To the extent such funding is available, the
agency shall pay the state's share under this subsection of the cost
of certification using federal funds obtained by the State Board
for Educator Certification in an amount not to exceed one-half of
the cost of certification.
(c) The agency and the State Board for Educator
Certification shall enter into an agreement that specifies the
manner in which the State Board for Educator Certification will
transfer federal funds described by Subsection (b) to the agency.
(d) The remaining cost of certification shall be paid by:
(1) the school district or open-enrollment charter
school that employs the teacher, if the district or school agrees to
pay the cost; or
(2) the teacher seeking certification.
(e) The shares to be paid by the agency under Subsection (b)
and the school district, open-enrollment charter school, or teacher
under Subsection (d) must be the same for each teacher
participating in the program in any particular year.
(f) A teacher who does not complete all of the requirements
for assessment by the board shall reimburse the agency and the
school district or open-enrollment charter school the full amount
of the payments received under Subsections (b) and (d)(1). This
subsection does not apply to a teacher who completes all of the
requirements for assessment by the board but who is not certified by
the board.
Sec. 21.655. STIPEND. A school district or open-enrollment
charter school may pay a teacher who participates in the program and
obtains board certification an annual stipend. From funds
appropriated for the purpose, the agency may match the amount the
district or school pays the teacher in an amount not greater than
$2,000.
Sec. 21.656. STAFF DEVELOPMENT PLAN. The agency shall
establish a statewide staff development plan that uses the skills
and knowledge of teachers who have obtained board certification.
Sec. 21.657. RULES. The commissioner shall adopt rules as
necessary to implement this subchapter.
SECTION 3. The Texas Education Agency and the commissioner
of education shall implement the 21st Century Educational
Excellence Program for National Certification, as required by
Subchapter N, Chapter 21, Education Code, as added by this Act, as
soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. 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.