| TO: | Honorable Florence Shapiro, Chair, Senate Committee on Education |
| FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1511 by West (Relating to minimum standards for approval of educator preparation programs.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would establish minimum performance requirements for candidates for admission to educator preparation programs and would direct the State Board for Educator Certification to set performance standards for certification examinations.
The bill would direct the Texas Education Agency to provide a report to the legislature in December of each even-numbered year concerning public school staffing and the working conditions for public school educators. The bill would require the Agency to conduct a statewide survey of certified educators each biennium concerning public school staffing and working conditions. The required report would consist of the results of the survey along with campus-level analyses of teachers assigned to teach subjects for which they are not certified, teachers holding emergency certificates, teacher turnover rates, and the number of new teachers. The bill would direct the commissioner of education to seek private funding to accomplish the required survey and campus-level analyses and would make the survey portion of the reporting requirement contingent upon securing such funding.
The Agency estimates that the survey requirements under the bill would be met by contracting with an external entity using private funding and that the campus-level analyses would be accomplished with 2.5 additional full-time staff at the Agency funded through certification fee revenue. Contract costs for deliverables would be incurred in each odd-numbered fiscal year upon completion and compilation of the required survey of all educators. It is assumed that contract costs would be higher in the first year of implementation due to one-time initial development expenses. Contract costs to be supported by private funding are estimated to total $800,000 in FY13, declining to $200,000 in FY15 and each odd-numbered fiscal year thereafter. Costs for additional Agency staff to prepare and publish the campus level analyses are estimated to total $232,605 in FY12, declining to $208,605 annually thereafter.
| Source Agencies: | 701 Central Education Agency
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, LXH, JGM, JSp
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