BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center	S.B. 1839
85R15253 MEW-F	By: Hughes
	Education
	4/18/2017
	As Filed

 

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Each year almost 30,000 new first-year teachers enter Texas classrooms. These professionals are prepared by over 200 educator preparation programs ranging from traditional four-year degrees to alternative certification to post-baccalaureate training. They face the honorable and daunting task of educating 5.3 million Texas schoolchildren of varied academic, economic, regional, and cultural backgrounds in approximately 1,200 school districts and charters. Offering these teachers the very best in educator preparation helps ensure they are ready for vocational success.

 

Toward that end, Educate Texas convened in 2016 the Texas Teacher Preparation Collaborative, a blue-ribbon panel chaired by former Texas Commissioner of Education Jim Nelson. The collaborative's goal was to evaluate educator preparation programs and make recommendations to strengthen these programs for the benefit of teachers and the state. S.B. 1839 incorporates several of the panel's findings.

 

Sections 1 and 2 of the bill require the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to provide data to educator preparation programs from the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) to assist these programs in assessing their impact and improving their effectiveness. The TEA and educator preparation programs will work together to identify information that the programs will report through PEIMS. Program-specific evaluation and the general study of best practices will improve the quality of educator preparation and teacher performance in the classroom.

 

Section 3 of S.B. 1839 facilitates the certification of out-of-state teachers who want to teach in Texas. Texas faces a teacher shortage, and the shortfall in several critical areas is of particular concern. For example, the State Board for Educator Certification had a goal of 44,700 teacher certifications in 2015 but issued only 21,349. The 2,880 math and science certifications in 2015 fell short of the goal of 6,500 in these critical areas. Streamlining the certification process for good teachers from out of state will help attract talented professionals to Texas classrooms.

 

Finally, state law covering virtual professional development courses offered to teachers makes a reference to a "highly-qualified" teacher category in federal statute that is obsolete. Section 4 of the bill eliminates this reference.

 

As proposed, S.B. 1839 amends current law relating to the preparation, certification, and classification of public school educators.

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

Rulemaking authority previously granted to commissioner of education is rescinded in SECTION 5 (Section 21.005, Education Code) of this bill.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1. Amends Section 21.043, Education Code, as follows:

 

Sec. 21.043. ACCESS TO PEIMS DATA. (a) Creates this subsection from existing text. Makes no further changes to this subsection.

 

(b) Requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to provide educator preparation programs (program) with data based information reported through the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) that enables a program to assess the impact of the program, and revise the program as needed to improve the design and effectiveness of the program.

 

(c) Requires TEA in coordination with the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) to solicit input from programs to determine information for programs to report through PEIMS.

 

SECTION 2. Amends Section 21.045, Education Code, by adding Subsection (d), as follows:

 

(d) Requires TEA, to assist a program in improving the design and effectiveness of the program in preparing educators for the classroom, to provide to each program any data reported by the program to TEA under Subsection (b) (relating to requiring each program to submit certain data for an annual performance report) relating to the program that is compiled and analyzed by TEA.

 

SECTION 3. Amends Sections 21.052(a), (c), and (d), Education Code, as follows:

 

(a) Authorizes SBEC to issue a certificate to an educator who applies for a certificate and holds an appropriate certificate or other credential issued by another state or country for which the educator performed satisfactorily on an examination administered to the educator under the authority of that state that is similar to and at least as rigorous as the examination prescribed under Section 21.048 (Certification Examinations), rather than holds an appropriate certificate or other credential issue by another state or country and performs satisfactorily on a certain examination or, if the educator holds a certificate or other credential issued by another state or county, an examination similar to and at least as rigorous as the described examination.

 

(c) Authorizes SBEC to issue a temporary certificate under this section to an educator who holds a degree required by Subsection (a)(1) (relating to authorizing SBEC to issue a certificate to educators who hold certain degrees, holds a certificate or other credential required by Subsection (a)(2) (relating to authorizing SBEC to issue a certificate to educators who hold certain certifications), and has complied with the criminal history record information review application requirement but who has not satisfied other application requirements, rather than the requirements prescribed by Subsection (a)(3) (relating to authorizing SBEC to issue a certificate to an educator who performs satisfactorily on certain examinations).

 

(d) Deletes existing text relating to informing an educator of the examination or examinations under Section 21.048 on which the educator must perform successfully to receive a standard certificate.

 

SECTION 4. Amends Section 30A.112(b), Education Code,� to delete existing text authorizing the state virtual school network to provide or authorize providers of electronic professional development courses to provide professional development for teachers who must become highly qualified under Section 1119, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,� (20 U.S.C. Section 6319). Makes nonsubstantive changes.

 

SECTION 5. Repealers: Sections 21.005 (High-Quality Teachers), 21.052(e) (relating to requiring an educator who has submitted all documents required by SBEC for certification to perform satisfactorily on the prescribed examination) and (g) (relating to requiring the commissioner to provide guidance to school districts that employ a certain certified educator), and 21.057(e) (relating to providing that this section does not apply if a school is required to provide notice to a parent or guardian regarding a teacher who is not highly qualified according to certain criteria), Education Code.

 

SECTION 6. Makes application of Section 21.052, Education Code, as amended by this Act, prospective.

 

SECTION 7. Effective date: September 1, 2017.