BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 11

By: Dutton

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Every future begins with a high-quality education, which starts with having a high-quality educator. Schools with great teachers support the common goal of maintaining an educated population, a prepared and productive workforce, and a strong economy. But Texas public schools now face teacher shortages in key subjects, increased difficulty in filling vacancies, and a significant decline in those wanting to enter the profession. According to testimony provided by the Texas Classroom Teachers Association, a 2021 RAND survey found that 66 percent of teachers said they seriously considered leaving their jobs in the past year. Although Texas schools employed more teachers than ever before in the 2021-2022 school year, according to data on employed teacher attrition and new hires from the Texas Education Agency, schools still struggled to find qualified staff, with that same data showing that approximately 20 percent of newly hired teachers entered the classroom without certification. Additionally, as the Teacher Vacancy Task Force notes in its Final February 2023 Report, teacher compensation has not kept pace with inflation even as teacher workloads have increased significantly. In order to achieve the educational outcomes students deserve, more must be done to not only support current teachers but also increase the supply and effectiveness of future teachers. C.S.H.B. 11 makes significant reforms to improve the recruitment, retention, and preparation of Texas teachers.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the commissioner of education in SECTIONS 9 and 12 of this bill and to the State Board for Educator Certification in SECTION 12 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 11 amends the Education Code to set out provisions relating to the rights and certification of public school educators, including financial and other assistance provided to public schools by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) related to public school educators, methods of reading instruction in public schools, certain allotments providing for compensation for certain public school teachers under the foundation school program, and to rules adopted by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC).

Foundational Skills Reading Instruction

C.S.H.B. 11 prohibits a public school district or open-enrollment charter school from including any instruction that incorporates three-cueing, as defined by the bill, in the foundational skills reading curriculum for kindergarten through third grade. The bill prohibits an educator preparation program, including an educator preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education, from including instruction that incorporates three-cueing into foundational skills reading instruction. The bill defines "three-cueing," for purposes of that curriculum, as any model, including the model referred to as meaning, structure, and visual cues (MSV), of teaching a student to read based on meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues or memory.

Prohibited Sanctions for Teachers Leaving Employment

C.S.H.B. 11 prohibits the SBEC from imposing a sanction against a teacher who relinquishes a position under a probationary contract, a continuing contract, or a term contract, as applicable, and leaves the employment of the district after the 45th day before the first day of instruction for the upcoming school year in violation of those contracts' resignation procedures and without the consent of the board of trustees if the teacher's failure to comply with the procedure was due to the following:

· the teacher, or a close family member of the teacher, developing a serious illness or experiencing a significant change in health condition;

· the teacher relocating because the teacher's spouse or a partner who resides with the teacher changes employers;

· the needs of the teacher's family changing significantly in a manner that requires the teacher to relocate or forgo employment during a period of required employment under the teacher's contract; or

· the teacher reasonably believing that the teacher received written permission from the school district to resign.

Tuition-Free Enrollment in Prekindergarten

C.S.H.B. 11 makes a child eligible for tuition-free enrollment in a prekindergarten class if the child is at least three years of age and is the child of a person who is employed as a classroom teacher at a public primary or secondary school in the district that offers a prekindergarten class.

Negotiated Rulemaking by the SBEC

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the SBEC, before proposing a rule under the Education Code or under any other law, to use procedures under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act and repeals the requirement for the SBEC to submit a copy of each of its proposed rules that are necessary for its own procedures for adoption to the State Board of Education for review. The bill requires the SBEC to determine whether it is necessary to appoint to a negotiated rulemaking committee a person to represent the persons affected by a proposed rule.

Teacher Position Data Collection

C.S.H.B. 11 requires TEA to collect data from districts and charter schools for the recruitment and retention of classroom teachers, including the classification, grade level, subject area, duration, and other relevant information regarding vacant teaching positions. The data may be collected using PEIMS or another reporting mechanism specified by TEA.

Teacher Designations Under Local Optional Teacher Designation Systems

C.S.H.B. 11 creates the designation of "acknowledged teacher" as one of the types of designations a district or charter school may apply to a classroom teacher for a five-year period based on the results from single year or multiyear appraisals under a local optional teacher designation system. The bill replaces the designation of "recognized" for a classroom teacher who holds a National Board Certification issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards with the designation of "nationally board certified."

C.S.H.B. 11 requires a district or charter school, immediately following the bill's effective date, to redesignate a teacher who holds a designation under a teacher designation system made before the bill's effective date to reflect changes to the teacher's designation made by the bill. The bill requires any funding provided to a district who held a designation under a teacher designation system immediately before the bill's effective date to be increased to reflect the teacher's redesignation.

C.S.H.B. 11 expands the duties of TEA with respect to its development and provision of technical assistance for districts and charter schools that request assistance in implementing a local optional teacher designation system. In addition to providing assistance in prioritizing high needs campuses as specified under current law, TEA must:

· provide examples of those designation systems;

· apply the performance and validity standards established by the commissioner of education for each of those systems;

· provide centralized support for the analysis of the results of tests administered to district or charter school students; and

· facilitate effective communication on and promotion of the systems.

Grant Program for Local Optional Teacher Designation Systems

C.S.H.B. 11 requires TEA, from funds appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose, to establish and administer a local optional teacher designation system grant program to provide money and technical assistance to eligible districts and charter schools for the purpose of expanding implementation of such systems and increasing the number of classroom teachers eligible for a designation. A grant awarded for the program must meet the needs of individual districts and enable regional leadership capacity. The bill authorizes the commissioner to adopt rules to establish and administer the grant program.

Teacher Incentive Allotment

C.S.H.B. 11, effective September 1, 2023, raises the base amount of and cap on, as increased by the high needs and rural factor, the teacher incentive allotment under the foundation school program as follows:

· the cap for each master teacher is increased from $32,000 to $36,000;

· the base amount for each exemplary teacher is increased from $6,000 to $9,000 and the cap for each exemplary teacher is increased from $18,000 to $25,000; and

· the base amount for each recognized teacher is increased from $3,000 to $5,000 and the cap for each recognized teacher is increased from $9,000 to $15,000.

The bill entitles a district to a teacher incentive allotment with a base amount equal to $3,000 or, if increased by the high needs and rural factor, capped at $9,000 for each acknowledged teacher or nationally board certified teacher.

C.S.H.B. 11, with respect to the calculation of the high needs and rural factor, increases the applicable amounts by which the average of the point value assigned to each student at a district campus is multiplied, as follows:

· for each master teacher, from $5,000 to $6,000;

· for each exemplary teacher, from $3,000 to $4,000; and

· for each recognized teacher, from $1,500 to $2,500. 

The bill sets the amount for each acknowledged teacher or nationally board certified teacher at $1,500.

Employed Retiree Teacher Reimbursement Grant Program

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the commissioner, from funds appropriated or otherwise available, to establish and administer an employed retiree teacher reimbursement grant program to award funds to reimburse a district or charter school that hires a teacher who retired before September 1, 2022, for the increased contributions to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS) associated with hiring the retired teacher. The bill authorizes the legislature, in appropriating money for the grants, to provide for, modify, or limit amounts appropriated for that purpose in the General Appropriations Act, including by taking the following actions:

· providing a date or date range other than September 1, 2022, before which a teacher must have retired for a district or charter school that hires the teacher to be eligible; or

· limiting eligibility to a district or charter school that, as follows:

o hires a retired teacher who holds a certain certification;

o hires a retired teacher to teach a certain subject or grade;

o hires a retired teacher in a certain geographical area; or

o hires a retired teacher to provide instruction to certain students, including to students with disabilities.

The commissioner must proportionally reduce the amount of funds awarded to districts and charter schools if the number of grant applications by eligible districts or charter schools exceeds the number of grants the commissioner could award with the money appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose. The bill expressly authorizes a district or charter school to use the funds to make required payments under Government Code provisions relating to employer contributions for employed retirees under TRS. The bill repeals the Government Code provision establishing that, with respect to employer contributions for employed retirees, a reporting employer is ultimately responsible for payment of amounts required to be contributed and prohibiting the employer from passing that cost on to the retiree through any means designed to recover the cost.

Teacher Quality Assistance

C.S.H.B. 11 requires TEA, from funds appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose, to develop training for and provide technical assistance to districts and charter schools regarding:

· strategic compensation, staffing, and scheduling efforts that improve professional growth, teacher leadership opportunities, and staff retention;

· programs that encourage high school students or other members of the community in the area served by the district to become teachers, including available teacher apprenticeship programs; and

· programs or strategies that school leaders may use to establish clear and attainable behavior expectations while proactively supporting students.

TEA, from funds so appropriated or available, must provide grants to districts and charter schools to implement those initiatives.

Teacher Time Study

C.S.H.B. 11 requires TEA, from funds appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose, to develop and maintain a technical assistance program to support districts and charter schools in the following:

· studying how the district's or charter school's staff and student schedules, required noninstructional duties for classroom teachers, and professional development requirements for educators are affecting the amount of time classroom teachers work each week; and

· refining the schedules for students or staff as necessary to ensure teachers have sufficient time during normal work hours to fulfill all job duties, including addressing the needs of students.

TEA must periodically make findings and recommendations for best practices publicly available using information from participating districts and charter schools.

Texas Teacher Residency Partnership Program

Eliminated Program

C.S.H.B. 11 repeals the provisions enacted by the 83rd Legislature that establish and govern the Texas Teacher Residency Program at a public institution of higher education that has developed a commitment to investing in teacher education for the purpose of forming a partnership with an area school district or open-enrollment charter school to provide employment to residents in the program.

New Program

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the commissioner of education to establish a new Texas Teacher Residency Partnership Program to enable qualified educator preparation programs to form partnerships with districts or charter schools to provide residency positions to partnership residents enrolled in a qualified educator preparation program, as established under the bill's provisions, participating in a partnership program as a candidate for educator certification. The bill authorizes the commissioner to solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations from public and private entities to use for the purposes of the partnership program.

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the partnership program to be designed to allow partnership residents to receive field-based experience working with classroom teachers in prekindergarten through grade 12 classrooms and gradually increase the amount of time a partnership resident spends engaging in instructional responsibilities, including observation, co-teaching, and lead-teaching responsibilities.

Qualified Educator Preparation Programs

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the SBEC to propose rules specifying the requirements for its approval of an educator preparation program as a qualified educator preparation program for purposes of the partnership program. The rules must require an educator preparation program to, as follows:

· use research-based best practices for recruiting and admitting candidates into the educator preparation program to participate in the partnership program;

· integrate curriculum, classroom practice, and formal observation and feedback;

· use multiple assessments to measure a partnership resident's progress in the partnership program; and

· partner with a district or charter school.

The bill authorizes the commissioner of education, until the SBEC adopts rules specifying the requirements for approval of a qualified educator preparation program, to approve a qualified educator preparation program for purposes of the bill's provisions if the commissioner determines that the program meets the applicable requirements. An educator preparation program's designation as a qualified educator preparation program by the commissioner is effective until the first anniversary of the adoption of rules by the SBEC.

Participating Districts and Charter Schools

C.S.H.B. 11 sets out the requirements for districts and charter schools participating in the partnership program and provides for the authorized uses for the residency partnership allotment created by the bill. A school district or open-enrollment charter school participating in the partnership program must do the following:

· enter into a written agreement with a qualified educator preparation program to:

o provide a partnership resident with at least one school year of clinical teaching in a residency position at the district or school in the subject area and grade level for which the resident seeks certification; and

o pair the partnership resident with a cooperating teacher;

· only use money received under the allotment to:

o implement the partnership program;

o provide compensation to partnership residents in residency positions at the district or school and cooperating teachers who are paired with partnership residents at the district or school; and

o provide funding to the qualified educator preparation program with which the district or school partners under the bill's provision that provides for the support of operating costs of the residency program;

· pay at least 50 percent of the compensation paid to partnership residents using money other than the allocated amount, as specified by the bill, a district must provide to the educator preparation program with which the district is partnered under the program; and

· provide any information required by TEA regarding the district's or school's implementation of the program.

C.S.H.B. 11 establishes that a district or charter school may only pair a partnership resident with a cooperating teacher who agrees to participate in that role in a partnership program at the district or charter school partnership program. The bill prohibits a partnership resident from serving as a teacher of record, defined by reference as a person employed by a district who teaches the majority of the instructional day in an academic instructional setting and is responsible for evaluating student achievement and assigning grades. In addition, the bill defines a "cooperating teacher" as a teacher who, as follows:

· has at least three complete years of teaching experience with a superior record of assisting students, as a whole, in achieving improvement in student performance;

· is employed by a district or charter school participating in a partnership program and is paired with a partnership resident at the district or charter school; and

· provides coaching to a partnership resident in the teacher's classroom.

Rules for Issuance of Residency Educator Certificate

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the SBEC to propose rules specifying the requirements for the issuance of a residency educator certificate to a partnership resident who has successfully completed the qualified educator preparation program. The bill prohibits the rules from requiring the resident to pass a pedagogy examination unless the examination tests subject-specific content appropriate for the grade and subject area for which the candidate seeks certification.

TEA Support

C.S.H.B. 11 requires TEA to provide technical assistance, planning, and support to districts, charter schools, and qualified educator preparation programs and the assistance must include the following:

· providing model forms and agreements a district, school, or educator preparation program may use to comply with the requirements of the program; and

· support for district and school strategic staffing and compensation models to incentivize participation in a partnership program.

Rules for Program Implementation

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the SBEC to propose rules necessary to implement the partnership program, including rules for the qualified educator preparation programs and for issuance of the residency educator certificate. The bill requires the SBEC, in using negotiated rulemaking procedures for any proposed rule related to the implementation of the program or the issuance of the residency educator certificate, to appoint to the negotiated rulemaking committee persons representing public institutions of higher education. The bill requires the commissioner to adopt rules as necessary to implement the partnership program after considering the recommendations of the appointed negotiated rulemaking committee.

Texas Teacher Residency Partnership Program Allotment

C.S.H.B. 11, effective September 1, 2023, establishes a residency partnership allotment under the foundation school program. The bill entitles a district to a residency partnership allotment equal to a base amount of $22,000 increased by the high needs and rural factor to an amount capped at $42,000 for each partnership resident employed at a district in a residency position under the Texas Teacher Residency Partnership Program. The high needs and rural factor is determined by multiplying $5,000 by the lesser of 4.0 or the average of the point value assigned to each student at a district campus with respect to the high needs and rural factor base amount under the teacher incentive allotment as amended by the bill. The bill entitles a district that qualifies for the residency partnership allotment to an additional $2,000 for each partnership resident employed in a residency position at the district who is a candidate for special education certification or bilingual education certification.

C.S.H.B. 11 also entitles the Texas School for the Deaf (TSD) and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) to the residency partnership allotment. The bill authorizes the commissioner, if the commissioner determines that assigning point values to students enrolled in those schools is impractical, to use the average point value assigned for TSD or TSBVI students' home districts for purposes of calculating the high needs and rural factor.

C.S.H.B. 11 requires TEA, in addition to the residency partnership allotment and from funds appropriated or otherwise made available, to provide 10 percent of the amount of funds allocated for a partnership resident to the resident's partnership educator preparation program to support operating costs of the program.

Waiver or Payment of Certain Examination or Certification Fees

C.S.H.B. 11 requires the SBEC, for a person applying for a certification to teach, to waive the following:

· a certification examination fee imposed by the SBEC for the first administration of the examination to the person; and

· a fee associated with the application for certification by the person.

The bill requires the SBEC to pay to a vendor that administers a certification examination required for certification to teach a fee assessed by that vendor for the examination of a person applying for a certification to teach for the first administration of the examination to the person.

Mentor Program Allotment

C.S.H.B. 11, effective September 1, 2023, revises the mentor program allotment under the foundation school program and repeals the provision requiring the commissioner of education to adopt a formula for the allotment. The bill entitles a district instead to an allotment of $2,000 for each classroom teacher with less than two years of experience who participates in a mentoring program. Furthermore, the bill does the following:

· adds as a condition of the entitlement that the mentor teachers assigned under a mentoring program for classroom teachers complete a training program that is required or developed by TEA; and

· establishes that a district may receive such an allotment for no more than 40 teachers during a school year unless an appropriation is made for the purposes of providing a greater number of allotments per district.

Repealed Provisions

C.S.H.B. 11 repeals the following provisions:

· Section 21.042, Education Code;

· Section 48.114(b), Education Code;

· Subchapter Q, Chapter 21, Education Code; and

· Section 825.4092(f), Government Code, as added by Chapter 546 (S.B. 202), Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021.

EFFECTIVE DATE

Except as otherwise provided, on passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 11 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Texas Teacher Residency Partnership Program

The substitute changes the term "mentor teacher," as in the introduced, to "cooperating teacher" for a classroom teacher who works with partnership residents and revises the definition of such a teacher as follows:

· by omitting the specification contained in the introduced's definition that a classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching experience in an applicable subject or grade level meets the qualifications for assignment as a mentor teacher and by specifying instead that a teacher who has at least three complete years of teaching experience with a superior record of assisting students, as a whole, in achieving improvement in student performance is qualified to be a cooperating teacher; and

· by including the condition that the cooperating teacher provide coaching to a partnership resident in the applicable teacher's classroom.

While both the introduced and substitute require the SBEC to propose rules requiring an educator preparation program to do certain things, the substitute makes the following changes:

· omits the requirement that the rules require the program to ensure that a district or charter school with which the program partners meets the requirements for participating districts and charter schools set out by the bill, which was in the introduced; and

· includes a requirement that the rules require the program to partner with district or charter school.

Both the introduced and the substitute require the SBEC to use the procedures under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act in its rulemaking procedures for the Texas Teacher Residency Program, both require the SBEC, in using the procedures, to appoint to the negotiated rulemaking committee persons representing institutions of higher education, and they both repeal the provision requiring the SBEC to submit a written copy of each rule it proposes to adopt to the State Board of Education for review and, if applicable, rejection. However, these provisions differ as follows:

· the substitute expands the scope of the provision to require the SBEC to use the procedures under the act before it proposes a rule under any law, whereas the introduced required use of the procedures only with respect to any proposed rule related to residency program implementation; and

· the substitute further specifies, for purposes of that expanded scope, that the SBEC must determine if it is necessary to appoint to the negotiated rulemaking committee a person to represent the persons affected by the proposed rule.

The substitute includes an authorization for the commissioner of education to approve a qualified educator program for purposes of the bill's provisions if the commissioner determines the program meets the applicable requirements until the SBEC adopts rules as required by the bill's provisions and a provision establishing that an educator preparation program designation remains effective until the first anniversary of the adoption of rules by the SBEC. Neither of these provisions appeared in the introduced.

The substitute, but not the introduced, includes a requirement for TEA, in addition to the residency partnership allotment provided to districts as added by the bill and from funds appropriated or otherwise made available, to provide 10 percent of the amount of the allotment to the educator preparation program with which the district is partnered for purposes of supporting operating costs of the program. Accordingly, the substitute also includes a provision not in the introduced that explicitly authorizes the provision of funding by a district or charter school to the qualified educator preparation program with which the district or charter school partners under the substitute's aforementioned provision that provides for the support of operating costs of the residency program.

While both the introduced and substitute entitle a district that qualifies for the residency partnership allotment to an additional $2,000 for each partnership resident employed in a residency position at the district who is a candidate for special education certification, the substitute includes a candidate for bilingual education certification among the candidates for whom the district is entitled to an additional $2,000 for each partnership resident employed in the district.

While the introduced entitled a district, under the foundation school program, to the cost of certification examination fees for classroom teachers who receive certification in the preceding school year and required the district to reimburse such teachers, the substitute does not include these provisions. However, the substitute includes a requirement for the SBEC, for a person applying for a certification to teach, to waive the following:

· a certification examination fee imposed by the SBEC for the first administration of the examination to the person; and

· a fee associated with the application for certification by the person.

The substitute also includes a requirement for the SBEC to pay to a vendor that administers a certification examination required for certification to teach a fee assessed by that vendor for the examination of a person applying for a certification to teach for the first administration of the examination to the person. The introduced did not include either the waiver or payment requirement for the SBEC.

Teacher Designation System

The substitute revises, as follows, the provision mutually shared by the introduced and the substitute with respect to a new designation for teachers under the local teacher designation system:

· the substitute changes the designation of "effective teacher," as in the introduced, to "acknowledged teacher," which is the designation that may be used for a classroom teacher under each local teacher designation system and for which a district is entitled to the teacher incentive allotment increased and capped, by both the introduced and substitute, under the high needs and rural factor;

· the substitute includes a designation not included in the introduced entitling each nationally board certified teacher as a teacher for whom a district's allotment is increased or capped by the high needs and rural factor in the same amounts specified for the "acknowledged teacher" designation; and

· the substitute sets the same $1,500 multiplier as the introduced for determining the high needs and rural factor but makes the multiplier applicable to an acknowledged teacher or a nationally board certified teacher.

Whereas the introduced authorized the use of a fee adopted by the commissioner under the current teacher designation system for the purpose of developing and providing technical assistance for districts and charter schools that request assistance, the substitute does not include this authorization.

While both the introduced and substitute provide for a local optional teacher designation system grant program, they differ in the following ways:

· the substitute omits the following from among the required uses of a grant awarded under the program:

o providing centralized support for the analysis of the results of tests administered to students; and

o facilitating effective communication on and promotion of local optional teacher designation systems; and

· the substitute includes those purposes instead as types of technical assistance that TEA must provide to districts and charter schools.

The substitute includes a requirement for a district and charter school, immediately following the bill's effective date, to redesignate a teacher who holds a designation under the system before the bill's effective date to reflect changes to the designation made by the bill, which did not appear in the introduced for its designation. The substitute includes a requirement for funding provided to a district for a teacher who held a designation made under the system immediately before the bill's effective date to be increased to reflect that teacher's redesignation, which did not appear in the introduced.

Relating to the Basic Allotment, Certain Student-Based Allotments, and Educator Pay

The substitute does not include the following provisions from the introduced that revised the basic allotment and its related requirements:

· a provision increasing the amount of the basic allotment;

· provisions revising the following:

o the computation by which a district that receives a basic allotment that is greater than the basic allotment the district received in the preceding year must provide compensation increases to full-time district employees;

o the applicability of that compensation increase to be only for certain professional staff; and

o the purpose of the compensation increase to be for increasing the average total compensation per applicable staff member in the district; and

· an authorization for a district that does not provide compensation increases to provide an employee a one-time bonus payment as an alternative to satisfying that compensation increase requirement.

The substitute does not include the following provisions that were in the introduced:

· provisions changing the minimum monthly salary schedule for classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time certified school counselors, and full-time school nurses to a minimum annual salary schedule for such professional staff and setting out minimum salaries based on the staff member's certifications and years of experience, including provisions related to this omitted provision;

· a requirement for a district or charter school to use at least 50 percent of the difference between what the district or charter school would have paid in the state's contribution on the portion of a staff member's salary that exceeds the statutory minimum salary to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas on January 1, 2023, and what the district or charter school pays in the state's contribution after September 1, 2023, for the purpose of increasing the total compensation per certain professional staff member employed by the district or charter school;

· provisions changing the basis of the small and mid-sized district allotment from average daily attendance to average enrollment and the related computation of the allotment; and

· provisions creating a temporary salary transition allotment for certain professional staff based on a specific calculation by TEA.

Educators, Reading-Related Instruction, and Annual Reporting

The substitute does not include the following provisions, which appeared in the introduced:

· the prohibition against requiring a classroom teacher to complete continuing education or other training in a school year in excess of hours required as of January 1, 2023; and

· the prohibition against a district or charter school suspending or terminating the employment of a teacher or taking other adverse employment action based on the teacher's refusal to complete continuing education or training in excess of the hours required unless the additional hours of education or training are offset or the teacher is compensated and is not required to complete the continuing education or training while participating in a local professional development activity.

While both the introduced and substitute set out provisions regarding reading-related instruction under educator preparation programs, including an educator preparation program offered by an institution of higher education, the substitute makes the following changes:

· omits the requirement that a program include instruction on the science of teaching reading, which appeared in the introduced; and

· includes the specification that the prohibition against a program including instruction that incorporates three-cueing is with respect to foundational skills reading instruction.

While both the introduced and substitute prohibit such an educator program from including instruction that incorporates three-cueing, the substitute also includes a prohibition against a district or charter school including any instruction that incorporates three-cueing in the foundational skills reading curriculum for kindergarten through third grade. Whereas the introduced defined "three-cueing" as a method of reading instruction for identification of words by which a student is encouraged to draw on context and sentence structure to identify a word without sounding the word out or using a phonics-based approach, the substitute defines "three-cueing" instead as any model, including the model referred to as meaning, structure, and visual cues (MSV), of teaching a student to read based on meaning, structure and syntax, and visual cues or memory.

The substitute includes a requirement not in the introduced for TEA to collect data from districts and charter schools for the recruitment and retention of classroom teachers, including the classification, grade level, subject area, duration, and other relevant information regarding vacant teaching positions. The substitute also includes a related provision establishing that the data may be collected using PEIMS or another reporting mechanism specified by TEA.