84R20058 PAM-F
By: Aycock H.B. No. 1843
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1843:
By: Aycock C.S.H.B. No. 1843
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing training academies for public school teachers
who provide reading instruction to students in prekindergarten
through grade three.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter J, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.4552 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.4552. TEACHER LITERACY ACHIEVEMENT ACADEMIES. (a)
The commissioner shall develop and make available literacy
achievement academies for teachers who provide instruction to
students at the prekindergarten, kindergarten, or first, second, or
third grade level.
(b) A literacy achievement academy developed under this
section must include training in effective and systematic
instructional practices in reading, including phonemic awareness,
phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and research-based
practices to address the needs of students with reading disorders.
(c) The commissioner shall adopt criteria for selecting
teachers who may attend a literacy achievement academy. In
adopting selection criteria under this subsection, the
commissioner shall:
(1) include teachers, including special education
teachers, who instruct students with reading disorders; and
(2) require granting a priority to teachers employed
by school districts in which 50 percent or more of the students
enrolled are educationally disadvantaged.
(d) From funds appropriated for that purpose, a teacher who
attends a literacy achievement academy 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 teacher the minimum monthly salary
under Section 21.402.
(e) On request of the commissioner, regional education
service centers shall assist the commissioner and agency with
training and other activities relating to the development and
operation of literacy achievement academies.
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.