84R7902 KJE-D
By: Aycock H.B. No. 18
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to college and career readiness training for certain
public school counselors.
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) The commissioner shall develop and make available
postsecondary education and career counseling academies for school
counselors employed at a middle school, junior high school, or high
school.
(b) In developing academies under this section, the
commissioner shall solicit input from school counselors, the Texas
Workforce Commission, institutions of higher education, and
business and community leaders.
(c) An academy developed under this section must provide
counselors 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.
(d) 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 commissioner. 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.
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.