88R2764 MEW-F
By: Allen H.B. No. 770
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the salary and wages paid to public school employees;
making an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.402, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c-2), (c-3), and (d) and amending Subsection
(g) to read as follows:
(c-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for the 2023-2024
school year, a classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time
school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school
nurse is entitled to a monthly salary that is at least equal to the
sum of:
(1) the monthly salary the employee would have
received for the 2023-2024 school year under the district's salary
schedule for the 2022-2023 school year, if that schedule had been in
effect for the 2023-2024 school year, including any local
supplement and any money representing a career ladder supplement
the employee would have received in the 2023-2024 school year; and
(2) $400.
(c-3) Subsection (c-2) and this subsection expire September
1, 2024.
(d) A classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time
school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school
nurse employed by a school district in the 2023-2024 school year is,
as long as the employee is employed by the same district, entitled
to a salary that is at least equal to the salary the employee
received for the 2023-2024 school year.
(g) The commissioner may adopt rules to govern the
application of this section, including rules that:
(1) require the payment of a minimum salary under this
section to a person employed in more than one capacity for which a
minimum salary is provided and whose combined employment in those
capacities constitutes full-time employment; and
(2) specify the credentials a person must hold to be
considered a [speech pathologist or] school nurse under this
section.
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 48.2521 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.2521. ADDITIONAL STATE AID FOR SALARY INCREASES FOR
CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYEES. (a) A school district, including
a school district that is otherwise ineligible for state aid under
this chapter, is entitled to state aid in an amount equal to the
product of $4,000 multiplied by the number of classroom teachers,
full-time librarians, full-time school counselors certified under
Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses employed by
the district.
(b) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
section.
SECTION 3. (a) The amount of $1 billion is appropriated
from the economic stabilization fund to the foundation school fund
for distribution by the commissioner of education during the state
fiscal biennium beginning September 1, 2023, to school districts to
provide one-time retention bonuses to district support staff.
(b) The commissioner of education shall distribute the
amount appropriated under this section to school districts on the
basis of the number of full-time district employees, other than
administrators and employees subject to the minimum salary schedule
under Section 21.402, Education Code.
(c) Each school district may use funds distributed under
this section only to increase the salary that would otherwise be
provided to district employees described by Subsection (b) of this
section.
(d) This section takes effect only if this Act is approved
by a vote of two-thirds of the members present in each house of the
legislature, as provided by Section 49-g(m), Article III, Texas
Constitution.
SECTION 4. Section 21.402(c-1), Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
school year.
SECTION 6. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.