S.B. No. 1309
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a Junior Reserve Officer Training
Corps teaching certificate and eligibility of such certified
teacher for other educator certification.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.0487 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.0487. JUNIOR RESERVE OFFICER TRAINING CORPS TEACHER
CERTIFICATION. (a) The board shall establish a standard Junior
Reserve Officer Training Corps teaching certificate to provide
Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps instruction.
(b) To be eligible for a certificate under this section, a
person must:
(1) hold a bachelor's degree from an institution of
higher education that is, and at the time the person received the
degree was, accredited or otherwise approved by an accrediting
organization recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board;
(2) satisfy the eligibility and testing requirements
for certification as a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps
instructor established by the branch of service in which the person
served; and
(3) complete an approved educator preparation
program.
(c) The board shall propose rules to:
(1) approve educator preparation programs to prepare a
person as a teacher for certification under this section; and
(2) establish requirements under which:
(A) a person's training and experience acquired
during the person's military service serves as proof of the person's
demonstration of subject matter knowledge if that training and
experience is verified by the branch of service in which the person
served; and
(B) a person's employment by a school district as
a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor before the
person was enrolled in an educator preparation program or while the
person is enrolled in an educator preparation program is applied to
satisfy any student teaching, internship, or field-based
experience program requirement.
(d) A person is not required to hold a certificate
established under this section to be employed by a school district
as a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor.
SECTION 2. Section 21.046, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) For purposes of satisfying eligibility requirements for
certification as a principal, a teacher who is certified under
Section 21.0487:
(1) is considered to hold a classroom teaching
certificate; and
(2) may apply as creditable years of teaching
experience as a classroom teacher any period during which the
teacher was employed by a school district as a Junior Reserve
Officer Training Corps instructor before or after the teacher was
certified under Section 21.0487.
SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2016, the State Board
for Educator Certification shall propose rules relating to the
establishment of a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps teaching
certificate as provided by Section 21.0487, Education Code, as
added by this Act.
SECTION 4. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1309 passed the Senate on
April 30, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 30, 2015, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1309 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 27, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
Nays 1, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor