By: Patrick, Nichols S.B. No. 218
(In the Senate - Filed March 7, 2013; March 12, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 22, 2013,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 22, 2013, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 218 By: Patrick
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Education
Agency and to the abolition of the State Board for Educator
Certification and the transfer of its functions to the Texas
Education Agency; changing the amounts of certain fees and
providing for the ad valorem tax rate to be imposed after annexation
of an insolvent or inoperative school district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 7.004, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 7.004. SUNSET PROVISION. The Texas Education Agency
is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act).
Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the
agency is abolished September 1, 2025 [2013].
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 7.021, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The agency shall:
(1) distribute state and federal funding to public
schools and ensure the proper use of those funds;
(2) monitor public schools for compliance with state
and federal guidelines, subject to the limitations in Section
7.028;
(3) administer the statewide standardized testing
program and accountability systems;
(4) provide assistance to and impose interventions and
sanctions on public schools that consistently fail to meet state or
federal accountability standards;
(5) provide support to the board in developing
statewide curriculum standards, adopting instructional materials,
managing the instructional materials allotment and distribution
process, and carrying out duties related to the permanent school
fund;
(6) collect, analyze, and make accessible a wide array
of educational and financial data from public schools;
(7) ensure the quality of public school educators by
certifying educators, regulating educator preparation programs,
and taking enforcement action in cases of educator misconduct; and
(8) carry out any other duties imposed on the agency by
the legislature consistent with the agency's appropriations and
mission [perform the educational functions provided by Subsection
(b)].
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 7, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 7.0235 to read as follows:
Sec. 7.0235. RESTRICTIONS ON AGENCY EMPLOYMENT. (a) In
this section, "Texas trade association" means a cooperative and
voluntarily joined statewide association of business or
professional competitors in this state designed to assist its
members and its industry or profession in dealing with mutual
business or professional problems and in promoting their common
interest.
(b) A person may not be an agency employee employed in a
"bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity,"
as that phrase is used for purposes of establishing an exemption to
the overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 (29 U.S.C. Section 201 et seq.), if:
(1) the person is an officer, employee, or paid
consultant of a Texas trade association in the field of elementary
or secondary education; or
(2) the person's spouse is an officer, manager, or paid
consultant of a Texas trade association in the field of elementary
or secondary education.
(c) A person may not act as the general counsel to the
commissioner or the agency if the person is required to register as
a lobbyist under Chapter 305, Government Code, because of the
person's activities for compensation on behalf of a profession
related to the operation of the agency.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 7, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 7.034, 7.035, and 7.036 to read as
follows:
Sec. 7.034. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT POLICY. The agency shall
develop and implement a policy regarding public involvement with
the agency. The policy must:
(1) describe how the agency will proactively engage
stakeholders;
(2) distinguish the purposes and appropriate uses of
advisory committees and informal work groups, including by
specifying that an informal work group:
(A) is not subject to Chapter 2110, Government
Code; and
(B) must have a well-defined purpose and follow
specific timelines for completing tasks;
(3) identify actions the agency will take that exceed
the minimum open meetings requirements under Chapter 551,
Government Code;
(4) include a strategy for providing updated
information regarding advisory committees and issues of concern to
stakeholders through the agency's Internet website; and
(5) describe how public input will affect agency
decisions, including by providing information regarding the
specific outcomes for all types of public input.
Sec. 7.035. COMPLAINTS. (a) The agency shall maintain a
system to promptly and efficiently act on complaints filed with the
agency. The agency shall maintain information about parties to the
complaint, the subject matter of the complaint, a summary of the
results of the review or investigation of the complaint, and its
disposition.
(b) The agency shall make information available describing
its procedures for complaint investigation and resolution.
(c) The agency shall periodically notify the complaint
parties of the status of the complaint until final disposition.
Sec. 7.036. NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING; ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE
RESOLUTION. (a) The agency shall develop and implement a policy
to encourage the use of:
(1) negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter
2008, Government Code, for the adoption of agency rules; and
(2) appropriate alternative dispute resolution
procedures under Chapter 2009, Government Code, to assist in the
resolution of internal and external disputes under the agency's
jurisdiction.
(b) The agency's procedures relating to alternative dispute
resolution must conform, to the extent possible, to any model
guidelines issued by the State Office of Administrative Hearings
for the use of alternative dispute resolution by state agencies.
(c) The agency shall:
(1) coordinate the implementation of the policy
adopted under Subsection (a);
(2) provide training as needed to implement the
procedures for negotiated rulemaking or alternative dispute
resolution; and
(3) collect data concerning the effectiveness of those
procedures.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 7.055, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall:
(1) serve as the educational leader of the state;
(2) serve as executive officer of the agency, with
authority to:
(A) employ division heads and any other employees
and clerks necessary to perform the duties of the agency;
(B) delegate ministerial and executive functions
to agency staff;
(C) appoint advisory committees, in accordance
with Chapter 2110, Government Code, as necessary to advise the
commissioner in carrying out the duties and mission of the agency;
and
(D) appoint an internal auditor for the agency;
and
(3) carry out the duties imposed on the commissioner
by the legislature [has the powers and duties provided by
Subsection (b)].
SECTION 6. Subdivision (9), Subsection (b), Section 7.055,
Education Code, is transferred to Subchapter A, Chapter 7,
Education Code, redesignated as Section 7.011, Education Code, and
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7.011. TEXAS SCHOOL LAW BULLETIN. [(9)] The
commissioner shall have a bulletin [manual] published at least once
every two years that contains Title 1 and this title, any other
provisions of this code relating specifically to public primary or
secondary education, and an appendix of all other state laws
relating to public primary or secondary education. The
commissioner [and] shall provide for the distribution of the
bulletin [manual] as determined by the board.
SECTION 7. Subdivision (40), Subsection (b), Section 7.055,
Education Code, is transferred to Subchapter A, Chapter 21,
Education Code, redesignated as Section 21.009, Education Code, and
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 21.009. SUSPENSION RELATING TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
OR STRIKES. [(40)] The commissioner shall suspend the certificate
of an educator or permit of a teacher who violates Chapter 617,
Government Code.
SECTION 8. Subchapter C, Chapter 7, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 7.064 to read as follows:
Sec. 7.064. ADVISORY COMMITTEE RULES. (a) The
commissioner shall adopt rules, in compliance with Chapter 2110,
Government Code, regarding an advisory committee that primarily
functions to advise the commissioner or the agency, including rules
governing an advisory committee's purpose, tasks, reporting
requirements, and abolishment date.
(b) The commissioner may adopt rules under this section
regarding an advisory committee's:
(1) size and quorum requirements;
(2) qualifications for membership, including
experience requirements and geographic representation;
(3) appointment procedures;
(4) terms of service; and
(5) compliance with the requirements for open meetings
under Chapter 551, Government Code.
SECTION 9. Section 12.102, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 12.102. AUTHORITY UNDER CHARTER. An open-enrollment
charter school:
(1) shall provide instruction to students at one or
more elementary or secondary grade levels as provided by the
charter;
(2) is governed under the governing structure
described by the charter;
(3) retains authority to operate under the charter:
(A) contingent on satisfactory student
performance as provided by the charter in accordance with Section
12.111; and
(B) to the extent authorized under Section
12.1141; and
(4) does not have authority to impose taxes.
SECTION 10. Subsection (a), Section 12.111, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Each charter granted under this subchapter must:
(1) describe the educational program to be offered,
which must include the required curriculum as provided by Section
28.002;
(2) specify that the period for which the initial
charter or any charter renewal is valid is eight years;
(3) provide that continuation or renewal of the
charter is contingent on:
(A) acceptable student performance on assessment
instruments adopted under Subchapter B, Chapter 39, and [on]
compliance with any accountability provision specified by the
charter, by a deadline or at intervals specified by the charter; and
(B) a determination by the commissioner under
Section 12.1141;
(4) establish the level of student performance that is
considered acceptable for purposes of Subdivision (3)(A) [(3)];
(5) specify any basis, in addition to a basis
specified by this subchapter, on which the charter may be placed on
probation or revoked or on which renewal of the charter may be
denied;
(6) prohibit discrimination in admission policy on the
basis of sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability,
academic, artistic, or athletic ability, or the district the child
would otherwise attend in accordance with this code, although the
charter may:
(A) provide for the exclusion of a student who
has a documented history of a criminal offense, a juvenile court
adjudication, or discipline problems under Subchapter A, Chapter
37; and
(B) provide for an admission policy that requires
a student to demonstrate artistic ability if the school specializes
in performing arts;
(7) specify the grade levels to be offered;
(8) describe the governing structure of the program,
including:
(A) the officer positions designated;
(B) the manner in which officers are selected and
removed from office;
(C) the manner in which members of the governing
body of the school are selected and removed from office;
(D) the manner in which vacancies on that
governing body are filled;
(E) the term for which members of that governing
body serve; and
(F) whether the terms are to be staggered;
(9) specify the powers or duties of the governing body
of the school that the governing body may delegate to an officer;
(10) specify the manner in which the school will
distribute to parents information related to the qualifications of
each professional employee of the program, including any
professional or educational degree held by each employee, a
statement of any certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, held
by each employee, and any relevant experience of each employee;
(11) describe the process by which the person
providing the program will adopt an annual budget;
(12) describe the manner in which an annual audit of
the financial and programmatic operations of the program is to be
conducted, including the manner in which the person providing the
program will provide information necessary for the school district
in which the program is located to participate, as required by this
code or by State Board of Education rule, in the Public Education
Information Management System (PEIMS);
(13) describe the facilities to be used;
(14) describe the geographical area served by the
program; and
(15) specify any type of enrollment criteria to be
used.
SECTION 11. Subsection (a), Section 12.1054, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A member of the governing body of a charter holder, a
member of the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school,
or an officer of an open-enrollment charter school is considered to
be a local public official for purposes of Chapter 171, Local
Government Code. For purposes of that chapter:
(1) a member of the governing body of a charter holder
or a member of the governing body or officer of an open-enrollment
charter school is considered to have a substantial interest in a
business entity if a person related to the member or officer in the
third degree by consanguinity or in the second degree by affinity,
as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, has a substantial
interest in the business entity under Section 171.002, Local
Government Code; and
(2) notwithstanding any provision of Subdivision (1),
employees [Section 12.1054(1), an employee] of an open-enrollment
charter school rated as acceptable [or higher] under Section 39.054
for at least two of the preceding three school years may serve as
members [a member] of the governing body of the charter holder or
[of] the governing body of the school if the employees do not
constitute a quorum of the governing body or any committee of the
governing body; however, all members shall comply with the
requirements of Sections 171.003-171.007, Local Government Code.
SECTION 12. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.1141 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1141. RENEWAL OF CHARTER; REVIEW. (a) The charter
of an open-enrollment charter school expires after eight years
unless renewed by the commissioner.
(b) Under rules adopted by the commissioner, not later than
the date on which a charter of an open-enrollment charter school
expires under Subsection (a):
(1) a charter holder shall apply for a renewal of the
charter; and
(2) the commissioner shall renew the charter for a
term of eight years, deny renewal of the charter, or renew the
charter on a probationary basis as provided by Subsection (e).
(c) The commissioner by rule shall establish a review
process for the renewal of the charter of an open-enrollment
charter school. In establishing a review process for renewal under
this section, the commissioner shall:
(1) adopt clear standards for renewal, including
academic, financial, and governance standards and other relevant
standards as determined by the commissioner; and
(2) provide a streamlined review process for an
open-enrollment charter school with a history of high academic and
financial performance and no interventions or sanctions, including
clear standards for eligibility for this process.
(d) In conducting a review for renewal under this section,
the commissioner:
(1) shall consider the extent to which an
open-enrollment charter school has:
(A) met the standards established under
Subsection (c)(1); and
(B) operated in compliance with the terms of the
school's charter; and
(2) may request from the school any information
necessary, as determined by the commissioner, to make a
determination under this section.
(e) The commissioner may renew the charter of an
open-enrollment charter school on a probationary basis for a period
of one year. The commissioner shall establish standards for
improvement for a school renewed on a probationary basis.
Following the probationary period under this subsection, the
commissioner shall renew or deny renewal of the charter based on the
school's performance on the standards for improvement, as
determined by the commissioner.
(f) An open-enrollment charter school that intends to
challenge a decision by the commissioner under this section must
appeal the decision under the procedures provided under Section
12.116. An open-enrollment charter school may continue to operate
pending an appeal under Section 12.116.
(g) Not later than September 1, 2014, the commissioner shall
adopt rules for the implementation of this section. The rules may
modify the expiration date of one or more charters as necessary to
equalize the agency's annual renewal workload during the transition
to the renewal system required by this section. This subsection
expires October 1, 2014.
SECTION 13. Section 12.115, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) The commissioner shall establish separate performance
standards for each of the actions authorized to be taken by the
commissioner under Subsection (a).
(d) In making a determination under Subsection (a), the
commissioner shall consider:
(1) the charter holder's history of violations of the
charter or performance on accountability provisions prescribed by
the charter;
(2) the number and severity of previous violations or
unsatisfactory performance on accountability provisions;
(3) the charter holder's efforts to correct, and
whether the charter holder corrected, previous violations or
unsatisfactory performance on accountability provisions; and
(4) any other actions necessary to deter future
violations or unsatisfactory performance on accountability
provisions, as determined by the commissioner.
SECTION 14. The heading to Section 12.116, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 12.116. PROCEDURES [PROCEDURE] FOR MODIFICATION,
PLACEMENT ON PROBATION, REVOCATION, OR DENIAL OF RENEWAL.
SECTION 15. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 12.116,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall adopt procedures [a procedure]
to be used for modifying, placing on probation, revoking, or
denying renewal of the charter of an open-enrollment charter
school.
(b) The procedures [procedure] adopted under Subsection (a)
must provide an opportunity for a hearing to the charter holder and
to parents and guardians of students in the school. A hearing under
this subsection must be held at the facility at which the program is
operated.
SECTION 16. Subsection (e), Section 12.1162, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(e) Immediately after a hearing under Subsection (d), the
commissioner may [must] cease the action under Subsection (b) or
impose additional sanctions as determined by the commissioner,
including a sanction provision under Subchapter E, Chapter 39
[initiate action under Section 12.116].
SECTION 17. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 12.1165, 12.1166, and 12.1167 to read as
follows:
Sec. 12.1165. REVOCATION REQUIRED FOR FAILURE TO MEET
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OR FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS.
(a) The commissioner shall revoke the charter of an
open-enrollment charter school and order closure of all campuses
and programs operated under the school's charter if the
open-enrollment charter school:
(1) does not satisfy the academic performance
standards under Section 39.053 or 39.054 for three consecutive
years; or
(2) does not satisfy a financial accountability
standard, as determined by the commissioner, for three consecutive
years.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 12.116, a charter holder is not
entitled to a hearing before the charter is revoked under this
section. A revocation order under this section is final and may not
be appealed.
(c) Before the commissioner orders revocation under
Subsection (a), the charter holder may challenge under Section
39.151 an agency decision relating to an academic performance or
financial accountability rating that affects the open-enrollment
charter school.
(d) Not later than June 15 of each year, the agency shall
provide to each open-enrollment charter school at risk of
revocation of the school's charter under this section the school's
academic performance and financial accountability ratings.
(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
section.
(e-1) The commissioner shall adopt initial rules under
Subsection (e) not later than June 1, 2014. This subsection expires
July 1, 2014.
Sec. 12.1166. REVOCATION FOR INSOLVENCY. (a) If the
commissioner determines that an open-enrollment charter school
does not have sufficient funding to complete the next school year,
the commissioner may:
(1) before the beginning of the next school year or
term, suspend the authority of all campuses under the school's
charter to operate; and
(2) pursue revocation of the charter.
(b) Not later than the 10th day after the date the
commissioner initiates action under Subsection (a), the
commissioner shall provide the charter holder an opportunity for a
hearing.
(c) If after a hearing under Subsection (b) the commissioner
determines that the open-enrollment charter school does not have
sufficient funding to complete the next school year, the
commissioner must proceed with a revocation under this section. If
after a hearing under Subsection (b) the commissioner determines
that the open-enrollment charter school does have sufficient
funding to complete the next school year, the commissioner must
cease the action under Subsection (a), but may impose sanctions as
determined by the commissioner, including a sanction under
Subchapter E, Chapter 39.
(d) An open-enrollment charter school that intends to
challenge a decision by the commissioner under this section must
appeal the decision under the procedures provided under Section
12.116. The authority of an open-enrollment charter school to
operate shall remain suspended under Subsection (a) pending an
appeal under Section 12.116. The commissioner's decision following
the appeal is final and may not be further appealed.
(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules for determining
whether an open-enrollment charter school has sufficient funding to
complete the next school year for purposes of this section.
(e-1) The commissioner shall adopt initial rules under
Subsection (e) not later than March 1, 2014. This subsection
expires April 1, 2014.
(f) Chapter 2001, Government Code, does not apply to a
hearing under this section.
Sec. 12.1167. STUDENT'S BEST INTEREST STANDARD. In taking
action under this subchapter, the commissioner may consider the
best interest of an open-enrollment charter school's students.
SECTION 18. Section 12.118, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 12.118. EVALUATION OF OPEN-ENROLLMENT CHARTER
SCHOOLS. (a) The commissioner shall designate an impartial
organization with experience in evaluating school choice programs
to conduct an [annual] evaluation of open-enrollment charter
schools once every four years.
(b) An evaluation under this section must include an
evaluation of cost, performance, or [consideration of the following
items before implementing the charter and after implementing the
charter:
[(1) students' scores on assessment instruments
administered under Subchapter B, Chapter 39;
[(2) student attendance;
[(3) students' grades;
[(4) incidents involving student discipline;
[(5) socioeconomic data on students' families;
[(6) parents' satisfaction with their children's
schools; and
[(7) students' satisfaction with their schools.
[(c) The evaluation of open-enrollment charter schools must
also include an evaluation of:
[(1) the costs of instruction, administration, and
transportation incurred by open-enrollment charter schools;
[(2) the effect of open-enrollment charter schools on
school districts and on teachers, students, and parents in those
districts; and
[(3)] other issues, as determined by the commissioner.
(c) Not later than December 1 of each year in which an
evaluation is conducted under Subsection (a), the agency shall
submit a report to the legislature regarding the findings of an
evaluation conducted under this section. The report must include
appropriate recommendations, as determined by the agency, to
improve the performance and regulation of open-enrollment charter
schools.
(c-1) The agency shall submit the first report required
under Subsection (c) not later than December 1, 2016. This
subsection expires January 1, 2017.
SECTION 19. Section 12.120, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c), (c-1), and (c-2) to read as follows:
(c) A person may not serve as a member of the governing body
of a charter holder if the person is related to another member of
the same governing body in the third degree by consanguinity or in
the second degree by affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code.
(c-1) Not later than September 1, 2015, a member of a
governing board of a charter holder with a relationship described
by Subsection (c) must be replaced to comply with the requirements
of that subsection.
(c-2) This subsection and Subsection (c-1) expire October
1, 2015.
SECTION 20. Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 12.1201 to read as follows:
Sec. 12.1201. MODIFICATION OF GOVERNANCE. (a) If the
commissioner determines that the governing body of a charter holder
is not providing adequate oversight of an open-enrollment charter
school and other sanctions have not been effective, the
commissioner may reconstitute the governing body.
(b) In reconstituting the governing body of a charter holder
under this section, the commissioner shall appoint members to the
governing body. In appointing members under this subsection the
commissioner:
(1) shall consider:
(A) local input from community members and
parents; and
(B) appropriate credentials and expertise for
membership, including financial expertise, whether the person
lives in the geographic area the charter holder serves, and whether
the person is an educator; and
(2) may reappoint current members of the governing
body.
(c) If a governing body of a charter holder subject to
reconstitution under this section governs enterprises other than
the open-enrollment charter school, the commissioner may require
the charter holder to:
(1) create a new, single-purpose organization that is
exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, to govern the open-enrollment charter school; and
(2) surrender the charter to the commissioner for
transfer to the organization created under Subdivision (1).
(d) The commissioner shall appoint the members of the
governing body of an organization created under Subsection (c)(1).
(e) The authority granted to the commissioner under this
section does not supersede the attorney general's authority over
charitable organizations.
(f) The commissioner shall adopt rules necessary to
implement this section.
(f-1) The commissioner shall adopt initial rules under
Subsection (f) not later than September 1, 2014. This subsection
expires October 1, 2014.
SECTION 21. Subsection (a), Section 13.005, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by this section, Section 13.054, or
[by] a local consolidation agreement under Section 13.158, the
annexation of all or part of the territory of one district to
another is effective on the first July 1 that is more than 30 days
after the date of the order or ordinance accomplishing the
annexation or of the declaration of the results of an election at
which the transfer is approved.
SECTION 22. Subchapter B, Chapter 13, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 13.0521 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.0521. INSOLVENT OR INOPERATIVE DISTRICT. (a) The
board of trustees of a school district may notify the commissioner
that the district is unable to complete the current or subsequent
school year for financial or other reasons. On notification, the
commissioner shall investigate the finances and other
circumstances of the district. If the commissioner determines that
the district is unable to complete the current or subsequent school
year, the commissioner shall report the district to the
commissioners court of each county that contains district territory
for annexation as provided by this section.
(b) If a district has failed to operate school for 10 or more
days of its regular school year, the commissioner shall notify the
district that it is subject to annexation under this section. The
commissioner shall require the district to submit a plan not later
than the 10th day after the date the commissioner provides
notification describing how the district will complete the current
school year and subsequent school year. If the district fails to
submit a plan, or if the commissioner, after evaluating the
district's plan, determines that the district cannot reasonably be
expected to complete the current or subsequent school year, the
commissioner shall report the district to the commissioners court
of each county that contains district territory for annexation as
provided by this section.
(c) Each commissioners court by order shall annex district
territory within the county to one or more other districts in the
county or to a contiguous district in an adjacent county, provided
that the commissioners court of the adjacent county consents to the
annexation. An annexation under this section must occur in an open
meeting with opportunity for public comment.
(d) If a commissioners court fails to order annexation of
district territory on or before the 60th day after the date the
commissioner reports the district to the commissioners court, the
commissioner shall order annexation of the territory to one or more
other districts. The commissioner may annex the territory to a
district in the same county or to a contiguous district in an
adjacent county.
(e) The commissioners court or the commissioner, as
applicable, shall specify the effective date for the annexation,
which may not be later than the first anniversary of the date of the
annexation order. The order shall identify the district or
districts required to serve students residing in the district to be
annexed through any school year that begins before the effective
date of the annexation. A district required to serve students under
this subsection shall provide services equivalent to those provided
to the district's other students and shall be entitled to funding
for the attendance and transportation of students served as
required by the order.
(f) The annexation order shall define by legal boundary
description the resulting territory of each district to which
territory is annexed and shall be recorded in the minutes of the
commissioners court.
(g) The governing board of a district to which territory is
annexed is the governing board for the resulting district.
(h) Title to real property of the annexed district vests in
the district to which the property is annexed. Each district to
which territory is annexed assumes and is liable for any portion of
the annexed district's indebtedness that is allocated to the
receiving district under Section 13.004.
(i) A district to which territory is annexed under this
section is entitled to incentive aid under Section 13.281, as
determined by the commissioner, as if the district were created
through consolidation.
(j) The annexation order shall provide for taxation of the
territory annexed during the year in which the annexation takes
place. Unless a different rate is required by Section 3-b, Article
VII, Texas Constitution, the order shall provide for a levy of a tax
at a rate equal to the maintenance and operations tax rate of the
district to which the territory is annexed, plus any required
interest and sinking fund tax.
(k) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, this
section does not affect the authority of the board of trustees of a
district subject to annexation under this section to pursue
consolidation under Subchapter D of this chapter or Subchapter B,
Chapter 41. Actions authorized under this section may be taken
pending the outcome of an election to consolidate districts under
Subchapter D of this chapter or a decision to consolidate under
Subchapter B, Chapter 41. An election to consolidate or a decision
to consolidate under Subchapter B, Chapter 41, that occurs not
later than the 60th day following the date an annexation order is
entered under this section prevails over the annexation order if
the proposition for consolidation is adopted in both districts,
provided that a district required to serve students under
Subsection (e) shall allow any student to attend school through the
completion of the school year in which the effective date of a
consolidation occurs. An election to consolidate or a decision to
consolidate under Subchapter B, Chapter 41, that occurs later than
the 60th day following the date an annexation order is entered under
this section is void.
(l) Notwithstanding Section 13.009, a determination by the
commissioner or a commissioners court under this section is final
and may not be appealed.
(m) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
section.
SECTION 23. Section 13.054, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsection (h) to
read as follows:
(a) The commissioner by order may annex to one or more
[adjoining] districts a school district that has received an
accreditation status of accredited-warned or accredited-probation,
has failed to satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e), or has
failed to satisfy financial accountability standards as determined
by commissioner rule [been rated as academically unacceptable] for
a period of two consecutive years.
(b) The governing board of a district to which territory [of
an academically unacceptable district] is annexed is the governing
board for the new district.
(d) Title to the real property of the [academically
unacceptable] district to be annexed vests in the district to which
the property is annexed. Each district to which territory is
annexed assumes and is liable for any portion of the [academically
unacceptable district's] indebtedness of the district to be annexed
that is allocated to the receiving district under Section 13.004.
(h) Notwithstanding Section 13.005, the commissioner may
provide for an alternate effective date for an annexation under
this section if the alternate date is in the best interest of
students.
SECTION 24. Subsections (a), (b-1), and (f), Section
21.0031, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) An employee's probationary, continuing, or term
contract under this chapter is void if the employee:
(1) does not hold a valid certificate or permit issued
by the commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification];
(2) fails to fulfill the requirements necessary to
renew or extend the employee's temporary, probationary, or
emergency certificate or any other certificate or permit issued
under Subchapter B; or
(3) fails to comply with any requirement under
Subchapter C, Chapter 22, if the failure results in suspension or
revocation of the employee's certificate under Section
22.0831(f)(2).
(b-1) A school district may not terminate or suspend under
Subsection (b) an employee whose contract is void under Subsection
(a)(1) or (2) because the employee failed to renew or extend the
employee's certificate or permit if the employee:
(1) requests an extension from the commissioner [State
Board for Educator Certification] to renew, extend, or otherwise
validate the employee's certificate or permit; and
(2) not later than the 10th day after the date the
contract is void, takes necessary measures to renew, extend, or
otherwise validate the employee's certificate or permit, as
determined by the commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification].
(f) For purposes of this section, a certificate or permit is
not considered to have expired if:
(1) the employee has completed the requirements for
renewal of the certificate or permit;
(2) the employee submitted the request for renewal
prior to the expiration date; and
(3) the date the certificate or permit would have
expired is before the date the commissioner [State Board for
Educator Certification] takes action to approve the renewal of the
certificate or permit.
SECTION 25. Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e),
Section 21.004, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) To the extent that funds are available, the agency[, the
State Board for Educator Certification,] and the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall develop and implement programs
to identify talented students and recruit those students and
persons, including high school and undergraduate students,
mid-career and retired professionals, honorably discharged and
retired military personnel, and members of underrepresented gender
and ethnic groups, into the teaching profession.
(b) From available funds, the agency[, the State Board for
Educator Certification,] and the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board shall develop and distribute materials that
emphasize the importance of the teaching profession and inform
individuals about state-funded loan forgiveness and tuition
assistance programs.
(c) The commissioner, in cooperation with the commissioner
of higher education [and the executive director of the State Board
for Educator Certification], shall annually identify the need for
teachers in specific subject areas and geographic regions and among
underrepresented groups. The commissioner shall give priority to
developing and implementing recruitment programs to address those
needs from the agency's discretionary funds.
(d) The agency[, the State Board for Educator
Certification,] and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall encourage the business community to cooperate with local
schools to develop recruiting programs designed to attract and
retain capable teachers, including programs to provide summer
employment opportunities for teachers.
(e) The agency[, the State Board for Educator
Certification,] and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall encourage major education associations to cooperate in
developing a long-range program promoting teaching as a career and
to assist in identifying local activities and resources that may be
used to promote the teaching profession.
SECTION 26. Subsections (b), (b-1), (c), (d), (e), (f), and
(g), Section 21.006, Education Code, are amended to read as
follows:
(b) In addition to the reporting requirement under Section
261.101, Family Code, the superintendent or director of a school
district, open-enrollment charter school, regional education
service center, or shared services arrangement shall notify the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] if [the
superintendent or director has reasonable cause to believe that]:
(1) an educator [employed by or] seeking employment by
the district, school, service center, or shared services
arrangement has a criminal record or the criminal record of an
educator employed by the district, school, service center, or
shared services arrangement changes, as determined by commissioner
rule;
(2) an educator's employment at the district, school,
service center, or shared services arrangement was terminated based
on a determination that the educator:
(A) abused or otherwise committed an unlawful act
with a student or minor;
(A-1) was involved in a romantic relationship
with or solicited or engaged in sexual contact with a student or
minor;
(B) possessed, transferred, sold, or distributed
a controlled substance, as defined by Chapter 481, Health and
Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.[, and its
subsequent amendments];
(C) illegally transferred, appropriated, or
expended funds or other property of the district, school, service
center, or shared services arrangement;
(D) attempted by fraudulent or unauthorized
means to obtain or alter a professional certificate or license for
the purpose of promotion or additional compensation; or
(E) committed a criminal offense or any part of a
criminal offense on school property or at a school-sponsored event;
(3) the educator resigned and reasonable evidence
supports a recommendation by the superintendent or director to
terminate the educator based on a determination that the educator
engaged in misconduct described by Subdivision (2); or
(4) the educator engaged in conduct that violated the
assessment instrument security procedures established under
Section 39.0301.
(b-1) A superintendent or director of a school district or
open-enrollment charter school shall complete an investigation of
an educator that is based on a reasonable suspicion [cause] to
believe the educator may have engaged in misconduct described by
Subsection (b)(2)(A) or (A-1), despite the educator's resignation
from district or school employment before completion of the
investigation. The agency shall establish procedures for an
investigation under this subsection.
(c) The superintendent or director must notify the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] by filing a
report with the commissioner [board] not later than the seventh day
after the date the superintendent or director first learns about a
change in an employee's criminal record under Subsection (b)(1) or
a termination of employment or resignation following an alleged
incident of misconduct described by Subsection (b). The report
must be:
(1) in writing; and
(2) in a form prescribed by the commissioner [board].
(d) The superintendent or director shall notify the board of
trustees or governing body of the school district, open-enrollment
charter school, regional education service center, or shared
services arrangement and the educator of the filing of the report
required by Subsection (c).
(e) A superintendent or director who in good faith and while
acting in an official capacity files a report with the commissioner
[State Board for Educator Certification] under this section is
immune from civil or criminal liability that might otherwise be
incurred or imposed.
(f) The commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] shall determine whether to impose sanctions against
a superintendent or director who fails to file a report in violation
of Subsection (c).
(g) The commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] shall adopt [propose] rules as necessary to
implement this section.
SECTION 27. Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f),
Section 21.007, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The commissioner [board] shall adopt a procedure for
placing a notice of alleged misconduct on an educator's public
certification records. The procedure adopted by the commissioner
[board] must provide for immediate placement of a notice of alleged
misconduct on an educator's public certification records if the
alleged misconduct presents a risk to the health, safety, or
welfare of a student or minor as determined by the commissioner
[board].
(c) The commissioner [board] must notify an educator in
writing when placing a notice of an alleged incident of misconduct
on the public certification records of the educator.
(d) The commissioner [board] must provide an opportunity
for an educator to show cause why the notice should not be placed on
the educator's public certification records. The commissioner
[board] shall adopt [propose] rules establishing the length of time
that a notice may remain on the educator's public certification
records before the commissioner [board] must:
(1) initiate a proceeding to impose a sanction on the
educator on the basis of the alleged misconduct; or
(2) remove the notice from the educator's public
certification records.
(e) If it is determined that the educator has not engaged in
the alleged incident of misconduct, the commissioner [board] shall
immediately remove the notice from the educator's public
certification records.
(f) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
necessary to administer this section.
SECTION 28. Section 21.031, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.031. COMMISSIONER ROLE IN CERTIFICATION OF
EDUCATORS [PURPOSE]. (a) [The State Board for Educator
Certification is established to recognize public school educators
as professionals and to grant educators the authority to govern the
standards of their profession.] The commissioner [board] shall
regulate and oversee all aspects of the certification, continuing
education, and standards of conduct of public school educators.
(b) In adopting [proposing] rules under this subchapter,
the commissioner [board] shall ensure that all candidates for
certification or renewal of certification demonstrate the
knowledge and skills necessary to improve the performance of the
diverse student population of this state.
SECTION 29. Section 21.040, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.040. ADVISORY COMMITTEE [GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES
OF BOARD]. (a) The commissioner [board] shall[:
[(1) supervise the executive director's performance;
[(2) approve an operating budget for the board and
make a request for appropriations;
[(3) appoint the members of any advisory committee to
the board;
[(4) for each class of educator certificate,] appoint
an advisory committee [composed of members of that class] to
recommend standards for educator certification and educator
preparation programs [that class] to the commissioner [board;
[(5) provide to its members and employees, as often as
necessary, information regarding their qualifications for office
or employment under this chapter and their responsibilities under
applicable laws relating to standards of conduct for state officers
or employees;
[(6) develop and implement policies that clearly
define the respective responsibilities of the board and the board's
staff; and
[(7) execute interagency contracts to perform routine
administrative functions].
(b) In appointing the members of the advisory committee
established under this section, the commissioner shall ensure the
committee has a balanced representation of teachers,
administrators, school counselors, and representatives of both
traditional and alternative certification educator preparation
programs.
SECTION 30. Subsections (b), (c), and (d), Section 21.041,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
that:
(1) provide for the regulation of educators and the
general administration of this subchapter in a manner consistent
with this subchapter;
(2) specify the classes of educator certificates to be
issued, including emergency certificates;
(3) specify the period for which each class of
educator certificate is valid;
(4) specify the requirements for the issuance and
renewal of an educator certificate;
(5) provide for the issuance of an educator
certificate to a person who holds a similar certificate issued by
another state or foreign country, subject to Section 21.052;
(6) provide for special or restricted certification of
educators, including certification of instructors of American Sign
Language;
(7) provide for disciplinary proceedings, including
the suspension or revocation of an educator certificate, as
provided by Chapter 2001, Government Code;
(8) provide for the adoption, amendment, and
enforcement of an educator's code of ethics;
(9) provide for continuing education requirements;
and
(10) provide for certification of persons performing
appraisals under Subchapter H.
(c) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] a rule
establishing [adopting] a fee for the issuance and maintenance of
an educator certificate that, when combined with any fees imposed
under Subsection (d), is adequate to cover the cost of
administration of this subchapter.
(d) The commissioner [board] may adopt [propose] a rule
establishing [adopting] a fee for the approval or renewal of
approval of an educator preparation program, or for the addition of
a certificate or field of certification to the scope of a program's
approval. A fee imposed under this subsection may not exceed the
amount necessary, as determined by the commissioner [board], to
provide for the administrative cost of approving, renewing the
approval of, and appropriately ensuring the accountability of
educator preparation programs under this subchapter.
SECTION 31. Section 21.044, Education Code, as amended by
Chapters 635 (S.B. 866) and 926 (S.B. 1620), Acts of the 82nd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.044. EDUCATOR PREPARATION. (a) The commissioner
[board] shall adopt [propose] rules establishing the training
requirements a person must accomplish to obtain a certificate,
enter an internship, or enter an induction-year program. The
commissioner [board] shall specify the minimum academic
qualifications required for a certificate.
(b) Any minimum academic qualifications for a certificate
specified under Subsection (a) that require a person to possess a
bachelor's degree must also require that the person receive, as
part of the curriculum for that degree, instruction in detection
and education of students with dyslexia. This subsection does not
apply to a person who obtains a certificate through an alternative
certification program adopted under Section 21.049.
(c) The instruction under Subsection (b) must:
(1) be developed by a panel of experts in the diagnosis
and treatment of dyslexia who are:
(A) employed by institutions of higher
education; and
(B) approved by the commissioner [board]; and
(2) include information on:
(A) characteristics of dyslexia;
(B) identification of dyslexia; and
(C) effective, multisensory strategies for
teaching students with dyslexia.
(d) [(b)] In adopting [proposing] rules under this section,
the commissioner [board] shall specify that to obtain a certificate
to teach an "applied STEM course," as that term is defined by
Section 28.027, at a secondary school, a person must:
(1) pass the certification test administered by the
recognized national or international business and industry group
that created the curriculum the applied STEM course is based on; and
(2) have at a minimum:
(A) an associate degree from an accredited
institution of higher education; and
(B) three years of work experience in an
occupation for which the applied STEM course is intended to prepare
the student.
SECTION 32. Section 21.045, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.045. ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM FOR EDUCATOR
PREPARATION PROGRAMS; PROGRAM APPROVAL AND RENEWAL. (a) The
commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules establishing
standards to govern the approval and continuing accountability of
all educator preparation programs based on the following
information that is disaggregated with respect to sex and
ethnicity:
(1) results of the certification examinations
prescribed under Section 21.048(a);
(2) performance based on the appraisal system for
beginning teachers adopted by the commissioner [board];
(3) achievement, including improvement in
achievement, of students taught by beginning teachers for the first
three years following certification, to the extent practicable; and
(4) compliance with commissioner [board] requirements
regarding the frequency, duration, and quality of structural
guidance and ongoing support provided by field supervisors to
beginning teachers during their first year in the classroom.
(b) Each educator preparation program shall submit data
elements as required by the commissioner [board] for an annual
performance report to ensure access and equity. At a minimum, the
annual report must contain the performance data from Subsection
(a), other than the data required for purposes of Subsection
(a)(3), and the following information, disaggregated by sex and
ethnicity:
(1) the number of candidates who apply;
(2) the number of candidates admitted;
(3) the number of candidates retained;
(4) the number of candidates completing the program;
(5) the number of candidates employed in the
profession after completing the program;
(6) the number of candidates retained in the
profession; and
(7) any other information required by federal law.
(c) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
establishing performance standards for the Accountability System
for Educator Preparation for accrediting educator preparation
programs. At a minimum, performance standards must be based on
Subsection (a).
(d) The commissioner shall adopt [board may propose] rules
establishing minimum standards for approval or renewal of approval
of:
(1) educator preparation programs; or
(2) certification fields authorized to be offered by
an educator preparation program.
(e) In adopting rules establishing minimum standards for
renewal of approval of educator preparation programs under
Subsection (d)(1), the commissioner shall require that each
educator preparation program obtain renewal of approval every five
years. The commissioner shall adopt an evaluation process to be
used for purposes of educator preparation program renewal. To be
eligible for renewal and continued accreditation, an educator
preparation program must meet basic standards and requirements to
adequately prepare candidates for educator certification, as
determined by the commissioner.
SECTION 33. The heading to Section 21.0451, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 21.0451. SANCTIONS [UNDER ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM] FOR
EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS.
SECTION 34. Section 21.0451, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read
as follows:
(a) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
for the sanction of educator preparation programs that do not meet
accountability standards or comply with state law or commissioner
rules and shall annually review the accreditation status of each
educator preparation program. The rules:
(1) shall provide for the assignment of the following
accreditation statuses:
(A) not rated;
(B) accredited;
(C) accredited-warned;
(D) accredited-probation; and
(E) not accredited-revoked;
(2) may provide for the agency to take any necessary
action, including one or more of the following actions:
(A) requiring the program to obtain technical
assistance approved by the agency [or board];
(B) requiring the program to obtain professional
services under contract with another person;
(C) appointing a monitor to participate in and
report to the commissioner [board] on the activities of the
program; and
(D) if a program has been rated as
accredited-probation [under the Accountability System for Educator
Preparation] for a period of at least one year, revoking the
approval of the program and ordering the program to be closed,
provided that the [board or] agency must provide the opportunity
for a hearing before the effective date of the closure; and
(3) shall provide for the agency to revoke the
approval of the program and order the program to be closed if the
program has been rated as accredited-probation [under the
Accountability System for Educator Preparation] for three
consecutive years, provided that the [board or] agency must provide
the opportunity for a hearing before the effective date of the
closure.
(e) The commissioner shall adopt procedures to ensure that
sanctions under this section are applied fairly.
(f) The commissioner shall:
(1) provide information regarding sanctions under
this section to each educator preparation program; and
(2) provide information to at-risk educator
preparation programs about sanctions the specific program could
face, including the consequences of those sanctions, a timeline for
the program to comply with rules and meet accreditation standards,
and how to appeal a sanction under this section.
SECTION 35. Section 21.0452, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.0452. CONSUMER INFORMATION REGARDING EDUCATOR
PREPARATION PROGRAMS. (a) To assist persons interested in
obtaining teaching certification in selecting an educator
preparation program and assist school districts in making staffing
decisions, the commissioner [board] shall make information
regarding educator programs in this state available to the public
through the agency's [board's] Internet website.
(b) The commissioner [board] shall make available at least
the following information regarding each educator preparation
program:
(1) the information specified in Sections 21.045(a)
and (b);
(2) in addition to any other appropriate information
indicating the quality of persons admitted to the program, the
average academic qualifications possessed by persons admitted to
the program, including:
(A) average overall grade point average and
average grade point average in specific subject areas; and
(B) average scores on the Scholastic Assessment
Test (SAT), the American College Test (ACT), or the Graduate Record
Examination (GRE), as applicable;
(3) the degree to which persons who complete the
program are successful in obtaining teaching positions;
(4) the extent to which the program prepares teachers,
including general education teachers and special education
teachers, to effectively teach:
(A) students with disabilities; and
(B) students of limited English proficiency, as
defined by Section 29.052;
(5) the activities offered by the program that are
designed to prepare teachers to:
(A) integrate technology effectively into
curricula and instruction, including activities consistent with
the principles of universal design for learning; and
(B) use technology effectively to collect,
manage, and analyze data to improve teaching and learning for the
purpose of increasing student academic achievement;
(6) the perseverance of beginning teachers in the
profession, as determined on the basis of the number of beginning
teachers who maintain status as active contributing members in the
Teacher Retirement System of Texas for at least three years after
certification in comparison to similar programs;
(7) the results of exit surveys given to program
participants on completion of the program that involve evaluation
of the program's effectiveness in preparing participants to succeed
in the classroom; and
(8) the results of surveys given to school principals
that involve evaluation of the program's effectiveness in preparing
participants to succeed in the classroom, based on experience with
employed program participants.
(c) For purposes of Subsection (b)(7), the commissioner
[board] shall require an educator preparation program to distribute
an exit survey that a program participant must complete before the
participant is eligible to receive a certificate under this
subchapter.
(d) For purposes of Subsections (b)(7) and (8), the
commissioner [board] shall develop surveys for distribution to
program participants and school principals.
(e) The commissioner [board] may develop procedures under
which each educator preparation program receives a designation or
ranking based on the information required to be made available
under Subsection (b). If the commissioner [board] develops
procedures under this subsection, the designation or ranking
received by each program must be included in the information made
available under this section.
(f) In addition to other information required to be made
available under this section, the commissioner [board] shall
provide information identifying employment opportunities for
teachers in the various regions of this state. The commissioner
[board] shall specifically identify each region of this state in
which a shortage of qualified teachers exists.
(g) The commissioner [board] may require any person to
provide information to the commissioner [board] for purposes of
this section.
SECTION 36. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 21.0454 and 21.0455 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.0454. RISK FACTORS FOR EDUCATOR PREPARATION
PROGRAMS; RISK-ASSESSMENT MODEL. (a) The commissioner shall
develop a set of risk factors to use in assessing the overall risk
level of each educator preparation program. The set of risk factors
must include:
(1) a history of the program's compliance with state
law and commissioner rules, standards, and procedures;
(2) the program's operational standards;
(3) whether the program meets the accountability
standards under Section 21.045; and
(4) whether the program is accredited by other
organizations.
(b) The agency shall use the set of risk factors developed
under Subsection (a) to guide the agency in conducting monitoring,
inspections, and compliance audits of educator preparation
programs, including evaluations associated with renewals under
Section 21.045(e).
Sec. 21.0455. COMPLAINTS REGARDING EDUCATOR PREPARATION
PROGRAMS. (a) The commissioner shall adopt rules establishing a
process for a candidate for teacher certification to direct a
complaint against an educator preparation program to the agency.
(b) The commissioner by rule shall require an educator
preparation program to notify candidates for teacher certification
of the complaint process adopted under Subsection (a). The notice
must include the name, mailing address, telephone number, and
Internet website address of the agency for the purpose of directing
complaints to the agency. The educator preparation program shall
provide for that notification:
(1) on the Internet website of the educator
preparation program, if the program maintains a website;
(2) on a sign prominently displayed in program
facilities; and
(3) in any newsletter distributed by the educator
preparation program, if the program distributes a newsletter.
(c) The commissioner shall post the complaint process
adopted under Subsection (a) on the agency's Internet website.
(d) The agency has no authority to arbitrate or resolve
contractual or commercial issues between an educator preparation
program and a candidate for teacher certification.
SECTION 37. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 21.046,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) Because an effective principal is essential to school
improvement, the commissioner [board] shall ensure that:
(1) each candidate for certification as a principal is
of the highest caliber; and
(2) multi-level screening processes, validated
comprehensive assessment programs, and flexible internships with
successful mentors exist to determine whether a candidate for
certification as a principal possesses the essential knowledge,
skills, and leadership capabilities necessary for success.
(d) In creating the qualifications for certification as a
principal, the commissioner [board] shall consider the knowledge,
skills, and proficiencies for principals as developed by relevant
national organizations and the State Board of Education.
SECTION 38. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 21.047,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner [board] may develop the process for the
establishment of centers for professional development through
institutions of higher education for the purpose of integrating
technology and innovative teaching practices in the preservice and
staff development training of public school teachers and
administrators. An institution of higher education with a teacher
education program may develop a center through a collaborative
process involving public schools, regional education service
centers, and other entities or businesses. A center may contract
with other entities to develop materials and provide training.
(b) On application by a center, the commissioner [board]
shall make grants to the center for its programs from funds derived
from gifts, grants, and legislative appropriations for that
purpose. The commissioner [board] shall award the grants on a
competitive basis according to requirements established by
commissioner [the board] rules.
SECTION 39. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 21.048,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
prescribing comprehensive examinations for each class of
certificate issued by the commissioner [board].
(b) The commissioner [board] may not administer a written
examination to determine the competence or level of performance of
an educator who has a hearing impairment unless the examination has
been field tested to determine its appropriateness, reliability,
and validity as applied to, and minimum acceptable performance
scores for, persons with hearing impairments.
(c) An educator who has a hearing impairment is exempt from
taking a written examination for a period ending on the first
anniversary of the date on which the commissioner [board]
determines, on the basis of appropriate field tests, that the
examination complies with the standards specified in Subsection
(b). On application to the commissioner [board], the commissioner
[board] shall issue a temporary exemption certificate to a person
entitled to an exemption under this subsection.
SECTION 40. Section 21.0481, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.0481. MASTER READING TEACHER CERTIFICATION.
(a) To ensure that there are teachers with special training to
work with other teachers and with students in order to improve
student reading performance, the commissioner [board] shall
establish a master reading teacher certificate.
(b) The commissioner [board] shall issue a master reading
teacher certificate to each eligible person.
(c) To be eligible for a master reading teacher certificate,
a person must:
(1) hold a reading specialist certificate issued under
this subchapter and satisfactorily complete a course of instruction
as prescribed under Subdivision (2)(B); or
(2) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
subchapter and:
(A) have at least three years of teaching
experience;
(B) satisfactorily complete a knowledge-based
and skills-based course of instruction on the science of teaching
children to read that includes training in:
(i) effective reading instruction
techniques, including effective techniques for students whose
primary language is a language other than English;
(ii) identification of dyslexia and related
reading disorders and effective reading instruction techniques for
students with those disorders; and
(iii) effective professional peer
mentoring techniques;
(C) perform satisfactorily on the master reading
teacher certification examination prescribed by the commissioner
[board]; and
(D) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by
the commissioner [board].
SECTION 41. Section 21.0482, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.0482. MASTER MATHEMATICS TEACHER CERTIFICATION.
(a) To ensure that there are teachers with special training to
work with other teachers and with students in order to improve
student mathematics performance, the commissioner [board] shall
establish:
(1) a master mathematics teacher certificate to teach
mathematics at elementary school grade levels;
(2) a master mathematics teacher certificate to teach
mathematics at middle school grade levels; and
(3) a master mathematics teacher certificate to teach
mathematics at high school grade levels.
(b) The commissioner [board] shall issue the appropriate
master mathematics teacher certificate to each eligible person.
(c) To be eligible for a master mathematics teacher
certificate, a person must:
(1) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
subchapter;
(2) have at least three years of teaching experience;
(3) satisfactorily complete a knowledge-based course
of instruction on the science of teaching children mathematics that
includes training in mathematics instruction and professional peer
mentoring techniques that, through scientific testing, have been
proven effective;
(4) perform satisfactorily on the appropriate master
mathematics teacher certification examination prescribed by the
commissioner [board]; and
(5) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by the
commissioner [board].
(d) The course of instruction prescribed under Subsection
(c)(3) shall be developed by the commissioner [board] in
consultation with mathematics and science faculty members at
institutions of higher education.
SECTION 42. Section 21.0483, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.0483. MASTER TECHNOLOGY TEACHER CERTIFICATION.
(a) To ensure that there are teachers with special training to
work with other teachers and with students in order to increase the
use of technology in each classroom, the commissioner [board] shall
establish a master technology teacher certificate.
(b) The commissioner [board] shall issue a master
technology teacher certificate to each eligible person.
(c) To be eligible for a master technology teacher
certificate, a person must:
(1) hold a technology applications or Technology
Education certificate issued under this subchapter, satisfactorily
complete the course of instruction prescribed under Subdivision
(2)(B), and satisfactorily perform on the examination prescribed
under Subdivision (2)(C); or
(2) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
subchapter and:
(A) have at least three years of teaching
experience;
(B) satisfactorily complete a knowledge-based
and skills-based course of instruction on interdisciplinary
technology applications and the science of teaching technology that
includes training in:
(i) effective technology instruction
techniques, including applications designed to meet the
educational needs of students with disabilities;
(ii) classroom teaching methodology that
engages student learning through the integration of technology;
(iii) digital learning competencies,
including Internet research, graphics, animation, website
mastering, and video technologies;
(iv) curriculum models designed to prepare
teachers to facilitate an active student learning environment; and
(v) effective professional peer mentoring
techniques;
(C) satisfactorily perform on an examination
administered at the conclusion of the course of instruction
prescribed under Paragraph (B); and
(D) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by
the commissioner [board].
(d) The commissioner [board] may provide technology
applications training courses under Subsection (c)(2)(B) in
cooperation with:
(1) regional education service centers; and
(2) other public or private entities, including any
state council on technology.
SECTION 43. Section 21.0484, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.0484. MASTER SCIENCE TEACHER CERTIFICATION.
(a) To ensure that there are teachers with special training to
work with other teachers and with students in order to improve
student science performance, the commissioner [board] shall
establish:
(1) a master science teacher certificate to teach
science at elementary school grade levels;
(2) a master science teacher certificate to teach
science at middle school grade levels; and
(3) a master science teacher certificate to teach
science at high school grade levels.
(b) The commissioner [board] shall issue the appropriate
master science teacher certificate to each eligible person.
(c) To be eligible for a master science teacher certificate,
a person must:
(1) hold a teaching certificate issued under this
subchapter;
(2) have at least three years of teaching experience;
(3) satisfactorily complete a knowledge-based course
of instruction on the science of teaching children science that
includes training in science instruction and professional peer
mentoring techniques that, through scientific testing, have been
proven effective;
(4) perform satisfactorily on the appropriate master
science teacher certification examination prescribed by the
commissioner [board]; and
(5) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by the
commissioner [board].
(d) The course of instruction prescribed under Subsection
(c)(3) shall be developed by the commissioner [board] in
consultation with science faculty members at institutions of higher
education.
SECTION 44. Subsection (a), Section 21.0485, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) To be eligible to be issued a certificate to teach
students with visual impairments, a person must:
(1) complete either:
(A) all course work required for that
certification in an approved educator preparation program; or
(B) an alternative educator certification
program approved for the purpose by the commissioner [board];
(2) perform satisfactorily on each examination
prescribed under Section 21.048 for certification to teach students
with visual impairments, after completing the course work or
program described by Subdivision (1); and
(3) satisfy any other requirements prescribed by the
commissioner [board].
SECTION 45. Section 21.049, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.049. ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION. (a) To provide a
continuing additional source of qualified educators, the
commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules providing for
educator certification programs as an alternative to traditional
educator preparation programs. The rules may not provide that a
person may be certified under this section only if there is a
demonstrated shortage of educators in a school district or subject
area.
(b) The commissioner [board] may not require a person
employed as a teacher in an alternative education program under
Section 37.008 or a juvenile justice alternative education program
under Section 37.011 for at least three years to complete an
alternative educator certification program adopted under this
section before taking the appropriate certification examination.
SECTION 46. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 21.050,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who applies for a teaching certificate for
which commissioner [board] rules require a bachelor's degree must
possess a bachelor's degree received with an academic major or
interdisciplinary academic major, including reading, other than
education, that is related to the curriculum as prescribed under
Subchapter A, Chapter 28.
(b) The commissioner [board] may not require more than 18
semester credit hours of education courses at the baccalaureate
level for the granting of a teaching certificate. The commissioner
[board] shall provide for a minimum number of semester credit hours
of internship to be included in the hours needed for certification.
The commissioner [board] may adopt [propose] rules requiring
additional credit hours for certification in bilingual education,
English as a second language, early childhood education, or special
education.
SECTION 47. Subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), Section
21.051, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) Subsection (b) applies only to an initial certification
issued on or after September 1, 2012. Subsection (b) does not
affect:
(1) the validity of a certification issued before
September 1, 2012; or
(2) the eligibility of a person who holds a
certification issued before September 1, 2012, to obtain a
subsequent renewal of the certification in accordance with
commissioner [board] rule.
(d) Subsection (b) does not affect the period within which
an individual must complete field-based experience hours as
determined by commissioner [board] rule if the individual is not
accepted into an educator preparation program before the deadline
prescribed by commissioner [board] rule and is hired for a teaching
assignment by a school district after the deadline prescribed by
commissioner [board] rule.
(e) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
relating to the field-based experience required by Subsection (b),
including rules establishing[. The commissioner by rule shall
adopt] procedures and standards for recognizing a private school
under Subsection (b)(2).
(f) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
providing flexible options for persons for any field-based
experience or internship required for certification.
SECTION 48. Subsections (a), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (h),
Section 21.052, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner [board] may issue a certificate to an
educator who applies for a certificate and:
(1) holds:
(A) a degree issued by an institution accredited
by a regional accrediting agency or group that is recognized by a
nationally recognized accreditation board; or
(B) a degree issued by an institution located in
a foreign country, if the degree is equivalent to a degree described
by Paragraph (A);
(2) holds an appropriate certificate or other
credential issued by another state or country; and
(3) performs satisfactorily on:
(A) the examination prescribed under Section
21.048; or
(B) if the educator holds a certificate or other
credential issued by another state or country, an examination
similar to and at least as rigorous as that described by Paragraph
(A) administered to the educator under the authority of that state.
(c) The commissioner [board] may issue a temporary
certificate under this section to an educator who holds a degree
required by Subsection (a)(1) and a certificate or other credential
required by Subsection (a)(2) but who has not satisfied the
requirements prescribed by Subsection (a)(3). Subject to
Subsection (d), the commissioner [board] may specify the term of a
temporary certificate issued under this subsection.
(d) A temporary certificate issued under Subsection (c) to
an educator employed by a school district that has constructed or
expanded at least one instructional facility as a result of
increased student enrollment due to actions taken under the Defense
Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (10 U.S.C. Section 2687)
may not expire before the first anniversary of the date on which the
commissioner [board] completes the review of the educator's
credentials and informs the educator of the examination or
examinations under Section 21.048 on which the educator must
perform successfully to receive a standard certificate.
(e) An educator who has submitted all documents required by
the commissioner [board] for certification and who receives a
certificate as provided by Subsection (a) must perform
satisfactorily on the examination prescribed under Section 21.048
not later than the first anniversary of the date the commissioner
[board] completes the review of the educator's credentials and
informs the educator of the examination or examinations under
Section 21.048 on which the educator must perform successfully to
receive a standard certificate.
(f) The commissioner [board] shall post on the
commissioner's [board's] Internet website the procedures for
obtaining a certificate under Subsection (a).
(h) This subsection applies only to an applicant who holds a
certificate or other credential issued by another state in
mathematics, science, special education, or bilingual education,
or another subject area that the commissioner determines has a
shortage of teachers. In any state fiscal year, the commissioner
[board] shall accept or reject, not later than the 14th day after
the date the commissioner [board] receives the completed
application, at least 90 percent of the applications the
commissioner [board] receives for a certificate under this
subsection, and shall accept or reject all completed applications
the commissioner [board] receives under this subsection not later
than the 30th day after the date the commissioner [board] receives
the completed application. An applicant under this subsection must
submit:
(1) a letter of good standing from the state in which
the teacher is certified on a form determined by the commissioner
[board];
(2) information necessary to complete a national
criminal history record information review; and
(3) an application fee as required by the commissioner
[board].
SECTION 49. Subsection (a), Section 21.054, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner [board] shall adopt [propose] rules
establishing a process for identifying continuing education
courses and programs that fulfill educators' continuing education
requirements.
SECTION 50. Subsection (a), Section 21.055, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) As provided by this section, a school district may issue
a school district teaching permit and employ as a teacher a person
who does not hold a teaching certificate issued by the commissioner
[board].
SECTION 51. Section 21.056, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.056. ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATION. The commissioner
[board] by rule shall provide for a certified educator to qualify
for additional certification to teach at a grade level or in a
subject area not covered by the educator's certificate upon
satisfactory completion of an examination or other assessment of
the educator's qualification.
SECTION 52. Subsection (d), Section 21.057, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) For purposes of this section, "inappropriately
certified or uncertified teacher":
(1) includes:
(A) an individual serving on an emergency
certificate issued under Section 21.041(b)(2); or
(B) an individual who does not hold any
certificate or permit issued under this chapter and is not employed
as specified by Subdivision (2)(E); and
(2) does not include an individual:
(A) who is a certified teacher assigned to teach
a class or classes outside his or her area of certification, as
determined by rules adopted [proposed] by the commissioner [board]
in specifying the certificate required for each assignment;
(B) serving on a certificate issued due to a
hearing impairment under Section 21.048;
(C) serving on a certificate issued pursuant to
enrollment in an approved alternative certification program under
Section 21.049;
(D) certified by another state or country and
serving on a certificate issued under Section 21.052;
(E) serving on a school district teaching permit
issued under Section 21.055; or
(F) employed under a waiver granted by the
commissioner pursuant to Section 7.056.
SECTION 53. Subsections (b) and (d), Section 21.058,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding Section 21.041(b)(7), not later than
the fifth day after the date the commissioner [board] receives
notice under Article 42.018, Code of Criminal Procedure, of the
conviction of a person who holds a certificate under this
subchapter, the commissioner [board] shall:
(1) revoke the certificate held by the person; and
(2) provide to the person and to any school district or
open-enrollment charter school employing the person at the time of
revocation written notice of:
(A) the revocation; and
(B) the basis for the revocation.
(d) A person whose certificate is revoked under Subsection
(b) may reapply for a certificate in accordance with commissioner
[board] rules.
SECTION 54. Section 21.060, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.060. ELIGIBILITY OF PERSONS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN
OFFENSES. The commissioner [board] may suspend or revoke the
certificate or permit held by a person under this subchapter,
impose other sanctions against the person, or refuse to issue a
certificate or permit to a person under this subchapter if the
person has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor offense
relating to the duties and responsibilities of the education
profession, including:
(1) an offense involving moral turpitude;
(2) an offense involving a form of sexual or physical
abuse of a minor or student or other illegal conduct in which the
victim is a minor or student;
(3) a felony offense involving the possession,
transfer, sale, or distribution of or conspiracy to possess,
transfer, sell, or distribute a controlled substance, as defined by
Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code, or by 21 U.S.C. Section 801 et
seq.;
(4) an offense involving the illegal transfer,
appropriation, or use of school district funds or other district
property; or
(5) an offense involving an attempt by fraudulent or
unauthorized means to obtain or alter a professional certificate or
license issued under this subchapter.
SECTION 55. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 21.062 and 21.063 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.062. ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENAS. (a) During an
investigation by the commissioner of an educator for an alleged
incident of misconduct, the commissioner may issue a subpoena to
compel the production, for inspection or copying, of relevant
evidence that is located in this state.
(b) A subpoena may be served personally or by certified
mail.
(c) If a person fails to comply with a subpoena, the
commissioner, acting through the attorney general, may file suit to
enforce the subpoena in a district court in this state. On finding
that good cause exists for issuing the subpoena, the court shall
order the person to comply with the subpoena. The court may punish
a person who fails to obey the court order.
(d) All information and materials subpoenaed or compiled in
connection with an investigation described by Subsection (a) are
confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code.
(e) Except as provided by a protective order, and
notwithstanding Subsection (d), all information and materials
subpoenaed or compiled in connection with an investigation
described by Subsection (a) may be used in a disciplinary
proceeding against an educator based on an alleged incident of
misconduct.
Sec. 21.063. DISCIPLINARY MATRIX. (a) The commissioner
shall create a matrix to provide guidelines for ensuring the fair
and consistent application of disciplinary sanctions for educators
certified under this chapter who commit violations of this chapter
or a rule adopted under this chapter. In developing the matrix, the
commissioner shall consider the range of appropriate sanctions
available for a violation based on:
(1) the severity of the violation;
(2) the number of repeat violations;
(3) whether the sanction serves as a deterrent to
subsequent violations; and
(4) any aggravating or mitigating factors.
(b) The matrix developed under Subsection (a) does not
prevent the commissioner from exercising discretion based on the
specific circumstances of an individual case.
(c) In developing the matrix under Subsection (a), the
commissioner shall provide for public comment.
(d) The commissioner shall make the matrix developed under
Subsection (a) available to the public through posting the matrix
on the agency's Internet website and through other appropriate
means.
SECTION 56. Subsection (c), Section 21.105, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) On written complaint by the employing district, the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] may impose
sanctions against a teacher employed under a probationary contract
who:
(1) resigns;
(2) fails without good cause to comply with Subsection
(a) or (b); and
(3) fails to perform the contract.
SECTION 57. Subsection (c), Section 21.160, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) On written complaint by the employing district, the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] may impose
sanctions against a teacher who is employed under a continuing
contract that obligates the district to employ the person for the
following school year and who:
(1) resigns;
(2) fails without good cause to comply with Subsection
(a) or (b); and
(3) fails to perform the contract.
SECTION 58. Subsection (c), Section 21.210, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) On written complaint by the employing district, the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] may impose
sanctions against a teacher who is employed under a term contract
that obligates the district to employ the person for the following
school year and who:
(1) resigns;
(2) fails without good cause to comply with Subsection
(a) or (b); and
(3) fails to perform the contract.
SECTION 59. Subsection (a), Section 21.253, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) A teacher must file a written request for a hearing
under this subchapter with the district [commissioner] not later
than the 15th day after the date the teacher receives written notice
of the proposed action. [The teacher must provide the district with
a copy of the request and must provide the commissioner with a copy
of the notice.]
SECTION 60. Subsections (b) and (e), Section 21.254,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) If a hearing examiner is not selected by the parties to a
pending case under Subsection (e), the [The] commissioner shall
immediately assign the hearing examiner for a particular case by
selecting the next person named on the list who resides within
reasonable proximity to the district as determined by the
commissioner. The commissioner may not change the order of names
once the order is established under this section, except that once
each hearing examiner on the list has been assigned to a case, the
names shall be randomly reordered. When a hearing examiner has been
assigned to a case, the commissioner shall immediately notify the
parties. An assignment under this section is final.
(e) After the teacher receives the notice of the proposed
action, the parties by agreement may select a hearing examiner from
the list maintained by the commissioner under Subsection (a) or a
person who is not certified to serve as a hearing examiner. A
person who is not a certified hearing examiner may be selected only
if the person is licensed to practice law in this state. If the
parties do not agree on a hearing examiner, the parties shall
request an assignment from[, before the date the commissioner is
permitted to assign a hearing examiner, notify] the commissioner
under Subsection (b) not later than the 25th calendar day after the
date the teacher receives the notice of the proposed action [in
writing of the agreement, including the name of the hearing
examiner selected].
SECTION 61. Subsection (d), Section 21.255, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) If the hearing examiner is unable to continue presiding
over a case at any time before issuing a recommendation or decision,
the parties shall select by agreement or request the assignment of
another hearing examiner under Section 21.254 who, after a review
of the record, shall perform any remaining functions without the
necessity of repeating any previous proceedings.
SECTION 62. Subsection (g), Section 21.4021, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(g) If a board of trustees adopts a furlough program after
the date by which a teacher must give notice of resignation under
Section 21.105, 21.160, or 21.210, as applicable, a teacher who
subsequently resigns is not subject to sanctions imposed by the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] as otherwise
authorized by those sections.
SECTION 63. Section 21.503, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.503. ELIGIBILITY. A person is eligible for the
program if the person:
(1) has served in the armed forces of the United
States;
(2) is honorably discharged, retired, or released from
active duty on or after October 1, 1990, after at least six years of
continuous active duty service immediately before the discharge,
retirement, or release;
(3) has received a baccalaureate or advanced degree
from a public or private institution of higher education accredited
by a regional accrediting agency or group that is recognized by a
nationally recognized accreditation board; and
(4) satisfies any other criteria for selection
[jointly] prescribed by the agency [and the State Board for
Educator Certification].
SECTION 64. Subsection (b), Section 21.504, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The agency [and the State Board for Educator
Certification] shall distribute the applications and information
regarding the program.
SECTION 65. Subsection (c), Section 21.510, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) For purposes of this section, a participant in the
program is not considered to be in violation of an agreement under
Section 21.508 during any period in which the participant:
(1) is pursuing a full-time course of study related to
the field of teaching at a public or private institution of higher
education approved by the commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification];
(2) is serving on active duty as a member of the armed
forces of the United States;
(3) is temporarily totally disabled for a period not
to exceed three years as established by sworn affidavit of a
qualified physician;
(4) is unable to secure employment for a period not to
exceed one year because of care required by a disabled spouse;
(5) is seeking and unable to find full-time employment
as a teacher in a public elementary or secondary school for a single
period not to exceed 27 months; or
(6) satisfies the provisions of any additional
reimbursement exception adopted by the agency.
SECTION 66. Sections 21.551 and 21.553, Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 21.551. PURPOSES. The purposes of the alternative
certification Teach for Texas Pilot Program are to:
(1) attract to the teaching profession persons who
have expressed interest in teaching and to support the
certification of those persons as teachers;
(2) recognize the importance of the certification
process [governed by the State Board for Educator Certification]
under Subchapter B, which requires verification of competence in
subject area and professional knowledge and skills;
(3) encourage the creation and expansion of educator
preparation programs that recognize the knowledge and skills gained
through previous educational and work-related experiences and that
are delivered in a manner that recognizes individual circumstances,
including the need to remain employed full-time while enrolled in
the Teach for Texas Pilot Program; and
(4) provide annual stipends to postbaccalaureate
teacher certification candidates.
Sec. 21.553. FINANCIAL INCENTIVES. (a) The pilot program
must offer to participants financial incentives, including tuition
assistance and loan forgiveness. In offering a financial
incentive, the commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] shall:
(1) require a contract between each participant who
accepts a financial incentive and the commissioner [State Board for
Educator Certification] under which the participant is obligated to
teach in a public school in this state for a stated period after
certification;
(2) provide financial incentives in proportion to the
length of the period the participant is obligated by contract to
teach after certification; and
(3) give special financial incentives to a participant
who agrees in the contract to teach in an underserved area.
(b) Financial incentives may be paid only from funds
appropriated specifically for that purpose and from gifts, grants,
and donations solicited or accepted by the commissioner [State
Board for Educator Certification] for that purpose.
(c) The commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] shall adopt [propose] rules establishing criteria
for awarding financial incentives under this section, including
criteria for awarding financial incentives if there are more
participants than funds available to provide the financial
incentives.
SECTION 67. Subsection (b), Section 21.604, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The agency [and the State Board for Educator
Certification] shall distribute the applications and information
regarding the program.
SECTION 68. Subsection (c), Section 21.609, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) For purposes of this section, a participant in the
program is not considered to be in violation of an agreement under
Section 21.607 during any period in which the participant:
(1) is pursuing a full-time course of study related to
the field of teaching at an institution of higher education
approved by the commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification];
(2) is serving on active duty as a member of the armed
forces of the United States;
(3) is temporarily totally disabled for a period not
to exceed three years as established by affidavit of a qualified
physician;
(4) is unable to secure employment for a period not to
exceed one year because of care required by a disabled spouse;
(5) is seeking and unable to find full-time employment
as a teacher in a public elementary or secondary school for a single
period not to exceed 27 months; or
(6) satisfies the provisions of any additional
reimbursement exception adopted by the agency.
SECTION 69. Subsection (b), Section 22.0512, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) In this section, "disciplinary proceeding" means:
(1) an action brought by the school district employing
a professional employee of a school district to discharge or
suspend the employee or terminate or not renew the employee's term
contract; or
(2) an action brought by the commissioner [State Board
for Educator Certification] to enforce the educator's code of
ethics adopted under Section 21.041(b)(8).
SECTION 70. Section 22.082, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 22.082. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS BY
COMMISSIONER [STATE BOARD FOR EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION]. The
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] shall
subscribe to the criminal history clearinghouse as provided by
Section 411.0845, Government Code, and may obtain from any law
enforcement or criminal justice agency all criminal history record
information and all records contained in any closed criminal
investigation file that relate to a specific applicant for or
holder of a certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
SECTION 71. Subsections (c), (d), (e), and (f), Section
22.0831, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) The commissioner [board] shall review the national
criminal history record information of a person who has not
previously submitted fingerprints to the department or been subject
to a national criminal history record information review.
(d) The commissioner [board] shall place an educator's
certificate on inactive status for failure to comply with a
deadline for submitting information required under this section.
(e) The commissioner [board] may allow a person who is
applying for a certificate under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and who
currently resides in another state to submit the person's
fingerprints and other required information in a manner that does
not impose an undue hardship on the person.
(f) The commissioner [board] may adopt [propose] rules to
implement this section, including rules establishing:
(1) deadlines for a person to submit fingerprints and
photographs in compliance with this section; and
(2) sanctions for a person's failure to comply with the
requirements of this section, including suspension or revocation of
a certificate or refusal to issue a certificate.
SECTION 72. Subsection (a), Section 22.0832, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The agency shall review the national criminal history
record information of an employee of an open-enrollment charter
school to whom Section 12.1059 applies in the same manner as the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] reviews
certified educators under Section 22.0831. If the agency
determines that, based on information contained in an employee's
criminal history record information, the employee would not be
eligible for educator certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21,
the agency shall notify the open-enrollment charter school in
writing that the person may not be employed by the school or serve
in a capacity described by Section 12.1059.
SECTION 73. Subsection (h), Section 22.0833, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(h) The agency, [the State Board for Educator
Certification,] school districts, open-enrollment charter schools,
and shared services arrangements may coordinate as necessary to
ensure that criminal history reviews authorized or required under
this subchapter are not unnecessarily duplicated.
SECTION 74. Subsections (d) and (e), Section 22.085,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) A school district, open-enrollment charter school,
private school, regional education service center, or shared
services arrangement may discharge an employee if the district or
school obtains information of the employee's conviction of a felony
or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude that the employee did
not disclose to the commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] or the district, school, service center, or shared
services arrangement. An employee discharged under this section is
considered to have been discharged for misconduct for purposes of
Section 207.044, Labor Code. For purposes of this subsection, a
disclosure to the State Board for Educator Certification before
September 1, 2013, is considered a disclosure to the commissioner.
(e) The commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] may impose a sanction on an educator who does not
discharge an employee or refuse to hire an applicant if the educator
knows or should have known, through a criminal history record
information review, that the employee or applicant has been
convicted of an offense described by Subsection (a).
SECTION 75. Sections 22.086 and 22.087, Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 22.086. LIABILITY FOR REPORTING OFFENSES. The
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification], a school
district, an open-enrollment charter school, a private school, a
regional education service center, a shared services arrangement,
or an employee of the agency [board], district, school, service
center, or shared services arrangement is not civilly or criminally
liable for making a report required under this subchapter.
Sec. 22.087. NOTIFICATION TO COMMISSIONER [STATE BOARD FOR
EDUCATOR CERTIFICATION]. The superintendent of a school district
or the director of an open-enrollment charter school, private
school, regional education service center, or shared services
arrangement shall promptly notify the commissioner [State Board for
Educator Certification] in writing if the person obtains or has
knowledge of information showing that an applicant for or holder of
a certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, has a reported
criminal history.
SECTION 76. Subsection (b), Section 25.001, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The board of trustees of a school district or its
designee shall admit into the public schools of the district free of
tuition a person who is over five and younger than 21 years of age on
the first day of September of the school year in which admission is
sought, and may admit a person who is at least 21 years of age and
under 26 years of age for the purpose of completing the requirements
for a high school diploma, if:
(1) the person and either parent of the person reside
in the school district;
(2) the person does not reside in the school district
but a parent of the person resides in the school district and that
parent is a joint managing conservator or the sole managing
conservator or possessory conservator of the person;
(3) the person and the person's guardian or other
person having lawful control of the person under a court order
reside within the school district;
(4) the person has established a separate residence
under Subsection (d);
(5) the person is homeless, as defined by 42 U.S.C.
Section 11302, regardless of the residence of the person, of either
parent of the person, or of the person's guardian or other person
having lawful control of the person;
(6) the person is a foreign exchange student placed
with a host family that resides in the school district by a
nationally recognized foreign exchange program[, unless the school
district has applied for and been granted a waiver by the
commissioner under Subsection (e)];
(7) the person resides at a residential facility
located in the district;
(8) the person resides in the school district and is 18
years of age or older or the person's disabilities of minority have
been removed; or
(9) the person does not reside in the school district
but the grandparent of the person:
(A) resides in the school district; and
(B) provides a substantial amount of
after-school care for the person as determined by the board.
SECTION 77. Subsection (d), Section 28.014, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(d) The agency, in coordination with the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board, shall adopt a series of questions to
be included in an end-of-course assessment instrument administered
under Subsection (c) to be used for purposes of Section 51.3062.
The questions must be developed in a manner consistent with any
college readiness standards adopted under Section [Sections 39.233
and] 51.3062.
SECTION 78. Section 29.007, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.007. SHARED SERVICES ARRANGEMENTS. School
districts may enter into a written contract to jointly operate
their special education programs. [The contract must be approved
by the commissioner.] Funds to which the cooperating districts are
entitled may be allocated to the districts jointly as shared
services arrangement units or shared services arrangement funds in
accordance with the shared services arrangement districts'
agreement.
SECTION 79. Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (e), Section
29.061, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] shall provide for the issuance of teaching
certificates appropriate for bilingual education instruction to
teachers who possess a speaking, reading, and writing ability in a
language other than English in which bilingual education programs
are offered and who meet the general requirements of Chapter 21.
The commissioner [board] shall also provide for the issuance of
teaching certificates appropriate for teaching English as a second
language. The commissioner [board] may issue emergency
endorsements in bilingual education and in teaching English as a
second language.
(b) A teacher assigned to a bilingual education program must
be appropriately certified for bilingual education by the
commissioner [board].
(c) A teacher assigned to an English as a second language or
other special language program must be appropriately certified for
English as a second language by the commissioner [board].
(e) The commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
shall develop a comprehensive plan for meeting the teacher supply
needs created by the programs outlined in this subchapter.
SECTION 80. The heading to Subchapter H, Chapter 29,
Education Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. [ADULT AND] COMMUNITY EDUCATION PROGRAMS
SECTION 81. Subdivision (4), Section 29.251, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(4) "Community education" means the process by which
the citizens in a school district, using the resources and
facilities of the district, organize to support each other and to
solve their mutual educational problems and meet their mutual
lifelong needs. Community education may include:
(A) educational programs, including programs
relating to [for occupational and technological skills training,
retraining of displaced workers,] cultural awareness, parenting
skills education and parental involvement in school programs, and
multilevel adult education and personal growth;
(B) community involvement programs, including
programs for community economic development, school volunteers,
partnerships between schools and businesses, coordination with
community agencies, school-age child care, family [and workplace]
literacy, and community use of facilities; and
(C) programs for youth enrolled in schools,
including programs for dropout prevention and recovery programs,
drug-free school programs, school-age parenting programs, and
academic enhancement.
SECTION 82. Section 29.252, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.252. AGENCY [STATE] ROLE IN [ADULT AND] COMMUNITY
EDUCATION. (a) The agency shall:
(1) [provide adequate staffing to develop,
administer, and support a comprehensive statewide adult education
program and coordinate related federal and state programs for
education and training of adults;
[(2)] develop, implement, and regulate a
comprehensive statewide program for community [level] education
services [to meet the special needs of adults];
(2) [(3) develop the mechanism and guidelines for
coordination of comprehensive adult education and related skill
training services for adults with other agencies, both public and
private, in planning, developing, and implementing related
programs, including community education programs;
[(4)] administer all state and federal funds for
community [adult] education [and related skill training] in this
state, other than funds that [except in programs for which] another
entity is specifically authorized to administer [do so] under other
law; and
(3) [(5) prescribe and administer standards and
accrediting policies for adult education;
[(6) prescribe and administer rules for teacher
certification for adult education;
[(7)] accept and administer grants, gifts, services,
and funds from available sources for use in community [adult]
education[;
[(8) adopt or develop and administer a standardized
assessment mechanism for assessing all adult education program
participants who need literacy instruction, adult basic education,
or secondary education leading to an adult high school diploma or
the equivalent;
[(9) collaborate with the Texas Workforce Commission
to improve the coordination and implementation of adult education
and literacy services in this state; and
[(10) monitor and evaluate educational and employment
outcomes of students who participate in the agency's adult
education and literacy programs].
(b) The commissioner may adopt rules for the administration
of this subchapter [assessment mechanism prescribed under
Subsection (a)(8) must include an initial basic skills screening
instrument and must provide comprehensive information concerning
baseline student skills before and student progress after
participation in an adult education program].
SECTION 83. Section 29.255, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.255. STATE FUNDING. [(a)] Funds shall be
appropriated to implement statewide community [adult basic]
education[, adult bilingual education, high school equivalency,
and high school credit] programs, including [to eliminate
illiteracy in this state and to implement and support a statewide
program to meet the total range of adult needs for adult education,
related skill training, and] pilot programs to demonstrate the
effectiveness of the community education concept. The agency shall
ensure that public local education agencies, public nonprofit
agencies, and community-based organizations have direct and
equitable access to those funds. [An additional sum of money may be
appropriated to the Texas Department of Commerce for the purpose of
skill training in direct support of industrial expansion and
start-up, and those locations, industries, and occupations
designated by the Texas Department of Commerce, when such training
is also in support of the basic purposes of this subchapter. To
fulfill the basic purposes of this subchapter, an additional sum of
money may be appropriated for skill training that is conducted to
support the expansion of civilian employment opportunities on
United States military reservations.
[(b) The agency, in conjunction with the Texas Department of
Commerce, may adopt rules to administer skill training programs for
which the agency is responsible, and the Texas Department of
Commerce may adopt rules to administer skill training programs for
which it is responsible.]
SECTION 84. Section 29.902, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 29.902. DRIVER EDUCATION. (a) The Texas Department
of Licensing and Regulation [agency] shall develop a program of
organized instruction in driver education and traffic safety for
public school students. A student who will be 15 years of age or
older before a driver education and traffic safety course ends may
enroll in the course.
(b) The agency shall establish standards for the
certification of professional and paraprofessional personnel who
conduct the programs in the public schools.
(c) A school district shall consider offering a driver
education and traffic safety course during each school year. If the
district offers the course, the district may:
(1) conduct the course and charge a fee for the course
in the amount determined by the agency to be comparable to the fee
charged by a driver education school that holds a license under
Chapter 1001; or
(2) contract with a driver education school that holds
a license under Chapter 1001 to conduct the course.
SECTION 85. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 33.002,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) A school district with 500 or more students enrolled in
elementary school grades shall employ a counselor certified under
Subchapter B, Chapter 21, [the rules of the State Board for Educator
Certification] for each elementary school in the district. A
school district shall employ at least one counselor for every 500
elementary school students in the district.
(c) A school district with fewer than 500 students enrolled
in elementary school grades shall provide guidance and counseling
services to elementary school students by:
(1) employing a part-time counselor certified under
Subchapter B, Chapter 21 [the rules of the State Board for Educator
Certification];
(2) employing a part-time teacher certified as a
counselor under Subchapter B, Chapter 21 [the rules of the State
Board for Educator Certification]; or
(3) entering into a shared services arrangement
agreement with one or more school districts to share a counselor
certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21 [the rules of the State
Board for Educator Certification].
SECTION 86. Subsection (c), Section 33.007, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(c) At the beginning of grades 10 and 11, a school counselor
certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, [the rules of the State
Board for Educator Certification] shall explain the requirements of
automatic admission to a general academic teaching institution
under Section 51.803 to each student enrolled in a high school or at
the high school level in an open-enrollment charter school who has a
grade point average in the top 25 percent of the student's high
school class.
SECTION 87. Subsection (d-1), Section 33.081, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d-1) Subsections (c) and (d) do not apply to an advanced
placement or international baccalaureate course, or to an honors or
dual credit course in the subject areas of English language arts,
mathematics, science, social studies, economics, or a language
other than English. [The agency shall review on a biennial basis
courses described by this subsection to determine if other courses
should be excluded from the requirement that a student be suspended
from participation in an extracurricular activity under Subsection
(c). Not later than January 1 of each odd-numbered year, the agency
shall report the findings under this subsection to the
legislature.]
SECTION 88. Subsection (o), Section 37.006, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(o) In addition to any notice required under Article 15.27,
Code of Criminal Procedure, a principal or a principal's designee
shall inform each educator who has responsibility for, or is under
the direction and supervision of an educator who has responsibility
for, the instruction of a student who has engaged in any violation
listed in this section of the student's misconduct. Each educator
shall keep the information received under this subsection
confidential from any person not entitled to the information under
this subsection, except that the educator may share the information
with the student's parent or guardian as provided for by state or
federal law. The commissioner [State Board for Educator
Certification] may revoke or suspend the certification of an
educator who intentionally violates this subsection.
SECTION 89. Subsection (g), Section 37.007, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(g) In addition to any notice required under Article 15.27,
Code of Criminal Procedure, a school district shall inform each
educator who has responsibility for, or is under the direction and
supervision of an educator who has responsibility for, the
instruction of a student who has engaged in any violation listed in
this section of the student's misconduct. Each educator shall keep
the information received under this subsection confidential from
any person not entitled to the information under this subsection,
except that the educator may share the information with the
student's parent or guardian as provided for by state or federal
law. The commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification] may
revoke or suspend the certification of an educator who
intentionally violates this subsection.
SECTION 90. Subsection (e), Section 39.027, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(e) The commissioner shall develop an assessment system
that shall be used for evaluating the academic progress, including
reading proficiency in English, of all students of limited English
proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052. A student who is exempt
from the administration of an assessment instrument under
Subsection (a)(1) or (2) who achieves reading proficiency in
English as determined by the assessment system developed under this
subsection shall be administered the assessment instruments
described by Sections 39.023(a) and (c). The performance under the
assessment system developed under this subsection of students to
whom Subsection (a)(1) or (2) applies shall be included in the
indicator systems under Section 39.301, as applicable, the local
performance report under Section 39.306, and the comprehensive
biennial [annual] report under Section 39.332. This information
shall be provided in a manner that is disaggregated by the bilingual
education or special language program, if any, in which the student
is enrolled.
SECTION 91. Subsections (a) and (d), Section 39.0302,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) During an agency investigation or audit of a school
district under Section 39.0301(e) or (f), an accreditation
investigation under Section 39.057(a)(8) [39.075(a)(8)], or an
investigation [by the State Board for Educator Certification] of an
educator for an alleged violation of an assessment instrument
security procedure established under Section 39.0301(a), the
commissioner may issue a subpoena to compel the attendance of a
relevant witness or the production, for inspection or copying, of
relevant evidence that is located in this state.
(d) All information and materials subpoenaed or compiled in
connection with an investigation or audit described by Subsection
(a):
(1) are confidential and not subject to disclosure
under Chapter 552, Government Code; and
(2) are not subject to disclosure, discovery,
subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for release to any
person other than:
(A) the commissioner [or the State Board for
Educator Certification, as applicable];
(B) agency employees or agents involved in the
investigation, as applicable; and
(C) the office of the attorney general, the state
auditor's office, and law enforcement agencies.
SECTION 92. Section 39.082, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (d), (e),
(f), (g), and (g-1) to read as follows:
(a) The commissioner shall, in consultation with the
comptroller, develop and implement separate financial
accountability rating systems for school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools in this state that:
(1) distinguish among school districts and
distinguish among open-enrollment charter schools, as applicable,
based on levels of financial performance; [and]
(2) include procedures to:
(A) provide additional transparency to public
education finance; and
(B) enable the commissioner and school district
and open-enrollment charter school administrators to provide
meaningful financial oversight and improvement; and
(3) include processes for anticipating the future
financial solvency of each school district and open-enrollment
charter school, including analysis of district and school revenues
and expenditures for preceding school years.
(b) The system must include uniform indicators adopted by
[the] commissioner rule by which to measure the financial
management performance and future financial solvency of a district
or open-enrollment charter school. In adopting indicators under
this subsection, the commissioner shall assign a point value to
each indicator to be used in a scoring matrix developed by the
commissioner.
(d) The commissioner shall evaluate indicators adopted
under Subsection (b) at least once every three years.
(e) A district or open-enrollment charter school shall
receive a failing rating under the system if the district or school
fails to achieve a satisfactory rating on:
(1) an indicator adopted under Subsection (b) relating
to financial management or solvency that the commissioner
determines to be critical; or
(2) a category of indicators that suggest trends
leading to financial distress as determined by the commissioner.
(f) Before assigning a final rating under the system, the
commissioner shall assign each district or open-enrollment charter
school a preliminary rating. A district or school may submit
additional information to the commissioner relating to any
indicator on which performance was considered unsatisfactory. The
commissioner shall consider any additional information submitted
by a district or school before assigning a final rating. If the
commissioner determines that the additional information negates
the concern raised by the indicator on which performance was
considered unsatisfactory, the commissioner may not penalize the
district or school on the basis of the indicator.
(g) The commissioner shall adopt rules for the
implementation of this section.
(g-1) The commissioner shall adopt initial rules necessary
to implement the changes to this section made by the 83rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, not later than March 1, 2015.
This subsection expires April 1, 2015.
SECTION 93. Section 39.0823, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(a) If the commissioner, based on the indicators adopted
under Section 39.082 or other relevant information, projects a
[review process under Section 39.0822 indicates a projected]
deficit for a school district or open-enrollment charter school
general fund within the following three school years, the agency
[district] shall provide the district or school [agency] interim
financial reports, including projected revenues and expenditures
[supplemented by staff and student count data, as needed], to
evaluate the [district's] current budget status of the district or
school.
(d) The agency may require a district or open-enrollment
charter school to submit additional information needed to produce a
financial report under Subsection (a). If a district or school
fails to provide information requested under this subsection or if
the commissioner determines that the information submitted by a
district or school is unreliable, the commissioner may order the
district or school to acquire professional services as provided by
Section 39.109.
SECTION 94. Subchapter D, Chapter 39, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.0824 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.0824. CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN. (a) A school
district or open-enrollment charter school assigned a failing
rating under Section 39.082 shall submit to the commissioner a
corrective action plan to address the financial weaknesses of the
district or school. A corrective action plan must identify
problems and include strategies for improvement.
(b) The commissioner may impose appropriate sanctions under
Subchapter E against a district or school failing to submit or
implement a corrective action plan required under Subsection (a).
SECTION 95. Subsection (b), Section 39.083, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The annual financial management report must include:
(1) a description of the district's financial
management performance based on a comparison, provided by the
agency, of the district's performance on the indicators adopted
under Section 39.082(b) to:
(A) state-established standards; and
(B) the district's previous performance on the
indicators; and
(2) [a description of the data submitted using the
electronic-based program developed under Section 39.0822; and
[(3)] any descriptive information required by the
commissioner.
SECTION 96. Subsection (a), Section 39.102, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) If a school district does not satisfy the accreditation
criteria under Section 39.052, the academic performance standards
under Section 39.053 or 39.054, or any financial accountability
standard as determined by commissioner rule, the commissioner shall
take any of the following actions to the extent the commissioner
determines necessary:
(1) issue public notice of the deficiency to the board
of trustees;
(2) order a hearing conducted by the board of trustees
of the district for the purpose of notifying the public of the
insufficient performance, the improvements in performance expected
by the agency, and the interventions and sanctions that may be
imposed under this section if the performance does not improve;
(3) order the preparation of a student achievement
improvement plan that addresses each student achievement indicator
under Section 39.053(c) for which the district's performance is
insufficient, the submission of the plan to the commissioner for
approval, and implementation of the plan;
(4) order a hearing to be held before the commissioner
or the commissioner's designee at which the president of the board
of trustees of the district and the superintendent shall appear and
explain the district's low performance, lack of improvement, and
plans for improvement;
(5) arrange an on-site investigation of the district;
(6) appoint an agency monitor to participate in and
report to the agency on the activities of the board of trustees or
the superintendent;
(7) appoint a conservator to oversee the operations of
the district;
(8) appoint a management team to direct the operations
of the district in areas of insufficient performance or require the
district to obtain certain services under a contract with another
person;
(9) if a district has a current accreditation status
of accredited-warned or accredited-probation, fails to satisfy any
standard under Section 39.054(e), or fails to satisfy financial
accountability standards as determined by commissioner rule,
appoint a board of managers to exercise the powers and duties of the
board of trustees;
(10) if for two consecutive school years, including
the current school year, a district has received an accreditation
status of accredited-warned or accredited-probation, has failed to
satisfy any standard under Section 39.054(e), or has failed to
satisfy financial accountability standards as determined by
commissioner rule, revoke the district's accreditation and:
(A) order closure of the district and annex the
district to one or more [adjoining] districts under Section 13.054;
or
(B) in the case of a home-rule school district or
open-enrollment charter school, order closure of all programs
operated under the district's or school's charter; or
(11) if a district has failed to satisfy any standard
under Section 39.054(e) due to the district's dropout rates, impose
sanctions designed to improve high school completion rates,
including:
(A) ordering the development of a dropout
prevention plan for approval by the commissioner;
(B) restructuring the district or appropriate
school campuses to improve identification of and service to
students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by
Section 29.081;
(C) ordering lower student-to-counselor ratios
on school campuses with high dropout rates; and
(D) ordering the use of any other intervention
strategy effective in reducing dropout rates, including mentor
programs and flexible class scheduling.
SECTION 97. Section 39.104, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) In addition to the interventions and sanctions
authorized under this chapter, the commissioner may reconstitute
the governing body of a charter holder as provided by Section
12.1201.
SECTION 98. Section 39.112, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) Subsection (e) does not apply if the district will be
closed and its territory annexed to one or more other school
districts in accordance with other law. In that circumstance, the
board of managers may, as determined by the commissioner, continue
to oversee the closure and annexation of the district until the
effective date of the district's annexation.
SECTION 99. Section 39.233, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.233. [RECOGNITION OF] HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION AND
SUCCESS AND COLLEGE READINESS PROGRAMS; AGENCY GUIDANCE. [(a)]
The agency shall[:
[(1) develop standards for evaluating the success and
cost-effectiveness of high school completion and success and
college readiness programs implemented under Section 39.234;
[(2)] provide guidance for school districts and
campuses in establishing and improving high school completion and
success and college readiness programs implemented under Section
39.234[; and
[(3) develop standards for selecting and methods for
recognizing school districts and campuses that offer exceptional
high school completion and success and college readiness programs
under Section 39.234.
[(b) The commissioner may adopt rules for the
administration of this section].
SECTION 100. Subsection (a), Section 39.235, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) From funds appropriated for that purpose, the
commissioner may establish a grant program under which grants are
awarded to middle, junior high, and high school campuses and school
districts to support:
(1) the implementation of innovative improvement
programs that are based on the best available research regarding
middle, junior high, or high school reform, dropout prevention, and
preparing students for postsecondary coursework or employment; and
(2) enhancing education practices that have been
demonstrated by significant evidence of effectiveness[; and
[(3) the alignment of grants and programs to the
strategic plan adopted under Section 39.407].
SECTION 101. Section 39.301, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to
read as follows:
(a) In addition to the indicators adopted under Section
39.053, the commissioner may [shall] adopt indicators of the
quality of learning for the purpose of preparing state performance
reports under Section 39.305 [this chapter]. The commissioner
biennially shall review the indicators for the consideration of
appropriate revisions.
(c) Indicators for reporting purposes may [must] include:
(1) the percentage of graduating students who meet the
course requirements established by State Board of Education rule
for the minimum high school program, the recommended high school
program, and the advanced high school program;
(2) the results of the SAT, ACT, articulated
postsecondary degree programs described by Section 61.852, and
certified workforce training programs described by Chapter 311, Labor
Code;
(3) for students who have failed to perform
satisfactorily, under each performance standard under Section
39.0241, on an assessment instrument required under Section
39.023(a) or (c), the performance of those students on subsequent
assessment instruments required under those sections, aggregated
by grade level and subject area;
(4) for each campus, the number of students,
disaggregated by major student subpopulations, that agree under
Section 28.025(b) to take courses under the minimum high school
program;
(5) the percentage of students, aggregated by grade
level, provided accelerated instruction under Section 28.0211(c),
the results of assessment instruments administered under that
section, the percentage of students promoted through the grade
placement committee process under Section 28.0211, the subject of
the assessment instrument on which each student failed to perform
satisfactorily under each performance standard under Section
39.0241, and the performance of those students in the school year
following that promotion on the assessment instruments required
under Section 39.023;
(6) the percentage of students of limited English
proficiency exempted from the administration of an assessment
instrument under Sections 39.027(a)(1) and (2);
(7) the percentage of students in a special education
program under Subchapter A, Chapter 29, assessed through assessment
instruments developed or adopted under Section 39.023(b);
(8) the percentage of students who satisfy the college
readiness measure;
(9) the measure of progress toward dual language
proficiency under Section 39.034(b), for students of limited
English proficiency, as defined by Section 29.052;
(10) the percentage of students who are not
educationally disadvantaged;
(11) the percentage of students who enroll and begin
instruction at an institution of higher education in the school
year following high school graduation; [and]
(12) the percentage of students who successfully
complete the first year of instruction at an institution of higher
education without needing a developmental education course; and
(13) additional quality indicators, as determined by
the commissioner.
(c-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) or (c), the
commissioner shall adopt an indicator of the quality of learning
that includes the information described by Subsection (c)(5) for
purposes of evaluating programs under Section 28.006(j).
SECTION 102. Section 39.305, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.305. STATE PERFORMANCE REPORTS [CAMPUS REPORT
CARD]. (a) Each school year, the agency shall prepare and
distribute to each school district a state performance report
[card] for each campus. The reports [campus report cards] must be
based on the most current data available disaggregated by student
groups. Campus performance must be compared to previous campus and
district performance, current district performance, and state
established standards.
(b) The report [card] shall include the following
information:
(1) where applicable, the student achievement
indicators described by Section 39.053(c) and the reporting
indicators adopted under Section 39.301 [described by Sections
39.301(c)(1) through (5)];
(2) average class size by grade level and subject;
(3) the administrative and instructional costs per
student, computed in a manner consistent with Section 44.0071; and
(4) the district's instructional expenditures ratio
and instructional employees ratio computed under Section 44.0071,
and the statewide average of those ratios, as determined by the
commissioner.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt rules requiring
dissemination of the information included in a state [required
under Subsection (b)(4) and appropriate class size and student]
performance [portions of campus] report under this section [cards]
annually to the parent, guardian, conservator, or other person
having lawful control of each student in [at] the district in a
manner consistent with campus policy regarding providing notice to
parents. On written request, the school district shall provide a
copy of a [campus] report [card] to any other party.
(d) The agency shall promptly post the information included
in reports on the agency's Internet website.
SECTION 103. The heading to Section 39.306, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.306. LOCAL PERFORMANCE REPORT.
SECTION 104. The heading to Section 39.307, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.307. USES OF LOCAL PERFORMANCE REPORT.
SECTION 105. The heading to Section 39.332, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.332. COMPREHENSIVE BIENNIAL [ANNUAL] REPORT.
SECTION 106. Subsection (a), Section 39.332, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The [Not later than December 1 of each year, the] agency
shall prepare and deliver to the governor, the lieutenant governor,
the speaker of the house of representatives, each member of the
legislature, the Legislative Budget Board, and the clerks of the
standing committees of the senate and house of representatives with
primary jurisdiction over the public school system a comprehensive
report covering the preceding two school years [year] and
containing the information described by Subsection (b).
SECTION 107. Subdivisions (2) and (20), Subsection (b),
Section 39.332, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(2) The report must contain an evaluation of the
status of education in the state as reflected by:
(A) the student achievement indicators described
by Section 39.053; and
(B) the reporting indicators adopted under
[described by] Section 39.301.
(20) The report must contain a comparison of the
performance of open-enrollment charter schools and school
districts on the student achievement indicators described by
Section 39.053(c), the reporting indicators adopted under
[described by] Section 39.301 [39.301(c)], and the accountability
measures adopted under Section 39.053(i), with a separately
aggregated comparison of the performance of open-enrollment
charter schools predominantly serving students at risk of dropping
out of school, as described by Section 29.081(d), with the
performance of school districts.
SECTION 108. Section 39.362, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.362. NOTICE ON DISTRICT WEBSITE. Not later than the
10th day after the first day of instruction of each school year, a
school district that maintains an Internet website shall make the
following information available to the public on the website:
(1) the information contained in the most recent state
performance [campus] report [card] for each campus in the district
under Section 39.305;
(2) the information contained in the most recent local
performance report for the district under Section 39.306;
(3) the most recent accreditation status and
performance rating of the district under Sections 39.052 and
39.054; and
(4) a definition and explanation of each accreditation
status under Section 39.051, based on commissioner rule adopted
under that section.
SECTION 109. Section 39.409, Education Code, is transferred
to Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, redesignated as
Section 29.921, Education Code, and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 29.921 [39.409]. PRIVATE FOUNDATION PARTNERSHIPS.
(a) The commissioner of education or the commissioner of higher
education, as appropriate, [and the council] may coordinate with
private foundations that have made a substantial investment in the
improvement of high schools in this state to maximize the impact of
public and private investments.
(b) A private foundation is not required to obtain the
approval of the appropriate commissioner [or the council] under
Subsection (a) before allocating resources to a school in this state.
SECTION 110. Section 39.413, Education Code, is transferred
to Subchapter C, Chapter 61, Education Code, redesignated as
Section 61.0767, Education Code, and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0767 [39.413]. FUNDING FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS.
(a) From funds appropriated, the board [Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board] shall allocate $8.75 million each year to
establish mathematics, science, and technology teacher preparation
academies under Section 61.0766[, provide funding to the
commissioner of education to implement and administer the program
under Section 29.098,] and award grants under Section
61.0762(a)(3).
(b) The board [Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board]
shall establish mathematics, science, and technology teacher
preparation academies under Section 61.0766[, provide funding to
the commissioner of education to implement and administer the
program under Section 29.098,] and award grants under Section
61.0762(a)(3) in a manner consistent with [the goals of this
subchapter and] the goals in "Closing the Gaps," the state's master
plan for higher education.
SECTION 111. Subchapter A, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 42.011 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.011. FUNDS AUDIT. (a) The agency shall develop
and implement by rule an auditing system for expenditures of funds
under the Foundation School Program by school districts and
open-enrollment charter schools. An auditing system developed
under this section must use a standard, risk-based approach.
(b) The agency shall provide guidance relating to an audit
developed under this section through any training or reference
material the agency provides to school districts or open-enrollment
charter schools.
SECTION 112. Subsection (a), Section 45.208, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The bank or banks selected as the depository or
depositories and the school district shall enter into a depository
contract or contracts, bond or bonds, or other necessary
instruments setting forth the duties and agreements pertaining to
the depository[, in a form and with the content prescribed by the
State Board of Education]. The parties shall attach to the
depository contract and incorporate by reference the bid or
proposal of the depository.
SECTION 113. Section 51.308, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.308. DRIVER EDUCATION. A driver education course
for the purpose of preparing students to obtain a driver's license
may be offered by an institution of higher education, as defined by
Section 61.003, with the approval of the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [Central Education Agency].
SECTION 114. Section 52.31, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 52.31. PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS. In this
subchapter, "participating higher educational institution" means a
public or private nonprofit institution of higher education,
including a junior college, accredited by a recognized accrediting
agency as defined by Section 61.003, or a regional education
service center or other entity that offers an alternative educator
certification program approved by the commissioner of education
[State Board for Educator Certification], that:
(1) is located in this state; and
(2) complies with the provisions of this chapter and
the rules of the board promulgated in accordance with this chapter.
SECTION 115. Subsection (b), Section 52.32, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) If a loan applicant is enrolled at a career school or
college in a degree program that is approved by the board or at a
regional education service center or other entity in an alternative
educator certification program that is approved by the commissioner
of education [State Board for Educator Certification], the
applicant is not required to provide evidence that the applicant is
unable to obtain a guaranteed student loan from a commercial lender
under Subsection (a-1).
SECTION 116. Section 61.0514, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 61.0514. INTEGRATED COURSEWORK. The board, with the
cooperation and advice of the commissioner of education [State
Board for Educator Certification], shall adopt educator
preparation coursework guidelines that promote, to the greatest
extent practicable, the integration of subject matter knowledge
with classroom teaching strategies and techniques in order to
maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of coursework required
for certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21.
SECTION 117. Subsection (b), Section 61.076, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The P-16 Council is composed of the commissioner of
education, the commissioner of higher education, the executive
director of the Texas Workforce Commission, [the executive director
of the State Board for Educator Certification,] and the
commissioner of assistive and rehabilitative services. The
commissioner of higher education and the commissioner of education
shall serve as co-chairs of the council.
SECTION 118. Subsection (a), Section 61.0761, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The P-16 Council established under Section 61.076 shall
recommend to the commissioner of education and the board a college
readiness and success strategic action plan to increase student
success and decrease the number of students enrolling in
developmental course work in institutions of higher education. The
plan must include:
(1) definitions, as determined by the P-16 Council in
coordination with the State Board of Education, of the standards
and expectations for college readiness that address the knowledge
and skills expected of students to perform successfully in
entry-level courses offered at institutions of higher education;
(2) a description of the components of a P-16
individualized graduation plan sufficient to prepare students for
college success;
(3) the manner in which the Texas Education Agency
should provide model curricula for use as a reference tool by school
district employees;
(4) recommendations to the Texas Education Agency, the
State Board of Education, and the board regarding strategies for
decreasing the number of students enrolling in developmental course
work at institutions of higher education;
(5) recommendations [to the State Board for Educator
Certification] regarding changes to educator certification and
professional development requirements that contribute to the
ability of public school teachers to prepare students for higher
education; and
(6) any other elements that the commissioner of
education and the board suggest for inclusion in the plan.
SECTION 119. Subsection (b), Section 61.0766, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Before an institution of higher education establishes
an academy under this section, the institution must apply through a
competitive process, as determined by the board, and meet any
requirements established by the board for designation as an academy
under this section and continued funding. The institution of
higher education must have a teacher preparation program approved
by the commissioner of education [State Board for Educator
Certification] or be affiliated with a program approved by the
commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification].
SECTION 120. Section 1001.001, Education Code, is amended
by amending Subdivisions (2), (3), (4), and (5) and adding
Subdivision (13-a) to read as follows:
(2) "Approved driving safety course" means a driving
safety course approved by the department [commissioner].
(3) "Commission" ["Commissioner"] means the Texas
Commission of Licensing and Regulation [commissioner of
education].
(4) "Course provider" means an enterprise that:
(A) maintains a place of business or solicits
business in this state;
(B) is operated by an individual, association,
partnership, or corporation; and
(C) has received an approval for a driving safety
course from the department [commissioner] or has been designated by
a person who has received that approval to conduct business and
represent the person in this state.
(5) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [Public Safety].
(13-a) "Executive director" means the executive
director of the department.
SECTION 121. Subsection (c), Section 1001.002, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) A driver education course is exempt from this chapter,
other than Section 1001.055, if the course is:
(1) conducted by a vocational driver training school
operated to train or prepare a person for a field of endeavor in a
business, trade, technical, or industrial occupation;
(2) conducted by a school or training program that
offers only instruction of purely avocational or recreational
subjects as determined by the department [commissioner];
(3) sponsored by an employer to train its own
employees without charging tuition;
(4) sponsored by a recognized trade, business, or
professional organization with a closed membership to instruct the
members of the organization; or
(5) conducted by a school regulated and approved under
another law of this state.
SECTION 122. Section 1001.003, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.003. LEGISLATIVE INTENT REGARDING SMALL
BUSINESSES. It is the intent of the legislature that commission
[agency] rules that affect driver training schools that qualify as
small businesses be adopted and administered so as to have the least
possible adverse economic effect on the schools.
SECTION 123. Section 1001.004, Education Code, as amended
by Chapters 1253 (H.B. 339) and 1413 (S.B. 1317), Acts of the 81st
Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 1001.004. COST OF ADMINISTERING CHAPTER. (a) Except
as provided by Subsection (b), the cost of administering this
chapter shall be included in the state budget allowance for the
department [agency].
(b) The department [commissioner] may charge a fee to each
driver education school in an amount not to exceed the actual
expense incurred in the regulation of driver education courses
established under Section 1001.1015.
SECTION 124. Sections 1001.051, 1001.052, 1001.053, and
1001.054, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.051. JURISDICTION OVER SCHOOLS. The department
[agency] has jurisdiction over and control of driver training
schools regulated under this chapter.
Sec. 1001.052. RULES. The commission [agency] shall adopt
[and administer] comprehensive rules governing driving safety
courses.
Sec. 1001.053. POWERS AND DUTIES OF DEPARTMENT, COMMISSION,
AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR [COMMISSIONER]. (a) The department and
executive director, as appropriate, [commissioner] shall:
(1) administer [the policies of] this chapter;
(2) enforce minimum standards for driver training
schools under this chapter;
(3) [adopt and] enforce rules adopted by the
commission that are necessary to administer this chapter; and
(4) visit a driver training school or course provider
and reexamine the school or course provider for compliance with
this chapter.
(b) The executive director [commissioner] may designate a
person knowledgeable in the administration of regulating driver
training schools to administer this chapter.
(c) The commission shall adopt rules necessary to
administer this chapter. The commission [commissioner] may adopt
rules to ensure the integrity of approved driving safety courses
and to enhance program quality.
Sec. 1001.054. RULES RESTRICTING ADVERTISING OR
COMPETITIVE BIDDING. (a) The commission [commissioner] may not
adopt a rule restricting advertising or competitive bidding by a
driver training school except to prohibit a false, misleading, or
deceptive practice.
(b) The commission [commissioner] may not include in rules
to prohibit false, misleading, or deceptive practices by a driver
training school a rule that restricts:
(1) the use of an advertising medium;
(2) the outside dimensions of a printed advertisement
or outdoor display;
(3) the duration of an advertisement; or
(4) advertisement under a trade name.
(c) The commission [commissioner] by rule may restrict
advertising by a branch location of a driver training school so that
the location adequately identifies the primary location of the
school in a solicitation.
SECTION 125. Subsections (a), (a-1), (a-2), (b), and (c),
Section 1001.055, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department [agency] shall provide to each licensed
or exempt driver education school and to each parent-taught course
provider approved by the Department of Public Safety under Section
521.205, Transportation Code, driver education certificates or
certificate numbers to enable the school or [and each approved
parent-taught] course provider [(approved by the Texas Department
of Public Safety under Section 521.205 of the Transportation Code)]
to print and issue department-approved [agency-approved] driver
education certificates [with the certificate numbers] to certify
[be used for certifying] completion of an approved driver education
course and [to] satisfy the requirements of Sections 521.204(a)(2)
and 521.1601, Transportation Code.
(a-1) A certificate printed and issued by a driver education
school or Department of Public Safety approved course provider
must:
(1)be in a form required by the department[agency]; and
(2) include an identifying certificate number
provided by the department [agency] that may be used to verify the
authenticity of the certificate with the driver education school or
Department of Public Safety approved course provider.
(a-2) A driver education school or Department of Public
Safety approved course provider that purchases driver education
certificate numbers shall provide for the printing and issuance of
original and duplicate certificates in a manner that, to the
greatest extent possible, prevents the unauthorized production or
the misuse of the certificates. The driver education school or
Department of Public Safety approved course provider shall
electronically submit to the department [agency] in the manner
established by the department [agency] data identified by the
department [agency] relating to issuance of department-approved
[agency-approved] driver education certificates with the
certificate numbers.
(b) The commission [agency] by rule shall provide for the
design and distribution of the certificates and certificate numbers
in a manner that, to the greatest extent possible, prevents the
unauthorized reproduction or misuse of the certificates or
certificate numbers.
(c) The commission by rule shall establish [agency may
charge] a fee [of not more than $4] for each certificate or
certificate number.
SECTION 126. Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (g),
Section 1001.056, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The department [agency] shall provide each licensed
course provider with course completion certificate numbers to
enable the provider to print and issue department-approved
[agency-approved] uniform certificates of course completion.
(c) The commission [agency] by rule shall provide for the
design of the certificates and the distribution of certificate
numbers in a manner that, to the greatest extent possible, prevents
the unauthorized production or the misuse of the certificates or
certificate numbers.
(d) A certificate under this section must:
(1) be in a form required by the department [agency];
and
(2) include an identifying number by which the
department [agency], a court, or the Department of Public Safety
[department] may verify its authenticity with the course provider.
(e) The commission by rule shall establish [agency may
charge] a fee [of not more than $4] for each course completion
certificate number. A course provider that supplies a certificate
to an operator shall collect from the operator a fee equal to the
amount of the fee paid to the department [agency] for the
certificate number.
(g) A course provider shall issue a duplicate certificate by
United States mail or commercial delivery. The commission
[commissioner] by rule shall determine the amount of the fee for
issuance of a duplicate certificate under this subsection.
SECTION 127. Section 1001.057, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.057. ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF DRIVING SAFETY
COURSE INFORMATION. The department [agency] shall investigate
options to develop and implement procedures to electronically
transmit information relating to driving safety courses to
municipal and justice courts.
SECTION 128. Subchapter B, Chapter 1001, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 1001.058 and 1001.059 to read as
follows:
Sec. 1001.058. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The commission
shall establish an advisory committee to advise the commission and
department on driver training rules and standards and driver
education curriculum.
(b) The advisory committee consists of seven members
appointed for staggered six-year terms by the presiding officer of
the commission, with the approval of the commission, as follows:
(1) one member representing a driver education school;
(2) one member representing a driving safety school;
(3) one member representing a course provider;
(4) one instructor;
(5) one employee of the Department of Public Safety; and
(6) two members representing the public.
(c) The presiding officer of the commission shall appoint
the presiding officer of the advisory committee.
Sec. 1001.059. COMPLAINTS. (a) The department shall
maintain a system to promptly and efficiently act on complaints
filed with the department regarding driver training. The
department shall maintain information about parties to the
complaint, the subject matter of the complaint, a summary of the
results of the review or investigation of the complaint, and its
disposition.
(b) The department shall make information available
describing its procedures for complaint investigation and
resolution.
(c) The department shall periodically notify the complaint
parties of the status of the complaint until final disposition.
SECTION 129. Section 1001.101, Education Code, as amended
by Chapters 1253 (H.B. 339) and 1413 (S.B. 1317), Acts of the 81st
Legislature, Regular Session, 2009, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 1001.101. ADULT AND MINOR DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE
CURRICULUM AND TEXTBOOKS. (a) The commission [commissioner] by
rule shall establish or approve the curriculum and designate the
textbooks to be used in a driver education course for minors and
adults, including a driver education course conducted by a school
district, driver education school, or parent or other individual
under Section 521.205, Transportation Code.
(b) A driver education course must require the student to
complete:
(1) 7 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction in the
presence of a person who holds a driver education instructor
license or who meets the requirements imposed under Section
521.205, Transportation Code;
(2) 7 hours of observation instruction in the presence
of a person who holds a driver education instructor license or who
meets the requirements imposed under Section 521.205,
Transportation Code; and
(3) 20 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction,
including at least 10 hours of instruction that takes place at
night, in the presence of an adult who meets the requirements of
Section 521.222(d)(2), Transportation Code.
SECTION 130. Subsection (a), Section 1001.1015, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission [commissioner] by rule shall establish
the curriculum and designate the educational materials to be used
in a driver education course exclusively for adults.
SECTION 131. Section 1001.102, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.102. ALCOHOL AWARENESS INFORMATION. (a) The
commission [agency] by rule shall require that information relating
to alcohol awareness and the effect of alcohol on the effective
operation of a motor vehicle be included in the curriculum of any
driver education course or driving safety course.
(b) In developing rules under this section, the commission
[agency] shall consult with the Department of Public Safety
[department].
SECTION 132. Section 1001.1025, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.1025. MOTORCYCLE AWARENESS INFORMATION.
(a) The commission [agency] by rule shall require that information
relating to motorcycle awareness, the dangers of failing to yield
the right-of-way to a motorcyclist, and the need to share the road
with motorcyclists be included in the curriculum of any driver
education course or driving safety course.
(b) In developing rules under this section, the commission
[agency] shall consult with the Department of Public Safety
[department].
SECTION 133. Subsections (b), (d), and (e), Section
1001.103, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The department [agency] shall develop standards for a
separate school certification and approve curricula for drug and
alcohol driving awareness programs that include one or more
courses. Except as provided by commission [agency] rule, a program
must be offered in the same manner as a driving safety course.
(d) In accordance with Section 461.013(b), Health and
Safety Code, the department [agency] and the Department of State
Health Services [Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] shall
enter into a memorandum of understanding for the interagency
approval of the required curricula.
(e) The commission [Notwithstanding Section 1001.056,
Subchapter D, and Sections 1001.213 and 1001.303, the commissioner]
may establish fees in connection with the programs under this
section. The fees must be in amounts reasonable and necessary to
administer the department's [agency's] duties under this section.
SECTION 134. Sections 1001.104 and 1001.105, Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.104. HOSPITAL AND REHABILITATION FACILITIES.
(a) The department [agency] shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding with the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative
Services [Texas Rehabilitation Commission] and the Department of
Public Safety [department] for the interagency development of
curricula and licensing criteria for hospital and rehabilitation
facilities that teach driver education.
(b) The department [agency] shall administer comprehensive
rules governing driver education courses adopted by mutual
agreement among the commission [agency], the Department of
Assistive and Rehabilitative Services [Texas Rehabilitation
Commission], and the Department of Public Safety [department].
Sec. 1001.105. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE. The
department [agency] shall enter into a memorandum of understanding
with the Texas Department of Insurance for the interagency
development of a curriculum for driving safety courses.
SECTION 135. Subsections (b), (c), and (d), Section
1001.106, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission [commissioner] by rule shall provide
minimum standards of curriculum relating to operation of vehicles
at railroad and highway grade crossings.
(c) Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Occupations Code, Section
51.353, Occupations Code, and Sections [1001.454,] 1001.456[,] and
1001.553 of this code do not apply to a violation of this section or
a rule adopted under this section.
(d) Section 51.352, Occupations Code, and Sections
1001.455(a)(6), 1001.501, [1001.551, 1001.552,] and 1001.554 of
this code do not apply to a violation of this section.
SECTION 136. Section 1001.107, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.107. INFORMATION RELATING TO LITTER PREVENTION.
(a) The commission [commissioner] by rule shall require that
information relating to litter prevention be included in the
curriculum of each driver education and driving safety course.
(b) In developing rules under this section, the commission
[commissioner] shall consult the Department of Public Safety
[department].
SECTION 137. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 1001.108,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission [commissioner] by rule shall require
that information relating to anatomical gifts be included in the
curriculum of each driver education course and driving safety
course.
(c) In developing rules under this section, the commission
[commissioner] shall consult with the Department of Public Safety
[department] and the [Texas] Department of State Health Services.
SECTION 138. Section 1001.110, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.110. INFORMATION RELATING TO DRIVING
DISTRACTIONS. (a) The commission [commissioner] by rule shall
require that information relating to the effect of using a wireless
communication device or engaging in other actions that may distract
a driver on the safe or effective operation of a motor vehicle be
included in the curriculum of each driver education course or
driving safety course.
(b) In developing rules under this section, the commission
[commissioner] shall consult with the Department of Public Safety
[department].
SECTION 139. Subsection (a), 1001.111, Education Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission [commissioner] by rule shall provide
minimum standards of curriculum for and designate the educational
materials to be used in a driving safety course designed for drivers
younger than 25 years of age.
SECTION 140. Sections 1001.151, 1001.152, and 1001.153,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.151. APPLICATION, LICENSE, AND REGISTRATION
FEES. (a) The commission by rule [commissioner] shall establish
[collect] application, license, and registration fees. The fees
must be in amounts sufficient to cover administrative costs and are
nonrefundable. The department shall collect the application,
license, and registration fees.
(b) The commission by rule shall establish a fee for:
(1) an initial driver education school license and [is
$1,000 plus $850] for each branch location;
(2) [.
[(c) The fee for] an initial driving safety school license;
(3) [is an appropriate amount established by the
commissioner not to exceed $200.
[(d) The fee for] an initial course provider license [is an
appropriate amount established by the commissioner not to exceed
$2,000], except that the commission [agency] may waive the fee if
revenue received from the course provider is sufficient to cover
the cost of licensing the course provider;
(4) the [.
[(e) The] annual renewal [fee] for a course provider,
driving safety school, driver education school, or branch location
[is an appropriate amount established by the commissioner not to
exceed $200], except that the commission [agency] may waive the fee
if revenue generated by the issuance of course completion
certificate numbers and driver education certificates is
sufficient to cover the cost of administering this chapter and
Article 45.0511, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(5) [.
[(f) The fee for] a change of address of[:
[(1)] a driver education school, [is $180; and
[(2) a] driving safety school, or course provider;
(6) [is $50.
[(g) The fee for] a change of name of:
(A) [(1)] a driver education school or course
provider or an owner of a driver education school or course provider
[is $100]; or
(B) [and
[(2)] a driving safety school or owner of a driving
safety school;
(7) [is $50.
[(h) The application fee for] each additional driver
education or driving safety course at a driver training school; and
(8) an [is $25.
[(i) The application fee for:
[(1) each director is $30; and
[(2) each assistant director or administrative staff
member is $15.
[(j) Each] application for approval of a driving safety
course that has not been evaluated by the department [commissioner
must be accompanied by a nonrefundable fee of $9,000].
(c) [(k)] An application for an original driver education
or driving safety instructor license must be accompanied by a
processing fee [of $50] and an annual license fee [of $25], except
that the department [commissioner] may not collect the processing
fee from an applicant for a driver education instructor license who
is currently teaching a driver education course in a public school
in this state.
(d) [(l)] The commission [commissioner] shall establish the
amount of the fee for a duplicate license.
(e) [(m)] The commission [commissioner] may establish a fee
for an application for approval to offer a driver education course
by an alternative method of instruction under Section 1001.3541 in
an amount the commission [commissioner] considers appropriate, not
to exceed the amount sufficient to cover the costs of considering
the application.
Sec. 1001.152. DUTY TO REVIEW AND RECOMMEND ADJUSTMENTS IN
FEE AMOUNTS. The commission [commissioner] shall periodically
review the amounts of fees and recommend to the legislature
adjustments to those amounts.
Sec. 1001.153. COMPLAINT INVESTIGATION FEE. (a) The
commission [commissioner] shall establish the amount of the fee to
investigate a driver training school or course provider to resolve
a complaint against the school or course provider.
(b) The fee may be charged only if:
(1) the complaint could not have been resolved solely
by telephone or in writing;
(2) a representative of the department [agency]
visited the school or course provider as a part of the complaint
resolution process; and
(3) the school or course provider was found to be at
fault.
SECTION 141. Subsection (b), Section 1001.202, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A driving safety school may use multiple classroom
locations to teach a driving safety course if each location:
(1) is approved by the parent school and the
department [agency];
(2) has the same name as the parent school; and
(3) has the same ownership as the parent school.
SECTION 142. Sections 1001.203, 1001.204, 1001.205, and
1001.206, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.203. APPLICATION. To operate or do business in
this state, a driver training school must apply to the department
[commissioner] for the appropriate license. The application must:
(1) be in writing;
(2) be in the form prescribed by the department
[commissioner];
(3) include all required information; and
(4) be verified.
Sec. 1001.204. REQUIREMENTS FOR DRIVER EDUCATION SCHOOL
LICENSE. The department [commissioner] shall approve an
application for a driver education school license if, on
investigation of the premises of the school, it is determined that
the school:
(1) has courses, curricula, and instruction of a
quality, content, and length that reasonably and adequately achieve
the stated objective for which the courses, curricula, and
instruction are offered;
(2) has adequate space, equipment, instructional
material, and instructors to provide training of good quality in
the classroom and behind the wheel;
(3) has [directors,] instructors[, and
administrators] who have adequate educational qualifications and
experience;
(4) provides to each student before enrollment:
(A) a copy of:
(i) the refund policy;
(ii) the schedule of tuition, fees, and
other charges; and
(iii) the regulations relating to absence,
grading policy, and rules of operation and conduct; and
(B) the department's name, mailing address,
[and] telephone number, and Internet website address [of the
agency] for the purpose of directing complaints to the department
[agency];
(5) maintains adequate records as prescribed by the
department [commissioner] to show attendance and progress or grades
and enforces satisfactory standards relating to attendance,
progress, and conduct;
(6) on completion of training, issues each student a
certificate indicating the course name and satisfactory completion;
(7) complies with all county, municipal, state, and
federal regulations, including fire, building, and sanitation
codes and assumed name registration;
(8) is financially sound and capable of fulfilling its
commitments for training;
(9) has [administrators, directors,] owners[,] and
instructors who are of good reputation and character;
(10) maintains and publishes as part of its student
enrollment contract the proper policy for the refund of the unused
portion of tuition, fees, and other charges if a student fails to
take the course or withdraws or is discontinued from the school at
any time before completion;
(11) does not use erroneous or misleading advertising,
either by actual statement, omission, or intimation, as determined
by the department [commissioner];
(12) does not use a name similar to the name of another
existing school or tax-supported educational institution in this
state, unless specifically approved in writing by the executive
director [commissioner];
(13) submits to the department [agency] for approval
the applicable course hour lengths and curriculum content for each
course offered by the school;
(14) does not owe an administrative penalty for a
violation of [under] this chapter; and
(15) meets any additional criteria required by the
department [agency].
Sec. 1001.205. REQUIREMENTS FOR DRIVING SAFETY SCHOOL
LICENSE. The department [commissioner] shall approve an
application for a driving safety school license if on investigation
the department [agency] determines that the school:
(1) has driving safety courses, curricula, and
instruction of a quality, content, and length that reasonably and
adequately achieve the stated objective for which the course,
curricula, and instruction are developed by the course provider;
(2) has adequate space, equipment, instructional
material, and instructors to provide training of good quality;
(3) has instructors [and administrators] who have
adequate educational qualifications and experience;
(4) maintains adequate records as prescribed by the
department [commissioner] to show attendance and progress or grades
and enforces satisfactory standards relating to attendance,
progress, and conduct;
(5) complies with all county, municipal, state, and
federal laws, including fire, building, and sanitation codes and
assumed name registration;
(6) has [administrators,] owners[,] and instructors
who are of good reputation and character;
(7) does not use erroneous or misleading advertising,
either by actual statement, omission, or intimation, as determined
by the department [commissioner];
(8) does not use a name similar to the name of another
existing school or tax-supported educational establishment in this
state, unless specifically approved in writing by the executive
director [commissioner];
(9) maintains and uses the approved contract and
policies developed by the course provider;
(10) does not owe an administrative penalty for a
violation of [under] this chapter;
(11) will not provide a driving safety course to a
person for less than $25; and
(12) meets additional criteria required by the
department [commissioner].
Sec. 1001.206. REQUIREMENTS FOR COURSE PROVIDER LICENSE.
The department [commissioner] shall approve an application for a
course provider license if on investigation the department [agency]
determines that:
(1) the course provider has an approved course that at
least one licensed driving safety school is willing to offer;
(2) the course provider has adequate educational
qualifications and experience;
(3) the course provider will:
(A) develop and provide to each driving safety
school that offers the approved course a copy of:
(i) the refund policy; and
(ii) the regulations relating to absence,
grading policy, and rules of operation and conduct; and
(B) provide to the driving safety school the
department's name, mailing address, [and] telephone number, and
Internet website address [of the agency] for the purpose of
directing complaints to the department [agency];
(4) a copy of the information provided to each driving
safety school under Subdivision (3) will be provided to each
student by the school before enrollment;
(5) not later than the 15th working day after the date
a [the] person successfully completes the course, the course
provider will issue and deliver to the person by United States mail
or commercial delivery [mail] a uniform certificate of course
completion [to the person] indicating the course name and
successful completion;
(6) the course provider maintains adequate records as
prescribed by the department [commissioner] to show attendance and
progress or grades and enforces satisfactory standards relating to
attendance, progress, and conduct;
(7) the course provider complies with all county,
municipal, state, and federal laws, including assumed name
registration and other applicable requirements;
(8) the course provider is financially sound and
capable of fulfilling its commitments for training;
(9) the course provider is of good reputation and
character;
(10) the course provider maintains and publishes as a
part of its student enrollment contract the proper policy for the
refund of the unused portion of tuition, fees, and other charges if
a student fails to take the course or withdraws or is discontinued
from the school at any time before completion;
(11) the course provider does not use erroneous or
misleading advertising, either by actual statement, omission, or
intimation, as determined by the department [commissioner];
(12) the course provider does not use a name similar to
the name of another existing school or tax-supported educational
institution in this state, unless specifically approved in writing
by the executive director [commissioner];
(13) the course provider does not owe an
administrative penalty for a violation of [under] this chapter; and
(14) the course provider meets additional criteria
required by the department [commissioner].
SECTION 143. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 1001.207,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Before a driver education school may be issued a
license, the school must file a corporate surety bond with the
department [commissioner] in the amount of:
(1) $10,000 for the primary location of the school; and
(2) $5,000 for each branch location.
(b) A bond issued under Subsection (a) must be:
(1) issued in a form approved by the department
[commissioner];
(2) issued by a company authorized to do business in
this state;
(3) payable to the state to be used only for payment of
a refund due to a student or potential student;
(4) conditioned on the compliance of the school and
its officers, agents, and employees with this chapter and rules
adopted under this chapter; and
(5) issued for a period corresponding to the term of
the license.
SECTION 144. Subsection (b), Section 1001.209, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) A bond issued under Subsection (a) must be:
(1) issued by a company authorized to do business in
this state;
(2) payable to the state to be used:
(A) for payment of a refund due a student of the
course provider's approved course;
(B) to cover the payment of unpaid fees or
penalties assessed by the executive director [agency]; or
(C) to recover any cost associated with providing
course completion certificate numbers, including the cancellation
of certificate numbers;
(3) conditioned on the compliance of the course
provider and its officers, agents, and employees with this chapter
and rules adopted under this chapter; and
(4) issued for a period corresponding to the term of
the license.
SECTION 145. Section 1001.210, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.210. ALTERNATE FORM OF SECURITY. Instead of the
bond required by Section 1001.207 or 1001.209, a driver education
school or course provider may provide another form of security that
is:
(1) [(A)] approved by the department [commissioner];
and
(2) [(B)] in the amount required for a comparable bond
under Section 1001.207 or 1001.209.
SECTION 146. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 1001.211,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive director [commissioner] shall issue a
license to an applicant for a license under this subchapter if:
(1) the application is submitted in accordance with
this subchapter; and
(2) the applicant meets the requirements of this
chapter.
(b) A license must be in a form determined by the department
[commissioner] and must show in a clear and conspicuous manner:
(1) the date of issuance, effective date, and term of
the license;
(2) the name and address of the driver training school
or course provider;
(3) the authority for and conditions of approval;
(4) the executive director's [commissioner's]
signature; and
(5) any other fair and reasonable representation that
is consistent with this chapter and that the department
[commissioner] considers necessary.
SECTION 147. Section 1001.212, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.212. NOTICE OF DENIAL OF LICENSE. The department
[commissioner] shall provide a person whose application for a
license under this subchapter is denied a written statement of the
reasons for the denial.
SECTION 148. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 1001.213,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) The commission may establish [Instead of the] fees in
amounts that are different from the amounts established under
[required by] Section 1001.151[, the fee] for a new driver
education school or course provider license under Subsection (b)
and [is $500, plus $200] for each branch location[,] if:
(1) the new owner is substantially similar to the
previous owner; and
(2) there is no significant change in the management
or control of the driver education school or course provider.
(d) The department [commissioner] is not required to
reinspect a school or a branch location after a change of ownership.
SECTION 149. Section 1001.214, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.214. DUPLICATE LICENSE. A duplicate license may
be issued to a driver training school or course provider if:
(1) the original license is lost or destroyed; and
(2) an affidavit of that fact is filed with the
department [agency].
SECTION 150. Section 1001.251, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.251. LICENSE REQUIRED FOR INSTRUCTOR. (a) A
person may not teach or provide driver education, either as an
individual or in a driver education school, or conduct any phase of
driver education, unless the person holds a driver education
instructor license issued by the executive director [agency].
(b) A person may not teach or provide driving safety
training, either as an individual or in a driving safety school, or
conduct any phase of driving safety education, unless the person
holds a driving safety instructor license issued by the executive
director [agency]. This subsection does not apply to an instructor
of a driving safety course that does not provide a uniform
certificate of course completion to its graduates.
SECTION 151. Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f),
Section 1001.2511, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The department [agency] shall review the national
criminal history record information of a person who holds a license
described by Subsection (a).
(c) The executive director [agency] shall place a license
described by Subsection (a) on inactive status for the license
holder's failure to comply with a deadline for submitting
information required under this section.
(d) The department [agency] may allow a person who is
applying for a license described by Subsection (a) and who
currently resides in another state to submit the person's
fingerprints and other required information in a manner that does
not impose an undue hardship on the person.
(e) The commission [commissioner] may adopt rules to
administer this section, including rules establishing:
(1) deadlines for a person to submit fingerprints and
photographs in compliance with this section;
(2) sanctions for a person's failure to comply with the
requirements of this section, including suspension or revocation of
or refusal to issue a license described by Subsection (a); and
(3) notification to a driver education school of
relevant information obtained by the department [agency] under this
section.
(f) The department [agency] is not civilly or criminally
liable for an action taken in compliance with this section.
SECTION 152. Section 1001.2512, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.2512. FEES FOR CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION REVIEW. The commission [commissioner] by rule shall
require a person submitting to a national criminal history record
information review under Section 1001.2511 or the driver education
school employing the person, as determined by the department
[agency], to pay a fee for the review in an amount not to exceed the
amount of any fee imposed on an application for certification under
Subchapter B, Chapter 21, for a national criminal history record
information review under Section 22.0837.
SECTION 153. Subsections (a), (b), and (d), Section
1001.2514, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A driver education school shall discharge or refuse to
hire as an instructor an employee or applicant for employment if the
department [agency] obtains information through a criminal history
record information review that:
(1) the employee or applicant has been convicted of:
(A) a felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code;
(B) an offense on conviction of which a defendant
is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure; or
(C) an offense under the laws of another state or
federal law that is equivalent to an offense under Paragraph (A) or
(B); and
(2) at the time the offense occurred, the victim of the
offense described by Subdivision (1) was under 18 years of age or
was enrolled in a public school.
(b) The executive director [agency] shall suspend or revoke
a license described by Section 1001.2511(a) held by a person under
this subchapter and shall refuse to issue or renew a license
described by Section 1001.2511(a) to a person under this subchapter
if the person has been convicted of an offense described by
Subsection (a) of this section.
(d) A driver education school may discharge an employee who
serves as an instructor if the school obtains information of the
employee's conviction of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude that the employee did not disclose to the school or
the department [agency]. An employee discharged under this
subsection is considered to have been discharged for misconduct for
purposes of Section 207.044, Labor Code.
SECTION 154. Section 1001.252, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.252. SIGNATURE AND SEAL ON LICENSE REQUIRED. A
license under this subchapter must be signed by the executive
director [commissioner].
SECTION 155. Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f),
Section 1001.253, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department [commissioner] shall establish standards
for certification of professional and paraprofessional personnel
who conduct driver education programs in driver education schools.
(b) A driver education instructor license authorizing a
person to teach or provide behind-the-wheel training may not be
issued unless the person has successfully completed six semester
hours of driver and traffic safety education or a program of study
in driver education approved by the department [commissioner] from
an approved driver education school.
(c) A person who holds a driver education instructor license
authorizing behind-the-wheel training may not be approved to assist
a classroom instructor in the classroom phase of driver education
unless the person has successfully completed the three additional
semester hours of training required for a classroom instructor or a
program of study in driver education approved by the department
[commissioner].
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (g) or Section
1001.254, a driver education instructor license authorizing a
person to teach or provide classroom training may not be issued
unless the person:
(1) has completed nine semester hours of driver and
traffic safety education or a program of study in driver education
approved by the department [commissioner] from an approved driver
education school; and
(2) holds a teaching certificate and any additional
certification required to teach driver education.
(e) A driver education instructor who has completed the
educational requirements prescribed by Subsection (d)(1) may not
teach instructor training classes unless the instructor has
successfully completed a supervising instructor development
program consisting of at least six additional semester hours or a
program of study in driver education approved by the department
[commissioner] that includes administering driver education
programs and supervising and administering traffic safety
education.
(f) A driver education school may submit for department
[agency] approval a curriculum for an instructor development
program for driver education instructors. The program must:
(1) be taught by a person who has completed a
supervising instructor development program under Subsection (e);
and
(2) satisfy the requirements of this section for the
particular program or type of training to be provided.
SECTION 156. Subsection (a), Section 1001.254, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A temporary driver education instructor license may be
issued authorizing a person to teach or provide classroom driver
education training if the person:
(1) has completed the educational requirements
prescribed by Section 1001.253(d)(1);
(2) holds a Texas teaching certificate with an
effective date before February 1, 1986;
(3) meets all license requirements, other than
successful completion of the examination required under rules
adopted by the commissioner of education [State Board for Educator
Certification] to revalidate the teaching certificate; and
(4) demonstrates, in a manner prescribed by the
department [commissioner], the intention to comply with the
examination requirement at the first available opportunity.
SECTION 157. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section
1001.255, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department [agency] shall regulate as a driver
education school a driver education instructor who:
(1) teaches driver education courses in a county
having a population of 50,000 or less; and
(2) does not teach more than 200 students annually.
(b) An instructor described by Subsection (a) must submit to
the department [agency] an application for an initial or renewal
driver education school license, together with all required
documentation and information.
(c) The department [commissioner] may waive initial or
renewal driver education school license fees or the fee for a
director or administrative staff member.
SECTION 158. Section 1001.256, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.256. DUPLICATE LICENSE. A duplicate license may
be issued to a driver education instructor or driving safety
instructor if:
(1) the original license is lost or destroyed; and
(2) an affidavit of that fact is filed with the
department [agency].
SECTION 159. Section 1001.257, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.257. DENIAL OF LICENSE. The executive director
[commissioner] may not issue or renew a driver education instructor
license, including a temporary license, to a person who has six or
more points assigned to the person's driver's license under
Subchapter B, Chapter 708, Transportation Code.
SECTION 160. Section 1001.303, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.303. RENEWAL OF SCHOOL OR COURSE PROVIDER
LICENSE. (a) To renew the license of a driver education school,
driving safety school, or course provider, the school or course
provider must submit to the department [commissioner] a complete
application for renewal at least 30 days before the expiration date
of the license.
(b) A school or course provider that does not comply with
Subsection (a) must, as a condition of renewal of the person's
license, pay a late renewal fee. The late renewal fee is in
addition to the annual renewal fee. The commission by rule shall
establish a late renewal fee [must be in the amount established by
board rule of at least $100, subject to Subchapter D].
(c) The department [commissioner] may reexamine a driver
education school's premises.
(d) The executive director [commissioner] shall renew or
cancel the driver education school, driving safety school, or
course provider license.
SECTION 161. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 1001.304,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The continuing education must be:
(1) in courses approved by the department
[commissioner]; and
(2) for the number of hours established by the
commission [commissioner].
(c) An applicant who does not comply with Subsection (a)
must pay a late renewal fee in the amount established by commission
rule [of $25].
SECTION 162. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 1001.351,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the 15th working day after the course
completion date, a course provider or a person at the course
provider's facilities shall issue and deliver by United States mail
or commercial delivery a uniform certificate of course completion
[by mail or commercial delivery] to a person who successfully
completes an approved driving safety course.
(b) A course provider shall electronically submit to the
department [agency] in the manner established by the department
[agency] data identified by the department [agency] relating to
uniform certificates of course completion issued by the course
provider.
SECTION 163. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 1001.354,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A driving safety course may be taught at a driving
safety school if the school is approved by the department [agency].
(b) A driving safety school may teach an approved driving
safety course by an alternative method that does not require
students to be present in a classroom if the department
[commissioner] approves the alternative method. The department
[commissioner] may approve the alternative method if:
(1) the department [commissioner] determines that the
approved driving safety course can be taught by the alternative
method; and
(2) the alternative method includes testing and
security measures that are at least as secure as the measures
available in the usual classroom setting.
SECTION 164. Section 1001.3541, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.3541. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF INSTRUCTION FOR
DRIVER EDUCATION COURSE. (a) A driver education school may teach
all or part of the classroom portion of an approved driver education
course by an alternative method of instruction that does not
require students to be present in a classroom if the department
[commissioner] approves the alternative method.
(b) The department [commissioner] may approve the
alternative method only if:
(1) the alternative method includes testing and
security measures that the department [commissioner] determines
are at least as secure as the measures available in the usual
classroom setting; and
(2) the course, with the use of the alternative
method, satisfies any other requirement applicable to a course in
which the classroom portion is taught to students in the usual
classroom setting.
SECTION 165. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 1001.404,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The department [commissioner] shall establish annually
the rate of interest for a refund at a rate sufficient to provide a
deterrent to the retention of student money.
(c) The department [agency] may except a driver education
school or course provider from the payment of interest if the school
or course provider makes a good-faith effort to refund tuition,
fees, and other charges but is unable to locate the student to whom
the refund is owed. On request of the department [agency], the
school or course provider shall document the effort to locate a
student.
SECTION 166. Sections 1001.451 and 1001.452, Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.451. PROHIBITED PRACTICES. A person may not:
(1) use advertising designed to mislead or deceive a
prospective student;
(2) fail to notify the department [commissioner] of
the discontinuance of the operation of a driver training school
before the fourth working day after the date of cessation of classes
and make available accurate records as required by this chapter;
(3) issue, sell, trade, or transfer:
(A) a uniform certificate of course completion or
driver education certificate to a person or driver training school
not authorized to possess the certificate;
(B) a uniform certificate of course completion to
a person who has not successfully completed an approved, six-hour
driving safety course; or
(C) a driver education certificate to a person
who has not successfully completed a department-approved
[commissioner-approved] driver education course;
(4) negotiate a promissory instrument received as
payment of tuition or another charge before the student completes
75 percent of the course, except that before that time the
instrument may be assigned to a purchaser who becomes subject to any
defense available against the school named as payee; or
(5) conduct any part of an approved driver education
course or driving safety course without having an instructor
physically present in appropriate proximity to the student for the
type of instruction being given.
Sec. 1001.452. COURSE OF INSTRUCTION. A driver training
school may not maintain, advertise, solicit for, or conduct a
course of instruction in this state before the later of:
(1) the 30th day after the date the school applies for
a driver training school license; or
(2) the date the school receives a driver training
school license from the department [commissioner].
SECTION 167. Subsections (d) and (e), Section 1001.453,
Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) Subchapter F, Chapter 51, Occupations Code, Section
51.353, Occupations Code, and Sections [1001.454,] 1001.456(a)[,]
and 1001.553 of this code do not apply to a violation of this
section or a rule adopted under this section.
(e) Section 51.352, Occupations Code, and Sections
1001.455(a)(6), 1001.501, [1001.551, 1001.552,] and 1001.554 of
this code do not apply to a violation of this section.
SECTION 168. Section 1001.455, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.455. DENIAL, SUSPENSION, OR REVOCATION OF
INSTRUCTOR LICENSE. (a) The executive director [agency] may deny
an application for an instructor license or suspend or revoke the
license of an instructor if the instructor:
(1) fails to meet a requirement for issuance of or
holding a license under this chapter;
(2) permits fraud or engages in fraudulent practices
relating to the application;
(3) induces or countenances fraud or fraudulent
practices on the part of an applicant for a driver's license or
permit;
(4) permits or engages in any other fraudulent
practice in an action between the applicant or license holder and
the public;
(5) fails to comply with commission [agency] rules
relating to driver instruction; or
(6) fails to comply with this chapter.
(b) Not later than the 10th day after the date of a denial,
suspension, or revocation under this section, the department
[agency] shall notify the applicant or license holder of that
action by certified mail.
SECTION 169. Section 1001.456, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.456. OTHER DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS. (a) If the
executive director [agency] believes that a driver education school
or instructor has violated this chapter or a rule adopted under this
chapter, the executive director [agency] may, without notice:
(1) order a peer review;
(2) suspend the enrollment of students in the school
or the offering of instruction by the instructor; or
(3) suspend the right to purchase driver education
certificates.
(b) If the executive director [agency] believes that a
course provider, driving safety school, or driving safety
instructor has violated this chapter or a rule adopted under this
chapter, the executive director [agency] may, without notice:
(1) order a peer review of the course provider,
driving safety school, or driving safety instructor;
(2) suspend the enrollment of students in the school
or the offering of instruction by the instructor; or
(3) suspend the right to purchase course completion
certificate numbers.
(c) A peer review ordered under this section must be
conducted by a team of knowledgeable persons selected by the
department [agency]. The team shall provide the department
[agency] with an objective assessment of the content of the
school's or course provider's curriculum and its application. The
school or course provider shall pay the costs of the peer review.
(d) A suspension of enrollment under Subsection (a)(2) or
(b)(2) means a ruling by the executive director [commissioner] that
restricts a school from:
(1) accepting enrollments or reenrollments;
(2) advertising;
(3) soliciting; or
(4) directly or indirectly advising prospective
students of its program or course offerings.
SECTION 170. Section 1001.458, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.458. SURRENDER OF LICENSE. (a) A license holder
whose license is suspended or revoked shall surrender the license
to the department [agency] not later than the fifth day after the
date of suspension or revocation.
(b) The department [agency] may reinstate a suspended
license on full compliance by the license holder with this chapter.
SECTION 171. Section 1001.459, Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.459. APPEAL AND REQUEST FOR HEARING. (a) A
person aggrieved by a denial, suspension, or revocation of a
license may appeal the action and request a hearing before the State
Office of Administrative Hearings, which shall promptly set a
hearing date and give written notice of the time and place of the
hearing to the person. An administrative law judge of the State
Office of Administrative Hearings shall conduct the hearing
[commissioner].
(b) The administrative law judge shall make findings of fact
and conclusions of law and promptly issue to the commission a
proposal for a decision about the appealed action [request must be
submitted not later than the 15th day after the date the person
receives notice under Section 1001.455. On receipt of a request for
a hearing, the commissioner shall set a time and place for the
hearing and send notice of the time and place to the aggrieved
person].
SECTION 172. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section
1001.553, Education Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) After an opportunity for a hearing, the executive
director or commission [commissioner] may impose an administrative
penalty on a person who violates this chapter or a rule adopted
under this chapter.
(b) The amount of the penalty may not exceed $5,000 [$1,000]
a day for each violation.
(c) An administrative penalty under this section shall be
imposed and collected as provided by Subchapter F, Chapter 51,
Occupations Code. [The attorney general, at the request of the
agency, may bring an action to collect the penalty.]
SECTION 173. Subsection (b), Section 1001.555, Education
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The department [agency] shall contract with the
Department of Public Safety [department] to provide undercover and
investigative assistance in the enforcement of Subsection (a).
SECTION 174. Subsections (a) and (l), Article 15.27, Code
of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A law enforcement agency that arrests any person or
refers a child to the office or official designated by the juvenile
board who the agency believes is enrolled as a student in a public
primary or secondary school, for an offense listed in Subsection
(h), shall attempt to ascertain whether the person is so enrolled.
If the law enforcement agency ascertains that the individual is
enrolled as a student in a public primary or secondary school, the
head of the agency or a person designated by the head of the agency
shall orally notify the superintendent or a person designated by
the superintendent in the school district in which the student is
enrolled of that arrest or referral within 24 hours after the arrest
or referral is made, or before the next school day, whichever is
earlier. If the law enforcement agency cannot ascertain whether
the individual is enrolled as a student, the head of the agency or a
person designated by the head of the agency shall orally notify the
superintendent or a person designated by the superintendent in the
school district in which the student is believed to be enrolled of
that arrest or detention within 24 hours after the arrest or
detention, or before the next school day, whichever is earlier. If
the individual is a student, the superintendent or the
superintendent's designee shall immediately notify all
instructional and support personnel who have responsibility for
supervision of the student. All personnel shall keep the
information received in this subsection confidential. The
commissioner of education [State Board for Educator Certification]
may revoke or suspend the certification of personnel who
intentionally violate this subsection. Within seven days after the
date the oral notice is given, the head of the law enforcement
agency or the person designated by the head of the agency shall mail
written notification, marked "PERSONAL and CONFIDENTIAL" on the
mailing envelope, to the superintendent or the person designated by
the superintendent. The written notification must include the
facts contained in the oral notification, the name of the person who
was orally notified, and the date and time of the oral notification.
Both the oral and written notice shall contain sufficient details
of the arrest or referral and the acts allegedly committed by the
student to enable the superintendent or the superintendent's
designee to determine whether there is a reasonable belief that the
student has engaged in conduct defined as a felony offense by the
Penal Code. The information contained in the notice shall be
considered by the superintendent or the superintendent's designee
in making such a determination.
(l) If a school district board of trustees learns of a
failure by the superintendent of the district or a district
principal to provide a notice required under Subsection (a), (a-1),
or (b), the board of trustees shall report the failure to the
commissioner of education [State Board for Educator
Certification]. If the governing body of a private primary or
secondary school learns of a failure by the principal of the school
to provide a notice required under Subsection (e), and the
principal holds a certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter
21, Education Code, the governing body shall report the failure to
the commissioner of education [State Board for Educator
Certification].
SECTION 175. Subsection (b), Article 42.018, Code of
Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Not later than the fifth day after the date a person who
holds a certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21,
Education Code, is convicted or granted deferred adjudication on
the basis of an offense, the clerk of the court in which the
conviction or deferred adjudication is entered shall provide to the
commissioner of education [State Board for Educator Certification]
written notice of the person's conviction or deferred adjudication,
including the offense on which the conviction or deferred
adjudication was based.
SECTION 176. Subsection (b), Article 45.0511, Code of
Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The judge shall require the defendant to successfully
complete a driving safety course approved by the Texas Department
of Licensing and Regulation [Education Agency] or a course under
the motorcycle operator training and safety program approved by the
designated state agency under Chapter 662, Transportation Code, if:
(1) the defendant elects driving safety course or
motorcycle operator training course dismissal under this article;
(2) the defendant:
(A) has not completed an approved driving safety
course or motorcycle operator training course, as appropriate,
within the 12 months preceding the date of the offense; or
(B) does not have a valid Texas driver's license
or permit, is a member, or the spouse or dependent child of a
member, of the United States military forces serving on active
duty, and has not completed a driving safety course or motorcycle
operator training course, as appropriate, in another state within
the 12 months preceding the date of the offense;
(3) the defendant enters a plea under Article 45.021
in person or in writing of no contest or guilty on or before the
answer date on the notice to appear and:
(A) presents in person or by counsel to the court
a request to take a course; or
(B) sends to the court by certified mail, return
receipt requested, postmarked on or before the answer date on the
notice to appear, a written request to take a course;
(4) the defendant:
(A) has a valid Texas driver's license or permit;
or
(B) is a member, or the spouse or dependent child
of a member, of the United States military forces serving on active
duty;
(5) the defendant is charged with an offense to which
this article applies, other than speeding at a speed of:
(A) 95 miles per hour or more; or
(B) 25 miles per hour or more over the posted
speed limit; and
(6) the defendant provides evidence of financial
responsibility as required by Chapter 601, Transportation Code.
SECTION 177. Subsections (d) and (e), Section 261.308,
Family Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) The department shall release information regarding a
person alleged to have committed abuse or neglect to persons who
have control over the person's access to children, including, as
appropriate, the Texas Education Agency, [the State Board for
Educator Certification,] the local school board or the school's
governing body, the superintendent of the school district, or the
school principal or director if the department determines that:
(1) the person alleged to have committed abuse or
neglect poses a substantial and immediate risk of harm to one or
more children outside the family of a child who is the subject of
the investigation; and
(2) the release of the information is necessary to
assist in protecting one or more children from the person alleged to
have committed abuse or neglect.
(e) On request, the department shall release information
about a person alleged to have committed abuse or neglect to the
commissioner of education [State Board for Educator Certification]
if the commissioner [board] has a reasonable basis for believing
that the information is necessary to assist the commissioner
[board] in protecting children from the person alleged to have
committed abuse or neglect.
SECTION 178. Subsection (b), Section 261.406, Family Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) The department shall send a copy of the completed report
of the department's investigation to the Texas Education Agency,
[the State Board for Educator Certification,] the local school
board or the school's governing body, the superintendent of the
school district, and the school principal or director, unless the
principal or director is alleged to have committed the abuse or
neglect, for appropriate action. On request, the department shall
provide a copy of the report of investigation to the parent,
managing conservator, or legal guardian of a child who is the
subject of the investigation and to the person alleged to have
committed the abuse or neglect. The report of investigation shall
be edited to protect the identity of the persons who made the report
of abuse or neglect. Other than the persons authorized by the
section to receive a copy of the report, Section 261.201(b) applies
to the release of the report relating to the investigation of abuse
or neglect under this section and to the identity of the person who
made the report of abuse or neglect.
SECTION 179. Subsection (i), Section 411.081, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(i) A criminal justice agency may disclose criminal history
record information that is the subject of an order of nondisclosure
under Subsection (d) to the following noncriminal justice agencies
or entities only:
(1) [the State Board for Educator Certification;
[(2)] a school district, charter school, private
school, regional education service center, commercial
transportation company, or education shared service arrangement;
(2) [(3)] the Texas Medical Board;
(3) [(4)] the Texas School for the Blind and Visually
Impaired;
(4) [(5)] the Board of Law Examiners;
(5) [(6)] the State Bar of Texas;
(6) [(7)] a district court regarding a petition for
name change under Subchapter B, Chapter 45, Family Code;
(7) [(8)] the Texas School for the Deaf;
(8) [(9)] the Department of Family and Protective
Services;
(9) [(10)] the Texas Juvenile Justice Department
[Youth Commission];
(10) [(11)] the Department of Assistive and
Rehabilitative Services;
(11) [(12)] the Department of State Health Services, a
local mental health service, a local mental retardation authority,
or a community center providing services to persons with mental
illness or retardation;
(12) [(13)] the Texas Private Security Board;
(13) [(14)] a municipal or volunteer fire department;
(14) [(15)] the Texas Board of Nursing;
(15) [(16)] a safe house providing shelter to children
in harmful situations;
(16) [(17)] a public or nonprofit hospital or hospital
district;
(17) [(18) the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission;
[(19)] the securities commissioner, the banking
commissioner, the savings and mortgage lending commissioner, the
consumer credit commissioner, or the credit union commissioner;
(18) [(20)] the Texas State Board of Public
Accountancy;
(19) [(21)] the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation;
(20) [(22)] the Health and Human Services Commission;
(21) [(23)] the Department of Aging and Disability
Services;
(22) [(24)] the Texas Education Agency;
(23) [(25)] the Guardianship Certification Board;
(24) [(26)] a county clerk's office in relation to a
proceeding for the appointment of a guardian under Chapter XIII,
Texas Probate Code;
(25) [(27)] the Department of Information Resources
but only regarding an employee, applicant for employment,
contractor, subcontractor, intern, or volunteer who provides
network security services under Chapter 2059 to:
(A) the Department of Information Resources; or
(B) a contractor or subcontractor of the
Department of Information Resources;
(26) [(28)] the Court Reporters Certification Board;
(27) [(29)] the Texas Department of Insurance; and
(28) [(30)] the Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
SECTION 180. Section 411.0901, Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 411.0901. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY. (a) The Texas Education
Agency is entitled to obtain criminal history record information
maintained by the department about a person who:
(1) has applied to the commissioner of education for a
certificate under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code;
(2) is employed or is an applicant for employment by a
school district or open-enrollment charter school;
(3) [(2)] is employed or is an applicant for
employment by a shared services arrangement, if the employee's or
applicant's duties are or will be performed on school property or at
another location where students are regularly present; or
(4) [(3)] is employed or is an applicant for
employment by an entity that contracts with a school district,
open-enrollment charter school, or shared services arrangement if:
(A) the employee or applicant has or will have
continuing duties relating to the contracted services; and
(B) the employee or applicant has or will have
direct contact with students.
(b) Criminal history record information obtained by the
agency in the original form or any subsequent form:
(1) may be used only for a purpose authorized by the
Education Code;
(2) may not be released to any person except:
(A) the person who is the subject of the
information;
(B) [the State Board for Educator Certification;
[(C)] a local or regional educational entity as
provided by Section 411.097; or
(C) [(D)] by court order;
(3) is not subject to disclosure as provided by
Chapter 552; and
(4) shall be destroyed by the agency after the
information is used for the authorized purposes.
(c) The department shall notify the agency of the arrest of
any educator, as defined by Section 5.001, Education Code, who has
fingerprints on file with the department. Any record of the
notification and any information contained in the notification are
not subject to disclosure as provided by Chapter 552.
SECTION 181. Subsection (d), Section 411.097, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d) Criminal history record information obtained by a
school district, charter school, private school, service center,
commercial transportation company, or shared services arrangement
in the original form or any subsequent form:
(1) may not be released to any person except:
(A) the individual who is the subject of the
information;
(B) the Texas Education Agency;
(C) [the State Board for Educator Certification;
[(D)] the chief personnel officer of the
transportation company, if the information is obtained under
Subsection (a)(2); or
(D) [(E)] by court order;
(2) is not subject to disclosure as provided by
Chapter 552; and
(3) shall be destroyed by the school district, charter
school, private school, service center, commercial transportation
company, or shared services arrangement on the earlier of:
(A) the first anniversary of the date the
information was originally obtained; or
(B) the date the information is used for the
authorized purpose.
SECTION 182. Subsection (a), Section 654.011, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The position classification plan and the salary rates
and provisions in the General Appropriations Act apply to all
hourly, part-time, temporary, and regular, full-time salaried
employments in the state departments, agencies, or judicial
entities specified in the articles of the General Appropriations
Act that appropriate money to:
(1) general government agencies;
(2) health and human services agencies;
(3) the judiciary, except for judges, district
attorneys, and assistant district attorneys;
(4) public safety and criminal justice agencies;
(5) natural resources agencies;
(6) business and economic development agencies;
(7) regulatory agencies; and
(8) agencies of public education, but only the Texas
Education Agency, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually
Impaired, [the State Board for Educator Certification,] and the
Texas School for the Deaf.
SECTION 183. Subdivision (7), Section 821.001, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(7) "Employer" means any agents or agencies in the
state responsible for public education, including the governing
board of any school district created under the laws of this state,
any county school board, the board of trustees, the board of regents
of any college or university, or any other legally constituted
board or agency of any public school, but excluding the State Board
of Education and[,] the Texas Education Agency[, and the State
Board for Educator Certification].
SECTION 184. Section 821.103, Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 821.103. CANCELLATION OF TEACHER CERTIFICATE.
(a) After receiving notice from the board of trustees of an
offense under Section 821.101 and after complying with Chapter 2001
and rules adopted by the commissioner of education [State Board for
Educator Certification], the commissioner [State Board for
Educator Certification] may cancel the teacher certificate of a
person if the commissioner [State Board for Educator Certification]
determines that the person committed the offense.
(b) The commissioner of education [executive director of
the State Board for Educator Certification] may enter into an
agreed sanction.
(c) A criminal prosecution of an offender under Section
821.101 is not a prerequisite to action by the Texas Education
Agency [State Board for Educator Certification] or the commissioner
of education [its executive director].
SECTION 185. Subsection (a), Section 2054.352, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The following licensing entities shall participate in
the system established under Section 2054.353:
(1) Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners;
(2) Court Reporters Certification Board;
(3) State Board of Dental Examiners;
(4) Texas Funeral Service Commission;
(5) Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying;
(6) Texas Medical Board;
(7) Texas Board of Nursing;
(8) Texas Optometry Board;
(9) Department of Agriculture, for licenses issued
under Chapter 1951, Occupations Code;
(10) Texas State Board of Pharmacy;
(11) Executive Council of Physical Therapy and
Occupational Therapy Examiners;
(12) Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners;
(13) Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners;
(14) Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists;
(15) State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners;
(16) Texas Real Estate Commission;
(17) Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification
Board;
(18) Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation;
(19) Texas State Board of Public Accountancy;
(20) commissioner of education, for certificates
issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code [State Board
for Educator Certification];
(21) Texas Board of Professional Engineers;
(22) Department of State Health Services;
(23) Texas Board of Architectural Examiners;
(24) Texas Racing Commission;
(25) Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards
and Education; and
(26) Texas Private Security Board.
SECTION 186. Subsection (a), Section 48.102, Human
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall send a written report of the
department's investigation of alleged abuse, neglect, or
exploitation of a disabled adult at a school, as appropriate, to the
Texas Education Agency, [the agency responsible for teacher
certification,] the local school board or the school's governing
body, and the school principal or director, unless the principal or
director is alleged to have committed the abuse, neglect, or
exploitation. The entity to which the report is sent shall take
appropriate action.
SECTION 187. Subtitle B, Title 4, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 315 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 315. ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Sec. 315.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Adult" means any individual who is over the age of
compulsory school attendance prescribed by Section 25.085,
Education Code.
(2) "Adult education" means services and instruction
provided below the college level for adults by public local
education agencies, public nonprofit agencies, or community-based
organizations.
(3) "Community-based organization" has the meaning
assigned by 20 U.S.C. Section 7801.
Sec. 315.002. COMMISSION DUTIES. (a) The commission
shall:
(1) provide adequate staffing to develop, administer,
and support a comprehensive statewide adult education program and
coordinate related federal and state programs for the education and
training of adults;
(2) develop the mechanism and guidelines for the
coordination of comprehensive adult education and related skill
training services for adults with other entities, including public
agencies and private organizations, in planning, developing, and
implementing related programs;
(3) administer all state and federal funds for adult
education and related skill training services in this state, other
than funds that another entity is specifically authorized to
administer under other law;
(4) prescribe and administer standards and
accrediting policies for adult education;
(5) prescribe and administer rules for teacher
certification for adult education;
(6) accept and administer grants, gifts, services, and
funds from available sources for use in adult education;
(7) adopt or develop and administer a standardized
assessment mechanism for assessing all adult education program
participants who need literacy instruction, adult basic education,
or secondary education leading to an adult high school diploma or
the equivalent;
(8) monitor and evaluate educational and employment
outcomes of students who participate in the commission's adult
education and literacy programs; and
(9) collaborate with the Texas Education Agency to
improve the coordination and implementation of adult education and
literacy services in this state.
(b) The assessment mechanism prescribed by Subsection
(a)(7) must include an initial basic skills screening instrument
and must provide comprehensive information concerning baseline
student skills before and student progress after participation in
an adult education program.
(c) The commission may adopt rules for the administration of
this chapter.
Sec. 315.003. PROVISION OF ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS. Adult
education programs must be provided by public school districts,
public junior colleges, public universities, public nonprofit
agencies, and community-based organizations approved in accordance
with state statutes and rules adopted by the commission. The
programs must be designed to meet the education and training needs
of adults to the extent possible using available public and private
resources. Bilingual education may be used to instruct students
who do not function satisfactorily in English whenever it is
appropriate for those students' optimum development.
Sec. 315.004. ADULT EDUCATION ASSESSMENT. The commission
shall, in consultation with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board, review the standardized assessment mechanism required under
Section 315.002(a)(7) and recommend any changes necessary to align
the assessment with the assessments designated under Section
51.3062, Education Code, to allow for the proper placement of a
student in an adult basic education course or to provide the student
with the proper developmental or English as a second language
course work, as appropriate.
Sec. 315.005. ADULT EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) In
this section, "advisory committee" means the adult education
advisory committee created under this section.
(b) The commission shall establish an adult education
advisory committee composed of not more than seven members
appointed by the commission. Members of the advisory committee
must have expertise in the field of adult education and may include
adult educators, providers, advocates, and current or former adult
education program students.
(c) The advisory committee shall advise the commission on:
(1) the development of policies and program priorities
that support the development of an educated and skilled workforce
in this state; and
(2) any other issue the commission considers
appropriate.
Sec. 315.006. STATE FUNDING. (a) Funds shall be
appropriated to implement statewide adult basic education, adult
bilingual education, high school equivalency, and high school
credit programs to eliminate illiteracy in this state and to
implement and support a statewide program to meet the total range of
adult needs for adult education and related skill training. The
commission shall ensure that public local education agencies,
public nonprofit agencies, and community-based organizations have
direct and equitable access to those funds.
(b) In addition to any amount appropriated under Subsection
(a), the legislature may appropriate an additional amount to the
commission for the purpose of skill training in direct support of
industrial expansion and new business development in locations,
industries, and occupations designated by the commission, if the
training supports the basic purposes of this chapter. To support
the basic purposes of this chapter, the legislature may also
appropriate an additional amount to the commission for skill
training that is conducted to support the expansion of civilian
employment opportunities on United States military reservations.
Sec. 315.007. SERVICE PROVIDER CONTRACTS: COMPETITIVE
PROCUREMENT REQUIREMENT. (a) The commission shall use a
competitive procurement process to award a contract to a service
provider of an adult education program.
(b) The commission shall adopt rules to administer this
section.
SECTION 188. Subsection (g), Section 302.062, Labor Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(g) Block grant funding under this section does not apply
to:
(1) the work and family policies program under Chapter
81;
(2) a program under the skills development fund
created under Chapter 303;
(3) the job counseling program for displaced
homemakers under Chapter 304;
(4) the Communities In Schools program under
Subchapter E, Chapter 33, Education Code, to the extent that funds
are available to the commission for that program;
(5) the reintegration of offenders program under
Chapter 306;
(6) apprenticeship programs under Chapter 133,
Education Code;
(7) the continuity of care program under Section
501.095, Government Code;
(8) employment programs under Chapter 31, Human
Resources Code;
(9) the senior citizens employment program under
Chapter 101, Human Resources Code;
(10) the programs described by Section 302.021(b)(2);
(11) the community service program under the National
and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Section 12501 et seq.);
(12) the trade adjustment assistance program under
Part 2, Subchapter II, Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. Section 2271 et
seq.);
(13) the programs to enhance the employment
opportunities of veterans; [and]
(14) the functions of the State Occupational
Information Coordinating Committee; and
(15) the adult education program under Chapter 315.
SECTION 189. Subsection (b), Section 504.002, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) This chapter does not apply to an activity or service of
a person who:
(1) is employed as a counselor by a federal
institution and is providing chemical dependency counseling within
the scope of the person's employment;
(2) except as provided by Section 504.1515, is a
student, intern, or trainee pursuing a supervised course of study
in counseling at a regionally accredited institution of higher
education or training institution, if the person:
(A) is designated as a "counselor intern"; and
(B) is engaging in the activity or providing the
service as part of the course of study;
(3) is not a resident of this state, if the person:
(A) engages in the activity or provides the
service in this state for not more than 30 days during any year; and
(B) is authorized to engage in the activity or
provide the service under the law of the state of the person's
residence;
(4) is a licensed physician, psychologist,
professional counselor, or social worker;
(5) is a religious leader of a congregation providing
pastoral chemical dependency counseling within the scope of the
person's duties;
(6) is working for or providing counseling with a
program exempt under Subchapter C, Chapter 464, Health and Safety
Code;
(7) is a school counselor certified by the
commissioner of education [State Board for Educator
Certification]; or
(8) provides chemical dependency counseling through a
program or in a facility that receives funding from the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice and who is credentialed as:
(A) a certified criminal justice addictions
professional by the International Certification and Reciprocity
Consortium; or
(B) having certified criminal justice
professional applicant status issued by the Texas Certification
Board of Addiction Professionals.
SECTION 190. Subsection (b), Section 501.004,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) a trailer or semitrailer used only for the
transportation of farm products if the products are not transported
for hire;
(2) the filing or recording of a lien that is created
only on an automobile accessory, including a tire, radio, or
heater;
(3) a motor vehicle while it is owned or operated by
the United States; or
(4) a new motor vehicle on loan to a political
subdivision of the state for use only in a driver education course
approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
[Central Education Agency].
SECTION 191. Section 521.1601, Transportation Code, as
added by Chapter 1253 (H.B. 339), Acts of the 81st Legislature,
Regular Session, 2009, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 521.1601. DRIVER EDUCATION REQUIRED. The department
may not issue a driver's license to a person who is younger than 21
years of age unless the person submits to the department a driver
education certificate issued under Chapter 1001, Education Code,
that states that the person has completed and passed:
(1) a driver education and traffic safety course
approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
[Education Agency] under Section 29.902, Education Code, or a
driver education course approved by the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [that agency] under Section 1001.101 of
that code or approved by the department under Section 521.205; or
(2) if the person is 18 years of age or older, a driver
education course approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation [Education Agency] under Section 1001.101 or 1001.1015,
Education Code.
SECTION 192. Section 521.1601, Transportation Code, as
added by Chapter 1413 (S.B. 1317), Acts of the 81st Legislature,
Regular Session, 2009, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 521.1601. DRIVER EDUCATION REQUIRED. The department
may not issue a driver's license to a person who is younger than 25
years of age unless the person submits to the department a driver
education certificate issued under Chapter 1001, Education Code,
that states that the person has completed and passed:
(1) a driver education and traffic safety course
approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
[Education Agency] under Section 29.902, Education Code, or a
driver education course approved by the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [that agency] under Section 1001.101
[1001.101(a)(1)] of that code or approved by the department under
Section 521.205; or
(2) if the person is 18 years of age or older, a driver
education course approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation [Education Agency] under Section 1001.101 or 1001.1015
[Section 1001.101(a)(1) or (2)], Education Code.
SECTION 193. Subsection (a), Section 521.1655,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A driver education school licensed under Chapter 1001,
Education Code, [the Texas Driver and Traffic Safety Education Act
(Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)] may administer
to a student of that school the vision, highway sign, and traffic
law parts of the examination required by Section 521.161.
SECTION 194. Section 521.167, Transportation Code, as added
by Chapter 1253 (H.B. 339), Acts of the 81st Legislature, Regular
Session, 2009, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 521.167. WAIVER OF CERTAIN EDUCATION AND EXAMINATION
REQUIREMENTS. A person who has completed and passed a driver
education course approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation [Education Agency] under Section 1001.1015, Education
Code, is not required to take the highway sign and traffic law parts
of the examination required under Section 521.161 if those parts
have been successfully completed as determined by a licensed driver
education instructor.
SECTION 195. Section 521.203, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 521.203. RESTRICTIONS ON CLASS A AND B LICENSES. The
department may not issue a Class A or Class B driver's license to a
person who:
(1) is under 17 years of age;
(2) is under 18 years of age unless the person has
completed a driver training course approved by the Texas Department
of Licensing and Regulation [Central Education Agency]; or
(3) has not provided the department with an affidavit,
on a form prescribed by the department, that states that no vehicle
that the person will drive that requires a Class A or Class B
license is a commercial motor vehicle as defined by Section
522.003.
SECTION 196. Subsection (a), Section 521.204,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The department may issue a Class C driver's license to
an applicant under 18 years of age only if the applicant:
(1) is 16 years of age or older;
(2) has submitted to the department a driver education
certificate issued under Section 1001.055, Education Code, that
states that the person has completed and passed a driver education
course approved by the department under Section 521.205 or by the
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation [Education Agency];
(3) has obtained a high school diploma or its
equivalent or is a student:
(A) enrolled in a public school, home school, or
private school who attended school for at least 80 days in the fall
or spring semester preceding the date of the driver's license
application; or
(B) who has been enrolled for at least 45 days,
and is enrolled as of the date of the application, in a program to
prepare persons to pass the high school equivalency exam;
(4) has submitted to the department written parental
or guardian permission:
(A) for the department to access the applicant's
school enrollment records maintained by the Texas Education Agency;
and
(B) for a school administrator or law enforcement
officer to notify the department in the event that the person has
been absent from school for at least 20 consecutive instructional
days; and
(5) has passed the examination required by Section
521.161.
SECTION 197. Subsections (b) and (d), Section 521.205,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The department may not approve a course unless it
determines that the course materials are at least equal to those
required in a course approved by the Texas Department of Licensing
and Regulation [Education Agency], except that the department may
not require that:
(1) the classroom instruction be provided in a room
with particular characteristics or equipment; or
(2) the vehicle used for the behind-the-wheel
instruction have equipment other than the equipment otherwise
required by law for operation of the vehicle on a highway while the
vehicle is not being used for driver training.
(d) Completion of a driver education course approved under
this section has the same effect under this chapter as completion of
a driver education course approved by the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [Education Agency].
SECTION 198. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 521.222,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The department or a driver education school licensed
under Chapter 1001, Education Code, [the Texas Driver and Traffic
Safety Education Act (Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes)] may issue an instruction permit, including a Class A or
Class B driver's license instruction permit, to a person who:
(1) is 15 years of age or older but under 18 years of
age;
(2) has satisfactorily completed and passed the
classroom phase of an approved driver education course, which may
be a course approved under Section 521.205;
(3) meets the requirements imposed under Section
521.204(a)(3) [521.204(3)]; and
(4) has passed each examination required under Section
521.161 other than the driving test.
(c) A driver education school may issue an instruction
permit to a person 18 years of age or older who has successfully
passed:
(1) a six-hour adult classroom driver education course
approved by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
[Education Agency]; and
(2) each part of the driver's examination required by
Section 521.161 other than the driving test.
SECTION 199. Sections 543.111 and 543.112, Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 543.111. REGULATION BY CERTAIN STATE AGENCIES.
(a) The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation [State Board
of Education] shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with
the Texas Department of Insurance for the interagency development
of a curriculum for driving safety courses.
(b) The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation and
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, as appropriate,
[Education Agency] shall:
(1) adopt and administer comprehensive rules
governing driving safety courses; and
(2) investigate options to develop and implement
procedures to electronically transmit information pertaining to
driving safety courses to municipal and justice courts.
Sec. 543.112. STANDARDS FOR UNIFORM CERTIFICATE OF COURSE
COMPLETION. (a) The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation
[Education Agency] by rule shall provide for the design and
distribution of uniform certificates of course completion so as to
prevent to the greatest extent possible the unauthorized production
or misuse of the certificates.
(b) The uniform certificate of course completion must
include an identifying number by which the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [Education Agency], the court, or the
department may verify its authenticity with the course provider and
must be in a form adopted by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation [Education Agency].
(c) The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
[Education Agency] shall issue duplicate uniform certificates of
course completion. The Texas Commission of Licensing and
Regulation [State Board of Education] by rule shall determine the
amount of the fee to be charged for issuance of a duplicate
certificate.
(d) A driving safety course provider shall electronically
submit data identified by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation [Education Agency] pertaining to issued uniform
certificates of course completion to the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [agency] as directed by the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation [agency].
SECTION 200. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 543.113,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
[Education Agency] shall print the uniform certificates and supply
them to persons who are licensed providers of courses approved
under Chapter 1001, Education Code [the Texas Driver and Traffic
Safety Education Act (Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes)]. The Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation by
rule shall establish [Agency may charge] a fee for each
certificate. [The fee may not exceed $4.]
(c) Money collected by the Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation [Education Agency] under this section may be used only
to pay monetary awards for information relating to abuse of uniform
certificates that leads to the conviction or removal of an
approval, license, or authorization.
SECTION 201. Subsection (a), Section 543.114,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A person may not distribute written information to
advertise a provider of a driving safety course within 500 feet of a
court having jurisdiction over an offense to which this subchapter
applies. A violation of this section by a provider or a provider's
agent, employee, or representative results in loss of the
provider's status as a provider of a course approved under Chapter
1001, Education Code [the Texas Driver and Safety Education Act
(Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)].
SECTION 202. Subsection (g), Section 545.412,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(g) A judge, acting under Article 45.0511, Code of Criminal
Procedure, who elects to defer further proceedings and to place a
defendant accused of a violation of this section on probation under
that article, in lieu of requiring the defendant to complete a
driving safety course approved by the Texas Department of Licensing
and Regulation [Education Agency], shall require the defendant to
attend and present proof that the defendant has successfully
completed a specialized driving safety course approved by the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation [Education Agency] under
Chapter 1001, Education Code, [the Texas Driver and Traffic Safety
Education Act (Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)]
that includes four hours of instruction that encourages the use of
child passenger safety seat systems and the wearing of seat belts
and emphasizes:
(1) the effectiveness of child passenger safety seat
systems and seat belts in reducing the harm to children being
transported in motor vehicles; and
(2) the requirements of this section and the penalty
for noncompliance.
SECTION 203. Subsection (i), Section 545.413,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
(i) A judge, acting under Article 45.0511, Code of Criminal
Procedure, who elects to defer further proceedings and to place a
defendant accused of a violation of Subsection (b) on probation
under that article, in lieu of requiring the defendant to complete a
driving safety course approved by the Texas Department of Licensing
and Regulation [Education Agency], shall require the defendant to
attend and present proof that the defendant has successfully
completed a specialized driving safety course approved by the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation [Education Agency] under
Chapter 1001, Education Code, [the Texas Driver and Traffic Safety
Education Act (Article 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)]
that includes four hours of instruction that encourages the use of
child passenger safety seat systems and the wearing of seat belts
and emphasizes:
(1) the effectiveness of child passenger safety seat
systems and seat belts in reducing the harm to children being
transported in motor vehicles; and
(2) the requirements of this section and the penalty
for noncompliance.
SECTION 204. (a) The following provisions of the Education
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 7.009;
(2) Subsections (b) and (c), Section 7.021;
(3) Subdivisions (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7),
(10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20),
(21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), (27), (28), (29), (30), (31),
(32), (34), (35), (36), (37), (38), (39), and (41), Subsection (b),
Section 7.055;
(4) Subsection (c), Section 7.055;
(5) Subdivision (16), Subsection (c), Section 7.102;
(6) Subsection (c), Section 11.201;
(7) Section 11.254;
(8) Subsection (b), Section 12.1055;
(9) Subsection (b), Section 12.107;
(10) Subsection (b), Section 12.115;
(11) Section 13.052;
(12) Subsection (a), Section 21.007;
(13) Sections 21.032, 21.033, 21.034, 21.035, 21.036,
21.037, and 21.038;
(14) Subsection (a), Section 21.041;
(15) Sections 21.042 and 21.043;
(16) Subsections (c) and (d), Section 21.254;
(17) Section 21.4541;
(18) Subsection (a), Section 22.0831;
(19) Subsection (e), Section 25.001;
(20) Sections 29.095, 29.096, 29.097, 29.098, and
29.099;
(21) Subdivisions (1), (2), and (3), Section 29.251;
(22) Sections 29.253, 29.2531, 29.2535, and 29.254;
(23) Section 29.917;
(24) Section 34.015;
(25) Section 38.104;
(26) Subsection (g), Section 39.037;
(27) Section 39.0822;
(28) Subsection (b) and (c), Section 39.0823;
(29) Subsection (c), Section 39.203;
(30) Section 39.204;
(31) the heading to Subchapter M, Chapter 39;
(32) Sections 39.401, 39.402, 39.403, 39.404, 39.405,
39.406, 39.407, 39.408, 39.410, 39.411, 39.412, 39.414, 39.415, and
39.416;
(33) Subsections (q), (q-1), (q-2), (q-3), (q-4), and
(r), Section 42.152;
(34) Subsection (e), Section 45.208;
(35) Subdivision (1), Section 1001.001;
(36) Section 1001.006;
(37) Section 1001.454;
(38) Sections 1001.460 and 1001.461; and
(39) Sections 1001.551 and 1001.552.
(b) Section 411.090, Government Code, is repealed.
(c) Section 521.167, Transportation Code, as added by
Chapter 1413 (Senate Bill No. 1317), Acts of the 81st Legislature,
Regular Session, 2009, is repealed.
SECTION 205. The changes in law made by this Act to
Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, relating to enforcement
actions against an open-enrollment charter school apply beginning
June 1, 2014, based on school performance during preceding school
years.
SECTION 206. The change in law made by this Act to
Subsection (b), Section 1001.553, Education Code, applies only to
the imposition of an administrative penalty for a violation that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. The imposition
of an administrative penalty for a violation that occurs before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the violation occurred, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 207. (a) The State Board for Educator
Certification is abolished September 1, 2013. On that date, all
powers, duties, obligations, rights, contracts, leases, records,
personnel, property, and unspent and unobligated appropriations
and other funds of the State Board for Educator Certification are
transferred to the Texas Education Agency. Before that date, the
Texas Education Agency, with the agreement of the State Board for
Educator Certification, may transfer any records, personnel, or
property of the State Board for Educator Certification to the Texas
Education Agency in preparation for the transfer provided for in
this Act.
(b) The abolishment of the State Board for Educator
Certification does not affect the validity of a right, privilege,
or obligation accrued, a contract or acquisition made, any
liability incurred, a certificate issued, a penalty, forfeiture, or
punishment assessed, a rule adopted, a proceeding, investigation,
or remedy begun, a decision made, or other action taken by or in
connection with the State Board for Educator Certification. A
certificate issued by the State Board for Educator Certification
under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, before September 1,
2013, is considered a certificate issued by the Texas Education
Agency.
(c) All rules, policies, procedures, and decisions of the
State Board for Educator Certification are continued in effect as
rules, policies, procedures, and decisions of the commissioner of
education and the Texas Education Agency until superseded by a rule
or other appropriate action of the Texas Education Agency.
(d) After the effective date of this Act, the commissioner
of education may adopt a rule proposed by the State Board for
Educator Certification before the effective date of this Act.
(e) Any action or proceeding before the State Board for
Educator Certification is transferred without change in status to
the commissioner of education and the Texas Education Agency, and
the commissioner and the agency assume, without a change in status,
the position of the State Board for Educator Certification in any
action or proceeding to which the State Board for Educator
Certification is a party.
SECTION 208. (a) On September 1, 2013:
(1) all functions and activities relating to adult
education programs are transferred from the Texas Education Agency
to the Texas Workforce Commission;
(2) all rules, policies, procedures, decisions, and
forms of the Texas Education Agency, the commissioner of education,
or the State Board of Education relating to the administration of
adult education programs are continued in effect as rules,
policies, procedures, decisions, and forms of the Texas Workforce
Commission until superseded by a rule or other appropriate action
by the Texas Workforce Commission;
(3) a reference in law or administrative rule to the
Texas Education Agency, the commissioner of education, or the State
Board of Education relating to the administration of adult
education programs means the Texas Workforce Commission;
(4) a complaint, investigation, or other proceeding
before the Texas Education Agency that is related to adult
education programs is transferred without change in status to the
Texas Workforce Commission, and the Texas Workforce Commission
assumes, as appropriate and without a change in status, the
position of the Texas Education Agency in an action or proceeding to
which the Texas Education Agency is a party;
(5) all money, contracts, leases, property, and
obligations of the Texas Education Agency related to the
administration of adult education programs are transferred to the
Texas Workforce Commission;
(6) all property in the custody of the Texas Education
Agency related to the administration of adult education programs is
transferred to the Texas Workforce Commission; and
(7) the unexpended and unobligated balance of any
money appropriated by the legislature for the Texas Education
Agency related to the administration of adult education programs is
transferred to the Texas Workforce Commission.
(b) Before September 1, 2013, the Texas Education Agency may
agree with the Texas Workforce Commission to transfer any property
of the Texas Education Agency to the Texas Workforce Commission to
implement the transfer required by this Act.
(c) The Texas Workforce Commission shall hold public
hearings to develop rules to establish a new allocation formula for
adult education provider grants under Chapter 315, Labor Code, as
added by this Act.
(d) The Texas Workforce Commission shall adopt and
implement the new allocation formula for adult education provider
grants beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.
SECTION 209. (a) On September 1, 2013:
(1) all functions and activities relating to Chapter
1001, Education Code, performed by the Texas Education Agency
immediately before that date are transferred to the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation;
(2) all rules, policies, procedures, decisions, and
forms adopted by the commissioner of education that relate to
Chapter 1001, Education Code, are continued in effect as rules,
policies, procedures, decisions, and forms of the Texas Commission
of Licensing and Regulation or the Texas Department of Licensing
and Regulation, as applicable, and remain in effect until amended
or replaced by that commission or department;
(3) a reference to the Texas Education Agency in a law
or administrative rule that relates to Chapter 1001, Education
Code, means the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation or the
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, as applicable;
(4) a complaint, investigation, or other proceeding
before the Texas Education Agency that is related to Chapter 1001,
Education Code, is transferred without change in status to the
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation assumes, as appropriate and
without a change in status, the position of the Texas Education
Agency in an action or proceeding to which the Texas Education
Agency is a party;
(5) all money, contracts, leases, property, and
obligations of the Texas Education Agency related to Chapter 1001,
Education Code, are transferred to the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation;
(6) all property in the custody of the Texas Education
Agency related to Chapter 1001, Education Code, is transferred to
the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation; and
(7) the unexpended and unobligated balance of any
money appropriated by the legislature for the Texas Education
Agency related to Chapter 1001, Education Code, is transferred to
the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
(b) Before September 1, 2013, the Texas Education Agency may
agree with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to
transfer any property of the Texas Education Agency to the Texas
Department of Licensing and Regulation to implement the transfer
required by this Act.
SECTION 210. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
1001, Education Code, apply only to a fee charged on or after
September 1, 2013. A fee charged before September 1, 2013, is
governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 211. To the extent of any conflict, this Act
prevails over another Act of the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session,
2013, relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in
enacted codes.
SECTION 212. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
* * * * *