| 1 | 1 | | 81R1852 KKA-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Strama H.B. No. 517 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to annual stipends provided to public school teachers who |
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| 8 | 8 | | serve as mentors to other public school teachers. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 21.458, Education Code, is amended by |
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| 11 | 11 | | amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (b-1), (c-1), (c-2), |
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| 12 | 12 | | and (c-3) to read as follows: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (b-1) The board of trustees of a school district that |
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| 14 | 14 | | assigns teachers to serve as mentors under this section shall: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) adopt a policy, consistent with any rules adopted |
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| 16 | 16 | | by the commissioner under this section, that governs the selection |
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| 17 | 17 | | and duties of teachers assigned to serve as mentors; and |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) ensure that a mentor teacher stipend under this |
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| 19 | 19 | | section is provided only to a teacher who fulfills the duties |
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| 20 | 20 | | specified in the policy required by Subdivision (1). |
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| 21 | 21 | | (c) From the funds allocated under Section 21.703 or other |
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| 22 | 22 | | funds appropriated to the agency for purposes of this section, the |
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| 23 | 23 | | commissioner shall adopt rules and provide funding to school |
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| 24 | 24 | | districts that assign mentor teachers under this section. Funding |
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| 25 | 25 | | provided to districts under this section may be used only for |
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| 26 | 26 | | providing: |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) mentor teacher stipends in the amount of $1,000 |
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| 28 | 28 | | per teacher for each school year during which the teacher serves as |
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| 29 | 29 | | a mentor; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) scheduled time for mentor teachers to provide |
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| 31 | 31 | | mentoring to assigned classroom teachers; and |
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| 32 | 32 | | (3) mentoring support through providers of mentor |
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| 33 | 33 | | training. |
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| 34 | 34 | | (c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), a school district may |
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| 35 | 35 | | use funds provided under that subsection for a purpose authorized |
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| 36 | 36 | | by Subsection (c)(2) or (3) only to the extent that funds remain |
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| 37 | 37 | | after fully funding the stipends authorized by Subsection (c)(1). |
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| 38 | 38 | | (c-2) Subsection (c-1) does not create a property right of a |
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| 39 | 39 | | teacher to receive a stipend. If a school district receives |
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| 40 | 40 | | insufficient funds to fully fund the stipends, the district shall |
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| 41 | 41 | | reduce the stipend the district pays to each teacher serving as a |
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| 42 | 42 | | mentor proportionately so that each teacher serving as a mentor |
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| 43 | 43 | | receives the same amount of money. |
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| 44 | 44 | | (c-3) A stipend a teacher receives under this section is not |
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| 45 | 45 | | considered in determining whether the district is paying the |
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| 46 | 46 | | teacher the minimum monthly salary under Section 21.402. |
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| 47 | 47 | | SECTION 2. Section 21.703(a), Education Code, is amended to |
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| 48 | 48 | | read as follows: |
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| 49 | 49 | | (a) Each state fiscal year, the commissioner shall deposit |
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| 50 | 50 | | the sum of $1,000 multiplied by the number of classroom teachers in |
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| 51 | 51 | | this state to the credit of the educator excellence fund in the |
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| 52 | 52 | | general revenue fund. Each state fiscal year, the agency shall use: |
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| 53 | 53 | | (1) from the funds in the educator excellence fund, |
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| 54 | 54 | | the amount necessary to fund stipends under Section 21.458 for |
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| 55 | 55 | | teachers who serve as mentors to other teachers, provided that not |
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| 56 | 56 | | more than $70 million may be used for this purpose each fiscal year; |
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| 57 | 57 | | (2) not more than $100 million of any remaining [the] |
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| 58 | 58 | | funds in the educator excellence fund to provide grant awards under |
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| 59 | 59 | | the awards for student achievement program established under |
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| 60 | 60 | | Subchapter N; and |
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| 61 | 61 | | (3) [(2)] any remaining funds in the educator |
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| 62 | 62 | | excellence fund to provide a qualifying school district a grant in |
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| 63 | 63 | | an amount determined by: |
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| 64 | 64 | | (A) dividing the amount of remaining money |
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| 65 | 65 | | available for distribution in the educator excellence fund by the |
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| 66 | 66 | | total number of students in average daily attendance in qualifying |
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| 67 | 67 | | districts for that fiscal year; and |
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| 68 | 68 | | (B) multiplying the amount determined under |
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| 69 | 69 | | Paragraph (A) by the number of students in average daily attendance |
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| 70 | 70 | | in the district. |
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| 71 | 71 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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