Relating to professional development academies designed for public school teachers who provide instruction to certain students of limited English proficiency.
Impact
The bill's implementation is expected to have a significant influence on educational practices throughout Texas by ensuring that teachers working with LEP students receive substantial training tailored to their needs. Such academies are intended to address the challenges these students face in comprehending and engaging with the curriculum. The legislation also specifies that teachers who fulfill particular requirements, such as working in schools with performance issues concerning LEP students, must attend these training sessions to enhance their teaching effectiveness.
Summary
SB1460 is a legislative bill focused on establishing professional development academies aimed at enhancing the instructional skills of public school teachers who educate students with limited English proficiency (LEP). It mandates that the Education Commissioner design and provide these academies specifically for teachers instructing seventh-grade students or higher. The bill highlights the importance of equipping teachers with research-based strategies to improve English language development and facilitate academic success across various subjects including English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Contention
While the bill aims to address critical gaps in education for LEP students, it may attract some contention regarding the allocation of resources for the professional development academies. Questions could arise over the adequacy of funding to support these training initiatives and whether they will sufficiently prepare teachers to meet the diverse linguistic and cultural needs of their students. Furthermore, the inclusion of stipends for attending teachers, although beneficial, raises concerns about the sustainability of such financial incentives in the long term and their effect on budget priorities within educational institutions.
Relating to accelerated and supplemental instruction provided to public school students who fail to achieve satisfactory performance on certain assessment instruments and access to criminal history record information for certain tutors providing that instruction.
Relating to the assessment of public school students and the provision of accelerated instruction to students who fail to achieve satisfactory performance on certain assessment instruments.
Relating to instructional material and technology, the adoption of essential knowledge and skills for certain public school foundation curriculum subjects, and the extension of additional state aid to school districts for the provision of certain instructional materials; authorizing a fee.
Transferring registration requirements and related compliance oversight and enforcement authority for professional employer organizations from the commissioner of insurance to the secretary of state effective January 1, 2025, granting the secretary responsibility over the professional employer organization fee fund and ensuring that welfare benefit plans offered by professional employer organizations to employees and covered employees are treated as a single employer welfare benefit plan for purposes of state law.