HBA-MSH C.S.H.B. 1310 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1310 By: Salinas Public Education 4/20/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Continuing education for classroom teachers is a means of improving teaching skills and the caliber of classroom instruction. Teachers often do not have the time or resources to engage in continuing education opportunities. C.S.H.B. 1310 establishes the Texas Teachers' Excellence Program to provide statesupported incentives to encourage teachers to become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1310 amends the Education Code to require the State Board for Educator Certification (board) to establish the Texas Teachers' Excellence Program (program) to encourage teachers to become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The bill requires the board to provide financial assistance to teachers in earning certification and to provide staff for a selection committee. The bill requires school districts to pay stipends to teachers who hold certification (Sec. 21.602). The bill establishes a five member selection committee (committee) to review applications of teachers who apply to participate in the program and sets forth provisions for the appointment, terms of office, meeting dates, and reimbursement of expenses incurred by members. If the committee receives not more than 100 applications in a fiscal year for financial assistance under the program, the bill requires the committee to accept the application of each eligible applicant. If the committee receives more than 100 applications in a fiscal year and accepting the applications of all the eligible applicants would result in the expenditure of more money than the amount available for that fiscal year, the bill requires the selection committee to review all of the applications and select not more than 100 eligible applicants to receive financial assistance (Sec. 21.604). For each teacher selected by the applicant review committee, the bill requires the board to pay the application fee for the national certification examination and provide a scholarship to pay other expenses of applying for national certification. The bill requires the board to establish the amount of a scholarship but not to exceed $1,500 paid from funds appropriated to the board and grants, gifts and donations received for that purpose and $1,000 from funds provided to the board through federal grants. The bill entitles a teacher to three days of leave to prepare the application for national certification, in addition to any other leave to which the teacher is entitled (Sec. 21.605). The bill sets forth eligibility requirements for financial assistance to teachers preparing for the certification examination (Sec. 21.603). The bill sets forth conditions under which the teacher is required to reimburse the board for the money received to train and apply for national certification (Sec. 21.606). The bill requires school districts to pay an annual salary stipend of $4,000 to teachers who hold national certification at the beginning of the school year, and an additional $2,000 to those who serve at least 40 hours during the school year as a mentor to other teachers preparing for the national certification examination (Secs. 21.602 and 21.607). The bill requires the program to be funded using funds appropriated to the board, funds provided to the board through federal grants and gifts, grants, and donations received for that purpose (Sec. 21.608) The bill amends the Government Code to include salary stipends provided as a part of the program in the definition of salary and wages for the purposes of calculating member contributions and benefits under the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (Sec. 822.201). The bill specifies that a classroom teacher is not entitled to a salary stipend for a year before the effective date of the bill during which the teacher held certification (SECTION 3). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1310 differs from the original by removing provisions that required the State Board for Educator Certification to provide training and information to teachers regarding certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (certification) (Sec. 21.602). If there are more applicants than can be accepted with the money available in a fiscal year, the substitute decreases the maximum number of teachers that can be selected to receive a scholarship from 500 to 100. The substitute decreases the number of members of the selection committee from 15 to five, and requires that at least one member appointed by the board and at least one member appointed by the State Board of Education be a teacher who holds a certification (Sec. 21.604). The substitute requires the board to establish the amount of a scholarship and establishes maximum amounts from the different sources of funding (Sec. 21.605). The bill provides that only a teacher who holds a certification at the beginning of the school year is authorized to receive a stipend from the school district. The substitute decreases from 50 to 40 the number of hours during the school year a teacher must work as a mentor to receive the additional $2,000 stipend (Sec. 21.607). The substitute provides that the certification program is funded using funds appropriated to the board and funds provided to the board through federal grants and gifts, grants, and donations rather than state funds appropriated for the program along with gift, grants, and donations (Sec. 21.608). The substitute modifies provisions in the original relating to the expiration of terms of the initial members of the selection committee. The substitute specifies that a classroom teacher is not entitled to a salary stipend for a year before the effective date of the bill during which the teacher held certification (SECTION 3).