H.B. No. 2729
AN ACT
relating to teacher requirements for high quality prekindergarten
programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 29.167, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections (b-1),
(b-2), and (b-3) to read as follows:
(b) Each teacher for a prekindergarten program class must:
(1) be certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21; and
(2) have one of the following additional
qualifications:
(A) an associate or baccalaureate degree in early
childhood education or a related field;
(B) a Child Development Associate (CDA)
credential or another early childhood education credential
approved by the agency;
(C) [(B)] certification offered through a
training center accredited by Association Montessori
Internationale or through the Montessori Accreditation Council for
Teacher Education;
(D) [(C)] at least eight years' experience of
teaching in a nationally accredited child care program or a Texas
Rising Star Program;
(E) [(D)] be employed as a prekindergarten
teacher in a school district that has received approval from the
commissioner for the district's prekindergarten-specific
instructional training plan that the teacher uses in the teacher's
prekindergarten classroom; or
(F) [(E)] an equivalent qualification.
(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), each teacher for a
prekindergarten class provided by an entity with which a school
district contracts to provide a prekindergarten program must:
(1) be supervised by a person who meets the
requirements under Subsection (b); and
(2) have one of the following qualifications:
(A) at least two years' experience of teaching in
a nationally accredited child care program or a Texas Rising Star
Program and:
(i) a Child Development Associate (CDA)
credential or another early childhood education credential
approved by the agency; or
(ii) certification offered through a
training center accredited by Association Montessori
Internationale or through the Montessori Accreditation Council for
Teacher Education; or
(B) a qualification described by Subsection
(b)(2)(A), (D), (E), or (F).
(b-2) A person who supervises a prekindergarten program
provided by an entity with which a school district contracts for
that purpose may supervise multiple prekindergarten classrooms to:
(1) ensure programmatic compliance; and
(2) support:
(A) classroom instruction;
(B) the developmental needs of students; and
(C) continuous quality improvement, including
professional development.
(b-3) Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) and this subsection
expire September 1, 2029.
(d) A school district or an entity with which the district
contracts to provide a prekindergarten program must attempt to
maintain an average ratio in any prekindergarten program class of
not less than one qualified [certified] teacher or teacher's aide
for each 11 students.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
school year.
SECTION 3. 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, 2023.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2729 was passed by the House on May 2,
2023, by the following vote: Yeas 95, Nays 48, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 2729 on May 25, 2023, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 2729 on May 28, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 93,
Nays 47, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2729 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 17, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays
11; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
2729 on May 28, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 20, Nays 11.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor