88R19949 BDP-F
By: Harris of Anderson H.B. No. 2729
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2729:
By: Buckley C.S.H.B. No. 2729
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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) and
(b-2) to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), each [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) a Child Development Associate (CDA)
credential or another early childhood education credential
approved by the agency;
(B) certification offered through a training
center accredited by Association Montessori Internationale or
through the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher
Education;
(C) at least eight years' experience of teaching
in a nationally accredited child care program or a Texas Rising Star
Program;
(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
(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 qualifications described by
Subsection (b)(2).
(b-2) A person who supervises a prekindergarten teacher as
described by Subsection (b-1) may supervise multiple
prekindergarten classes.
(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.