89R11460 PRL-D
By: Dutton H.B. No. 2780
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Texas Teacher Residency Partnership
Program and a residency partnership allotment under the Foundation
School Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter R to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER R. TEXAS TEACHER RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM
Sec. 21.821. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Board" means the State Board for Educator
Certification.
(2) "Mentor teacher" means a classroom teacher who:
(A) meets the qualifications for assignment as a
mentor under Section 21.458; and
(B) is employed by a school district or
open-enrollment charter school participating in a partnership
program under this subchapter and paired with a partnership
resident at the district or school.
(3) "Partnership program" means a Texas Teacher
Residency Partnership Program established at a school district or
open-enrollment charter school in accordance with this subchapter.
(4) "Partnership resident" means a person enrolled in
a qualified educator preparation program participating in a
partnership program as a candidate for educator certification.
(5) "Qualified educator preparation program" means an
educator preparation program approved in accordance with rules
proposed under Section 21.823.
Sec. 21.822. ESTABLISHMENT OF PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. (a)
The commissioner shall establish the Texas Teacher Residency
Partnership Program to enable qualified educator preparation
programs to form partnerships with school districts or
open-enrollment charter schools to provide residency positions to
partnership residents at the district or school.
(b) The partnership program must be designed to:
(1) allow partnership residents to receive
field-based experience working with classroom teachers in
prekindergarten through grade 12 classrooms; and
(2) gradually increase the amount of time a
partnership resident spends engaging in instructional
responsibilities, including observation, co-teaching, and
lead-teaching responsibilities.
Sec. 21.823. QUALIFIED EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS. The
board shall propose rules specifying the requirements for board
approval of an educator preparation program as a qualified educator
preparation program for purposes of this subchapter. The rules
must require an educator preparation program to:
(1) use research-based best practices for recruiting
and admitting candidates into the educator preparation program to
participate in the partnership program;
(2) integrate curriculum, classroom practice, and
formal observation and feedback;
(3) use multiple assessments to measure a partnership
resident's progress in the partnership program; and
(4) ensure a school district or open-enrollment
charter school with which an educator preparation program partners
under this subchapter meets the requirements for participating
districts and schools under Section 21.824.
Sec. 21.824. REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING DISTRICTS AND
SCHOOLS. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
participating in the partnership program shall:
(1) enter into a written agreement with a qualified
educator preparation program to:
(A) provide a partnership resident with at least
one school year of clinical teaching in a residency position at the
district or school in the subject area and grade level for which the
resident seeks certification; and
(B) pair the partnership resident with a mentor
teacher;
(2) use money received under Section 48.157 only to:
(A) implement the partnership program; and
(B) provide compensation to:
(i) partnership residents in residency
positions at the district or school; and
(ii) mentor teachers who are paired with
partnership residents at the district or school;
(3) pay at least 50 percent of the compensation paid to
partnership residents using money other than money received under
Section 48.157; and
(4) provide any information required by the agency
regarding the district's or school's implementation of the
partnership program.
(b) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
pair a partnership resident only with a mentor teacher who agrees to
participate in that role in a partnership program at the district or
school partnership program.
(c) A partnership resident may not serve as a teacher of
record, as that term is defined by Section 21.051.
Sec. 21.825. RESIDENCY EDUCATOR CERTIFICATE. The board
shall propose rules specifying the requirements for the issuance of
a residency educator certificate to a partnership resident who has
successfully completed a qualified educator preparation program
under Section 21.823. The rules may not require the partnership
resident to pass a pedagogy examination unless the examination
tests subject-specific content appropriate for the grade and
subject area for which the partnership resident seeks
certification.
Sec. 21.826. AGENCY SUPPORT. The agency shall provide
technical assistance, planning, and support to school districts,
open-enrollment charter schools, and qualified educator
preparation programs, which must include:
(1) providing model forms and agreements a district,
school, or educator preparation program may use to comply with the
requirements of this subchapter; and
(2) support for district and school strategic staffing
and compensation models to incentivize participation in a
partnership program.
Sec. 21.827. AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT CERTAIN FUNDS. The
commissioner may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and donations
from public and private entities to use for the purposes of this
subchapter.
Sec. 21.828. RULES. (a) The board shall propose rules
necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules under
Sections 21.823 and 21.825.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
implement this subchapter.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 48, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 48.157 to read as follows:
Sec. 48.157. RESIDENCY PARTNERSHIP ALLOTMENT. (a) In this
section, "partnership program" and "partnership resident" have the
meanings assigned by Section 21.821.
(b) For each partnership resident employed at a district in
a residency position under Subchapter R, Chapter 21, the district
is entitled to an allotment equal to a base amount of $22,000
increased by the high needs and rural factor, as determined under
Subsection (c), to an amount not to exceed $42,000.
(c) The high needs and rural factor is determined by
multiplying $5,000 by the lesser of:
(1) the average of the point value assigned to each
student at a district campus under Sections 48.112(e) and (f); or
(2) 4.0.
(d) In addition to the funding under Subsection (b), a
district that qualifies for an allotment under this section is
entitled to an additional $2,000 for each partnership resident
employed in a residency position at the district who is a candidate
for special education certification.
(e) The Texas School for the Deaf and the Texas School for
the Blind and Visually Impaired are entitled to an allotment under
this section. If the commissioner determines that assigning point
values under Subsection (c) to students enrolled in the Texas
School for the Deaf or the Texas School for the Blind and Visually
Impaired is impractical, the commissioner may use the average point
value assigned for those students' home districts for purposes of
calculating the high needs and rural factor.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Q, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
this section, this Act takes effect immediately if this Act
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, the entirety of this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
(b) Section 48.157, Education Code, as added by this Act,
takes effect September 1, 2025.