86R3477 KJE-D
By: Miles S.B. No. 508
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the development of a statewide online education and
career advising tool and the establishment of a grant program to
reimburse private employers for paid internships provided to
certain public school students in career and technology education
programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0092 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0092. ONLINE EDUCATION AND CAREER ADVISING TOOL.
(a) In this section, "institution of higher education" has the
meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
(b) Subject to the availability of federal funding for this
purpose, the agency shall develop and implement a statewide online
education and career advising tool to assist children in making
informed, meaningful, and attainable postsecondary and career
plans.
(c) The online education and career advising tool must
include:
(1) an individualized career pathway generator that
assists a child in selecting a career and identifying the secondary
and postsecondary courses the child should take to advance toward
that career; and
(2) information regarding:
(A) any local, regional, or statewide
articulation agreements regarding dual credit programs or the
transfer of course credit between institutions of higher education;
(B) the postsecondary and career options
associated with each endorsement under Section 28.025(c-1),
including the dual credit courses related to each endorsement that
apply toward a certificate or degree program at an institution of
higher education;
(C) any stackable degree programs provided by an
institution of higher education through which a student may obtain
a series of credentials as the student progresses through the
program;
(D) existing and anticipated employment
opportunities statewide and in a child's community, aligned to
state and regional workforce needs;
(E) anticipated earnings in various careers;
(F) local, regional, and statewide career
training and certification programs, including the requirements,
costs, and available options for those programs; and
(G) the time and cost required for and other
expenses related to various postsecondary and career options.
(d) In developing and implementing the online education and
career advising tool, the agency shall consult with the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce
Commission. On request by the agency, the coordinating board and
the commission shall provide to the agency any data maintained by
the coordinating board or commission that is necessary to develop
the tool.
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.194 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.194. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PAID INTERNSHIPS. (a) To
encourage private entities to participate in providing career and
technology education to assist public school students in developing
the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a broad range
of career opportunities, the commissioner shall establish a
competitive grant program under which grants are awarded to school
districts and open-enrollment charter schools for the
reimbursement of private entities for all or part of the cost of
providing a paid internship or similar program to a student
participating in a career and technology education program in the
district or school.
(b) In awarding grants under this section, the commissioner
shall give preference to school districts and open-enrollment
charter schools that, as determined by the commissioner:
(1) have a high percentage of students who fail to
perform satisfactorily on relevant state assessments; and
(2) serve economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
(c) To be eligible to receive reimbursement under the grant
program, a paid internship or similar program must:
(1) satisfy a curriculum requirement for an
endorsement adopted by rule under Section 28.025(c-1), or qualify
as a dual credit course; and
(2) pay the student at least the minimum wage required
by law.
(d) The total amount of grants awarded under this section
may not exceed $5 million in a state fiscal biennium. A grant
awarded to a school district or open-enrollment charter school may
not exceed the lesser of:
(1) $1 million in a state fiscal biennium; or
(2) an amount determined by the commissioner not to
exceed $2,500 for each participating student enrolled in the
district or school in the school year in which the grant is awarded.
(e) A grant awarded to a school district or open-enrollment
charter school may only be used to reimburse a private entity for
all or part of the cost of providing an eligible paid internship or
similar program to a student participating in a career and
technology education program in the district or school. A private
entity may not receive reimbursement under this section for
providing a paid internship or similar program to a student who is
related to the owner of the entity within the third degree of
consanguinity as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573,
Government Code.
(f) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,
the commissioner, in cooperation with the Texas Workforce
Commission, shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor,
and the legislature a report on the effectiveness of the grant
program in creating jobs. The report must include, to the extent
available:
(1) the total number of paid internships or similar
programs for which a private entity received reimbursement through
a grant awarded under this section and the total amount of money
reimbursed for those internships or programs through a grant;
(2) the total number of students who completed a paid
internship or similar program described by Subdivision (1) and were
subsequently hired for a permanent job in this state by the private
entity that offered the internship or program;
(3) for the permanent jobs described by Subdivision
(2):
(A) the median wage of those jobs;
(B) the North American Industry Classification
System classification of each of those jobs; and
(C) the number of those jobs that provide health
benefits coverage;
(4) the number of private entities that offered a paid
internship or similar program described by Subdivision (1) that are
historically underutilized businesses, as defined by Section
2161.001, Government Code, and the total amount of money reimbursed
through a grant awarded under the grant program for the internship
or program;
(5) demographic information on students participating
in paid internships or similar programs described by Subdivision
(1), including the school districts or open-enrollment charter
schools in which the students are enrolled, to the extent allowed
under state and federal law; and
(6) an assessment of the number of eligible paid
internships or similar programs that would not have been offered in
the absence of a reimbursement provided through a grant and the
total number of students who completed those internships or
programs, including for each school year in which grants are
awarded, an estimate of the number of public high school students of
legal working age who were employed in this state for any period of
time during that school year outside of a paid internship or similar
program described by Subdivision (1).
(g) The commissioner, in consultation with the Texas
Workforce Commission, shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
this section.
SECTION 3. Section 42.005, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (g-2) to read as follows:
(g-2) The time during which a student participates in a paid
internship or similar program that is funded in whole or in part
through a grant awarded under the grant program established by
Section 29.194 shall be counted as part of the minimum number of
instructional hours required for a student to be considered a
full-time student in average daily attendance for purposes of this
section.
SECTION 4. Section 29.194, Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.
SECTION 5. 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.