By: Aycock (Senate Sponsor - Perry) H.B. No. 18
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2015;
  May 25, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Education; May 26, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 26, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to college and career readiness training for certain
  public school counselors and postsecondary advisors.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 33.009 to read as follows:
         Sec. 33.009.  POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND CAREER COUNSELING
  ACADEMIES. (a) In this section, "center" means the Center for
  Teaching and Learning at The University of Texas at Austin.
         (b)  The center shall develop and make available
  postsecondary education and career counseling academies for school
  counselors and other postsecondary advisors employed by a school
  district at a middle school, junior high school, or high school.
         (c)  In developing academies under this section, the center
  shall solicit input from the agency, school counselors, the Texas
  Workforce Commission, institutions of higher education, and
  business, community, and school leaders.
         (d)  An academy developed under this section must provide
  counselors and other postsecondary advisors with knowledge and
  skills to provide counseling to students regarding postsecondary
  success and productive career planning and must include information
  relating to:
               (1)  each endorsement described by Section
  28.025(c-1), including:
                     (A)  the course requirements for each
  endorsement; and
                     (B)  the postsecondary educational and career
  opportunities associated with each endorsement;
               (2)  available methods for a student to earn credit for
  a course not offered at the school in which the student is enrolled,
  including enrollment in an electronic course provided through the
  state virtual school network under Chapter 30A;
               (3)  general academic performance requirements for
  admission to an institution of higher education, including the
  requirements for automatic admission to a general academic teaching
  institution under Section 51.803;
               (4)  regional workforce needs, including information
  about the required education and the average wage or salary for
  careers that meet those workforce needs; and
               (5)  effective strategies for engaging students and
  parents in planning for postsecondary education and potential
  careers, including participation in mentorships and business
  partnerships.
         (e)  From funds appropriated for that purpose, a school
  counselor who attends the academy under this section is entitled to
  receive a stipend in the amount determined by the center. A stipend
  received under this subsection is not considered in determining
  whether a district is paying the school counselor the minimum
  monthly salary under Section 21.402.
         (f)  From available funds appropriated for purposes of this
  section, the center may provide to school counselors and other
  educators curricula, instructional materials, and technological
  tools relating to postsecondary education and career counseling.
         SECTION 2.  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 September 1, 2015.
 
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