HBA-JRA H.B. 1844 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1844 By: Rangel Public Education 4/17/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE School districts, teacher organizations, state education agencies, and state officials have expressed growing concern over the lack of certified teachers in the public education system. Poor health benefits, low pay, and an unattractive retirement plan may persuade many people not to pursue a career in public education. An additional concern is the lack of equality among the state's public schools. H.B. 1844 revises the Texas classroom teachers loan repayment program to require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (board) to provide assistance in the repayment of student loans for qualified classroom teachers who agree to teach for a minimum of three years in an area of acute shortage or in a school in a disadvantaged area. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority previously delegated to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board is modified in SECTION 1 (Sections 61.702 and 61.709, Education Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter M, Chapter 61, Education Code, as follows: SUBCHAPTER M. New title: TEXAS CLASSROOM TEACHERS LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM Sec. 61.701. New title: LOAN REPAYMENT AUTHORIZED. Requires, rather than authorizes, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (board) to provide assistance in the repayment of student loans for classroom teachers who apply and qualify for the assistance. Sec. 61.702. New title: ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE. Provides that a person, rather than a teacher, in addition to the existing requirements, must be a Texas resident as defined by board rules, hold an educator certificate issued by the State Board for Educator Certification, have an outstanding balance on a student loan eligible for repayment assistance under this subchapter, and enter into an agreement to serve as a classroom teacher as provided by Section 61.704 to be eligible to receive loan repayment assistance. Deletes the requirement that such a teacher must have taught in an area or field of acute teacher shortage. Deletes text authorizing the board, by rule, to provide for repayment assistance on a pro rata basis for teachers in an area or field of acute teacher shortage. Sec. 61.703. ELIGIBLE LOANS. Redesignated from exiting Section 61.704. Makes conforming changes. Deletes existing section prohibiting a teacher from receiving repayment assistance grant for more than five years. Sec. 61.704. AGREEMENT. (a) Provides that a person, in order to qualify for assistance under this subchapter, must enter into a written agreement with the board that specifies the conditions the person must satisfy to receive repayment assistance. (b) Provides that the agreement must require the person, within four years of entering into the agreement, to serve three full school years as a classroom teacher in an area of acute teacher shortage or in a public school in this state that is entitled to funds under the guaranteed yield component of the Foundation School Program, is considered lowperforming, has requested and received more waivers of class size requirements than other school districts, has experienced a teacher shortage, or is located in a low-income highunemployment area. (c) Authorizes a person to use only service as a teacher after the date of the agreement to satisfy the teaching obligation under the agreement. (d) Provides that the agreement must provide that any assistance the person receives before the person fulfills the teaching obligation and satisfies any applicable conditions constitutes a loan until that obligation is fulfilled and all conditions are satisfied. Provides that the agreement must require the person to sign a promissory note acknowledging the conditional nature of the assistance and promising to repay it with applicable interest and reasonable collection costs if the person does not satisfy the applicable conditions. Requires the board to determine the terms of the promissory note, which must be the same as those applicable to state or federally guaranteed student loans made at the same time. Requires the board to deposit all amounts collected under this subsection to the credit of the trust fund established under Section 61.710. Sec. 61.705. AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT ASSISTANCE; LIMITATIONS. (a) Entitles a person who completes the teaching obligation and satisfies all other conditions of the agreement to receive loan repayment assistance in a total amount not to exceed the lesser of one-half the total amount of the person's outstanding student loans, including scheduled interest payments that would become due if the loan is not prepaid, when the person enters into the agreement, or $10,000. (b) Requires the board to pay the person assistance to which the person would become entitled on completing the teaching obligation and satisfying the other conditions of the person's agreement in equal monthly amounts, rather than a lump sum, during the first three years after the person enters into the agreement. (c) Authorizes the board to enter into an agreement to provide assistance under this subchapter only to the extent money in the trust fund established by Section 61.710 or money appropriated to the trust fund for future deposit to the trust fund will be sufficient to provide the repayment assistance as it becomes payable. Requires the board, if there is insufficient money, to select persons to receive repayment assistance from the eligible applicants on any basis the board considers reasonable to further the purposes of this subchapter. Sec. 61.706. INTERRUPTION OF TEACHING SERVICE. (a) Authorizes the board to grant a person a reasonable period of additional time to complete the person's teaching obligation if the person has been called to active duty as a member of the armed services of the United States, has become temporarily unable to teach because of illness, injury, or similar circumstances, must perform family obligation inconsistent with the performance of the required teaching obligation, or is subject to any other hardship or special circumstances the board determines to be just cause to grant an extension. (b) Authorizes the board to grant prorated assistance to a person who completes only a portion of the teaching obligation if the person is unable to complete it because the person has become permanently or temporarily disabled so that the person is unable to teach or is subject to any other hardship or special circumstances the board determines to be just cause to waive the remainder of the obligation. Sec. 61.707. ADVISORY COMMITTEES. Redesignated from existing Section 61.706. Makes a conforming change. Sec. 61.708. ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS. Redesignated from existing Section 61.707. Makes a nonsubstantive change. Sec. 61.709. New title: RULES; DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION. Redesignated from existing Section 61.708. Deletes the requirement that the board adopt a rule that sets a maximum amount of repayment assistance that may be received by a teacher in one year. Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. Sec. 61.710. FUNDING. Provides that the loan repayment assistance program established by this subchapter is funded from the classroom teacher loan repayment trust fund. Provides that the trust fund is established outside the treasury and administered by the comptroller. Authorizes money in the trust fund to be spent without appropriation and only to fund the program. Requires that interest and income from the assets of the trust fund to be credited to and deposited in the trust fund. Authorizes the legislature to appropriate money for deposit to the credit of the trust fund. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. Requires the board to begin granting student loan repayment assistance under Subchapter M, Chapter 61, Education Code, as amended by this Act, as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.