86R10396 MP-D
By: Bernal H.B. No. 1453
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1453:
By: Talarico C.S.H.B. No. 1453
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to special education-related requirements, including the
provision of certain services, the composition of the State Board
for Educator Certification, and certain educator requirements.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 8.051(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) Each regional education service center shall maintain
core services for purchase by school districts and campuses. The
core services are:
(1) training and assistance in:
(A) teaching each subject area assessed under
Section 39.023; and
(B) providing instruction in personal financial
literacy as required under Section 28.0021;
(2) training and assistance in providing each program
that qualifies for a funding allotment under Section 42.151,
42.152, 42.153, or 42.156;
(3) assistance specifically designed for a school
district or campus assigned an unacceptable performance rating
under Section 39.054;
(4) training and assistance to teachers,
administrators, members of district boards of trustees, and members
of site-based decision-making committees;
(5) assistance specifically designed for a school
district that is considered out of compliance with state or federal
special education requirements, based on the agency's most recent
compliance review of the district's special education programs;
[and]
(6) assistance in complying with state laws and rules;
and
(7) assistance provided through responsive remote
video coaching to guide teachers in rural areas through the
delivery of instruction and services to students with disabilities
as needed through existing agency infrastructure.
SECTION 2. Section 21.033(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The State Board for Educator Certification is composed
of 15 members. The commissioner of education shall appoint an
employee of the agency to represent the commissioner as a nonvoting
member. The commissioner of higher education shall appoint an
employee of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to
represent the commissioner as a nonvoting member. The governor
shall appoint two nonvoting members. The governor shall appoint a
dean of a college of education in this state as one of the nonvoting
members. The governor shall appoint a person who has experience
working for and knowledge of an alternative educator preparation
program and who is not affiliated with an institution of higher
education as one of the nonvoting members. The remaining 11 members
are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the
senate, as follows:
(1) four members must be teachers employed in public
schools, one of whom must hold a certificate issued under this
subchapter in special education and have classroom experience;
(2) two members must be public school administrators;
(3) one member must be a public school counselor; and
(4) four members must be citizens, three of whom are
not and have not, in the five years preceding appointment, been
employed by a public school district or by an educator preparation
program in an institution of higher education and one of whom is not
and has not been employed by a public school district or by an
educator preparation program in an institution of higher education.
SECTION 3. Section 21.051, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(g) The board shall propose rules to establish a minimum
requirement for field-based experience in which a candidate is
actively engaged in instructional or educational activities to
implement an individualized education program for a student with a
disability. The requirement under this subsection applies only to
an initial certification issued on or after September 1, 2020. This
requirement does not affect:
(1) the validity of a certification issued before
September 1, 2020; or
(2) the eligibility of a person who holds a
certification issued before September 1, 2020, to obtain a
subsequent renewal of the certification in accordance with board
rule.
SECTION 4. Section 21.451, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (d-4) and (d-5) and amending Subsection (e) to
read as follows:
(d-4) Subject to Subsection (e), the training relating to
instruction of students with disabilities required under
Subsection (d)(2) must:
(1) be developed by the agency in collaboration with
regional education service centers;
(2) be competency-based, interactive, and
experiential, including providing educators the opportunity to
integrate learned skills through demonstration, observation,
collaboration, fieldwork, and reflection in different
instructional contexts;
(3) be delivered in person;
(4) include at least four hours of instruction;
(5) be provided on an annual basis, as part of new
educator orientation to new school district and open-enrollment
charter school educators; and
(6) be provided on a schedule adopted by the agency by
rule to existing school district and open-enrollment charter school
educators who are responsible for classroom implementation of a
student's individualized education program.
(d-5) The training relating to instruction of students with
disabilities required under Subsection (d)(2) must require that the
person demonstrate:
(1) basic knowledge of each disability category under
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Section
1400 et seq.) and how each category can affect student learning and
development;
(2) competence in the use of proactive instructional
planning techniques that:
(A) provide flexibility in the ways:
(i) information is presented;
(ii) students respond or demonstrate
knowledge and skills; and
(iii) students are engaged;
(B) reduce barriers in instruction;
(C) provide appropriate accommodations,
supports, and challenges; and
(D) maintain high achievement expectations for
all students, including students with disabilities and students of
limited English proficiency; and
(3) competence in the use of evidence-based inclusive
instructional practices, including:
(A) general and special education collaborative
and co-teaching models and approaches;
(B) multitiered systems of support, including
response to intervention strategies, classroom and school level
data-based collaborative structures, and evidence-based strategies
for intervention and progress monitoring systems in academic areas;
(C) classroom management techniques using
evidence-based behavioral intervention strategies and supports;
and
(D) appropriate adaptation strategies, including
accommodations, modifications, and instruction in the use of
assistive technology for instruction.
(e) A school district is required to provide the training
described by Subsection (d)(2) to an educator who works primarily
outside the area of special education only if the educator has
[does] not completed equivalent training approved by the agency
[possess the knowledge and skills necessary to implement the
individualized education program developed for a student receiving
instruction from the educator. A district may determine the time
and place at which the training is delivered].
SECTION 5. The change in law made by this Act to Section
21.033(a)(1), Education Code, requiring that one member of the
State Board for Educator Certification be a teacher who holds a
certificate issued under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code,
in special education does not affect the entitlement of teacher
members serving on the board immediately before the effective date
of this Act to continue to carry out the members' duties for the
remainder of the members' terms. The governor shall appoint a
teacher member who meets the requirements under Section
21.033(a)(1), Education Code, as amended by this Act, on the first
vacancy that occurs after the effective date of this Act of a board
position held by a teacher member.
SECTION 6. The State Board for Educator Certification shall
propose rules as required by Section 21.051(g), Education Code, as
added by this Act, as soon as practicable following the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 7. Sections 8.051 and 21.451, Education Code, as
amended by this Act, apply beginning with the 2019-2020 school
year.
SECTION 8. 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, 2019.