By: Aycock (Senate Sponsor - Perry) H.B. No. 18
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2015;
May 25, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Education; May 26, 2015, reported favorably by the following vote:
Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 26, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to college and career readiness training for certain
public school counselors and postsecondary advisors.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 33.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.009. POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND CAREER COUNSELING
ACADEMIES. (a) In this section, "center" means the Center for
Teaching and Learning at The University of Texas at Austin.
(b) The center shall develop and make available
postsecondary education and career counseling academies for school
counselors and other postsecondary advisors employed by a school
district at a middle school, junior high school, or high school.
(c) In developing academies under this section, the center
shall solicit input from the agency, school counselors, the Texas
Workforce Commission, institutions of higher education, and
business, community, and school leaders.
(d) An academy developed under this section must provide
counselors and other postsecondary advisors with knowledge and
skills to provide counseling to students regarding postsecondary
success and productive career planning and must include information
relating to:
(1) each endorsement described by Section
28.025(c-1), including:
(A) the course requirements for each
endorsement; and
(B) the postsecondary educational and career
opportunities associated with each endorsement;
(2) available methods for a student to earn credit for
a course not offered at the school in which the student is enrolled,
including enrollment in an electronic course provided through the
state virtual school network under Chapter 30A;
(3) general academic performance requirements for
admission to an institution of higher education, including the
requirements for automatic admission to a general academic teaching
institution under Section 51.803;
(4) regional workforce needs, including information
about the required education and the average wage or salary for
careers that meet those workforce needs; and
(5) effective strategies for engaging students and
parents in planning for postsecondary education and potential
careers, including participation in mentorships and business
partnerships.
(e) From funds appropriated for that purpose, a school
counselor who attends the academy under this section is entitled to
receive a stipend in the amount determined by the center. A stipend
received under this subsection is not considered in determining
whether a district is paying the school counselor the minimum
monthly salary under Section 21.402.
(f) From available funds appropriated for purposes of this
section, the center may provide to school counselors and other
educators curricula, instructional materials, and technological
tools relating to postsecondary education and career counseling.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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