BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	H.B. 2424
86R11390 SRS-F	By: Ashby (Fallon)
	Education
	5/8/2019
	Engrossed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Currently, the State Board for Educator Certification requires Texas educators to receive 150 hours of continuing professional education every five years. Professions outside of education have used evidence-based micro-credentialing as a cutting-edge avenue to prepare, enrich, and continuously help professionals gain individual knowledge and skills and to provide evidence of specific skills, performance and advancement by awarding micro-credentials.

H.B. 2424 provides for the creation of a micro-credential certification program to offer continuing education courses to educators and for which credits may be included as part of an educator's public certification records. Micro-credentials would increase the knowledge and skills of Texas educators and the quality of instruction that they provide.

This initiative would also promote and elevate the profession and provide parents and communities with additional information regarding the quality of campus educators.

H.B. 2424 amends current law relating to the creation of a micro-credential certification program for public school educator continuing education.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the State Board of Education (SBOE) on behalf of the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) in SECTION 1 (Section 21.054, Education Code) of this bill.

Rulemaking authority previously granted to SBOE on behalf of SBEC is modified in SECTION 1 (Section 21.054, Education Code) of this bill.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 21.054, Education Code, by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (i), as follows:

(a) Requires the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) to propose rules establishing a process for identifying continuing education courses and programs that fulfill educators' continuing education requirements, including opportunities for educators to receive micro-credentials in fields of study related to the educator's certification class as provided by Subsection (i).

(i) Requires SBEC to propose rules establishing a program to issue micro-credentials in fields of study related to an educator's certification class. Requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to approve continuing education providers to offer micro-credential courses. Requires a micro-credential received by an educator to be recorded on TEA's Educator Certification Online System (ECOS) and included as part of the educator's public certification records.

SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2019.