BILL ANALYSIS |
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C.S.H.B. 660 |
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By: Strama |
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Economic & Small Business Development |
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Committee Report (Substituted) |
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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Numerous research studies have shown a correlation between a teacher's education level and student achievement. Some research has also found that the quality of early childhood education programs and student achievement are related to teacher education and that sensitive and appropriate caregiving necessary for effective teaching is directly correlated with more years of early childhood training at the college level. It is also reported that children score better on cognitive and social competence tests when teachers have more formal education and specialized training in early childhood education or child development.
Interested parties assert that teachers in early childhood care and education typically earn lower wages than elementary, middle, and high school teachers. Additionally, it is reported that linking education and compensation will help meet the need for a highly educated early childhood care and education workforce and reduce teacher turnover. Nationally, turnover rate in these fields is very high, which can negatively impact a student's ability to form relationships and can ultimately inhibit academic success.
C.S.H.B. 660 seeks to address these issues by providing an academic and financial incentive for individuals seeking higher level coursework in professional child-care training and education.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Workforce Commission in SECTIONS 1 and 2 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 660 amends the Labor Code to require, rather than authorize, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to develop and administer a scholarship program for professional child-care training and education and removes the specification that the scholarships be in the amount of $1,000 each. The bill removes from the authorized uses of scholarship funds the payment of expenses associated with obtaining Certified Child-Care Professional (CCP) credentials or a level one certificate in the area of child development or early childhood education from a public or private institution of higher education. The bill includes among the authorized uses of scholarship funds the payment of expenses associated with obtaining a bachelor's degree in the field of child development, early childhood education, or family and child studies and specifies that the Child Development Associate (CDA) national credentials to be obtained through the authorized use of scholarship funds are credentials administered by the Council for Professional Recognition or a comparable nationally recognized entity that credentials professionals in the early childhood education or child development field.
C.S.H.B. 660 expands the work requirement for scholarship eligibility to require specifically that the child-care worker work at a child-care facility that has agreed to sponsor the child-care worker for at least 30 hours each week and at a pay rate that is less than $15 per hour, and adds a requirement for the child-care worker to agree to pay the percentage of the applicable costs of books, credentialing fees, or tuition and fees associated with obtaining an applicable credential or degree prescribed by TWC rule. The bill removes as a condition of eligibility the requirement that a recipient agree to work at least 18 additional months in a child-care facility that accepts federal Child Care Development Fund subsidies and is located within the attendance zone of a public school campus considered low-performing or in an economically disadvantaged community and instead requires a recipient to agree to work for the sponsoring child-care facility for at least the length of time prescribed by TWC rule. The bill requires a child-care facility that agrees to sponsor a child-care worker who receives a scholarship to provide the child-care worker with paid time off as prescribed by TWC rule and any bonus or wage supplementation to which the child-care worker is entitled and to pay the percentage of the applicable costs of books, credentialing fees, or tuition and fees associated with obtaining an applicable credential or degree prescribed by TWC rule. The bill removes the prohibition against a person receiving more than one scholarship.
C.S.H.B. 660 removes a condition limiting TWC's authorization to provide payment of a bonus or wage supplementation to a scholarship recipient who, for 18 months after the date of receiving a scholarship, provides care for children younger than six years of age while remaining in the employment of the child-care facility that employed the person when the scholarship was awarded and instead entitles a recipient who successfully obtains an applicable credential or degree and satisfies any other prescribed program requirement to the payment of such a bonus or wage supplementation. The bill requires such a bonus or wage supplementation to be paid by both the recipient's sponsoring child-care facility and TWC in shares prescribed by TWC rule, rather than in equal shares by both parties. The bill reduces the cap on total funding for such scholarships and payment of bonuses and wage supplementation from $2 million per state biennium to $1 million per state biennium.
C.S.H.B. 660 specifies that TWC rules, among other requirements, must establish criteria for the award of scholarships under which priority is given to certain child-care workers and ensure that TWC has procedures for recovering scholarship money from a recipient who fails to comply with the length-of-service requirement prescribed by the bill or any other requirement imposed by TWC. The bill requires TWC to adopt rules for the administration of the bill's provisions, as soon as practicable following the effective date of the bill, but not later than January 1, 2014.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 660 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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