BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

 

C.S.H.B. 2249

By: Bernal

Public Education

Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), there were nearly 50,000 new teacher hires during the 2023-2024 school year with roughly 34 percent who were uncertified, 12 percent who were certified through a traditional four-year program, and 14 percent who were alternatively certified. The bill author has informed the committee that compared to the 2021-2022 school year, the percentage of uncertified teachers has doubled and the number of traditionally certified and alternatively certified teachers has decreased. In April 2024, the commissioner of TEA, Mike Morath, presented to the State Board of Education data confirming that students with uncertified first-year teachers achieve worse academic outcomes than those with certified teachers, that novice teachers leave the classroom at far higher rates than certified teachers, and that roughly a quarter of uncertified teachers do not return after their first year. C.S.H.B. 2249 seeks to address this issue by establishing the Texas Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program that provides scholarships to students who commit to, and complete, four or five years of teaching after graduation, as applicable.

 

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 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTION 1 of this bill.

 

ANALYSIS

 

C.S.H.B. 2249 amends the Education Code to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to establish and administer, in accordance with the bill's provisions and THECB rules, the Texas Teacher Recruitment Scholarship Program under which the THECB provides an annual conditional scholarship to an eligible student who is nominated to receive a scholarship. The bill caps the total amount of a scholarship awarded under the program at the lesser of the following:

·       $40,000, to be disbursed at a rate of $10,000 per academic year for four academic years; or

·       an amount equivalent to the tuition and fees for four academic years, to be disbursed at a rate of one quarter of the amount per academic year for four academic years.

 

C.S.H.B. 2249 requires a student, for purposes of receiving an initial scholarship under the program, to meet the following eligibility criteria:

·       be enrolled at a public or private institution of higher education in Texas;

·       be enrolled in a university program that culminates in a baccalaureate degree and prepares a student for the examination required to obtain an educator certification;

·       be nominated to receive a scholarship by the institution of higher education at which the student is enrolled; and

·       enter into an agreement with the THECB as provided by the bill.

The bill requires the student to maintain satisfactory academic progress as determined by the institution of higher education at which the student is enrolled to continue receiving the scholarship.

 

C.S.H.B. 2249 requires a student, as a condition of receiving a scholarship under the program, to enter into an agreement with the THECB that requires the student to do the following:

·       enroll in and complete a university program that that culminates in a baccalaureate degree and prepares a student for the examination required to obtain an educator certification;

·       obtain an educator certification;

·       graduate not later than five years after the date the student first enrolls at a public or private institution of higher education in Texas;

·       after graduation, maintain employment as an educator with a public school district or open-enrollment charter school for a period of five years and annually provide to the THECB verification of employment during the applicable period; and

·       agree to repay the scholarship if the student fails to maintain satisfactory academic progress, withdraws from the scholarship program, or fails to fulfill the employment requirements under the bill's provisions.

The bill exempts a student who completes the teacher residency program from the requirement to maintain employment as an educator with a district or charter school for a period of five years after graduation and requires such a student instead to maintain employment as an educator in that manner for a period of only four years after graduation.

 

C.S.H.B. 2249 requires the THECB, if a student awarded a scholarship under the program receives a baccalaureate degree before receiving the total amount of the scholarship, to use the student's remaining scholarship funds to provide assistance in the repayment of the student's outstanding education loans, if applicable. The bill requires the THECB to adopt rules to exempt a student from the repayment of a scholarship under an agreement with the THECB if the student is unable to meet the obligations of the agreement due to extraordinary circumstances. The bill prohibits a person from receiving a scholarship after earning a cumulative total of 150 total credit hours or after being awarded a baccalaureate degree, whichever occurs first.

 

C.S.H.B. 2249 requires the THECB to administer the scholarship program using available appropriations and gifts, grants, and donations made for that purpose and to award scholarships beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year. The bill requires the THECB, as soon as practicable after the bill takes effect, to adopt rules as necessary for the administration of the program, including rules regarding the eligibility criteria, the selection of scholarship recipients, and the repayment of student loans.

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.

 

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

 

While C.S.H.B. 2249 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.

 

Whereas the introduced established that the amount of a scholarship is the lesser of $40,000, to be disbursed at a rate of one quarter of the amount per academic year for four academic years, or the amount equivalent to tuition and fees for an academic year for four academic years, the substitute caps the total amount of a scholarship at the lesser of $40,000, disbursed at that rate, or an amount equivalent to the tuition and fees for four academic years, to be disbursed at a rate of one quarter of the amount per academic year for four academic years.

 

Whereas the introduced required a student, to be eligible to receive an initial scholarship, to enroll in a university sponsored teacher preparation program, the substitute requires the student to be enrolled in a university program that culminates in a baccalaureate degree and prepares a student for the examination required to obtain an educator certification.

 

Both the introduced and the substitute require an agreement with the THECB and a student, for purposes of receiving a scholarship under the program, to require the student to maintain employment as an educator with a district or charter school after graduation. However, the substitute changes from a period of four years after graduation, as in the introduced, to a period of five years after graduation the period for which the student must maintain such employment. Additionally, the substitute includes the following provisions that were not in the introduced:

·       a requirement for a student who completes the teacher residency program established under applicable state law to maintain employment as an educator for a period of four years after graduation;

·       a requirement for such an agreement to require the student to annually provide to the board verification of employment during the applicable period; and

·       a requirement for the THECB to adopt rules regarding the repayment of student loans.

The substitute omits a provision from the introduced that required the THECB to provide, in accordance with the bill's provisions and THECB rules, assistance in the repayment of student loans for certified teachers who are entitled to assistance under the bill. Additionally, the substitute does not include a requirement present in the introduced capping the number of new students awarded a scholarship in each year at two percent of the current teacher workforce as reported by the Texas Education Agency (TEA).

 

The substitute does not include provisions that appeared in the introduced relating to the Texas Teacher Retention Incentive Program which entitled an eligible person who is currently a certified teacher employed by a district or charter school and ineligible for designation as a master, exemplary, or recognized teacher to receive an annual retention incentive of $10,000 for a period of four years, including provisions relating to the following:

·       initial and continuing eligibility;

·       nomination;

·       agreement requirements;

·       funding;

·       rulemaking authority of TEA for the retention incentive program; and

·       applicability of the aforementioned provisions beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year.

The substitute also does not include the provision from the introduced that established that the bill expressly does not make an appropriation and that any provision in the bill that creates a new governmental program, creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the provision.