Summaries of Legislative Decisions from the 86th Legislative Session

Legislative Session: 86(R) Effective: 5-24-19

House Bill 3217 Senate Sponsor: Paxton et al.

House Author: Ashby et al.

House Bill 3217 amends the Education Code to remove a specification that excludes education as
the major of a bachelor's degree required by the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) for certain
teaching certificates and to remove a limitation on the number of semester credit hours of education
courses at the baccalaureate level the SBEC may require for the granting of a teaching certificate. The
bill changes a certification requirement for a minimum number of semester credit hours of internship to
require either field‑based experience or internship.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB3217

Legislative Session: 86(R)

Effective: 6-14-19
House Bill 2424
Senate Sponsor: Fallon
House Author: Ashby

House Bill 2424 amends the Education Code to require the State Board for Educator Certification
to propose rules establishing a program to issue micro‑credentials in appropriate fields of study that
fulfil continuing education requirements for educators. The bill requires the Texas Education Agency
(TEA) to approve continuing education providers to offer micro‑credential courses and provides for the
recording of a micro‑credential received by an educator. Implementation of a provision of this bill by
TEA is mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB2424

Legislative Session: 86(R)

Effective: 12-1-19
House Bill 18
Senate Sponsor: Watson et al.
House Author: Price et al.

House Bill 18 amends the Education Code and Health and Safety Code to set out provisions
relating to the mental health of public school students. Among other provisions, the bill provides for
implementation of best practice‑based programs and research‑based practices regarding mental health
promotion and intervention, substance abuse prevention and intervention, and suicide prevention in
public schools. The bill revises provisions relating to continuing education requirements for a classroom
teacher, a principal, and a school counselor and provisions relating to the authorized and required
components for staff development training provided by a public school district to an educator other
than a principal. The bill includes an emphasis on mental health, including certain associated instruction,
as an additional requirement for a district's health enrichment curriculum and requires the State Board
of Education to adopt essential knowledge and skills for the health enrichment curriculum that address
specified matters related to substance abuse, including the use of illegal drugs, abuse of prescription
drugs, abuse of alcohol, and other forms of substance abuse. The bill requires the Texas Education
Agency (TEA) to compile evidence‑based substance abuse awareness programs for use by a district in
the district's health enrichment curriculum and changes the method for determining the effectiveness of
such a program.

House Bill 18 renames each school's developmental guidance and counseling program as the
comprehensive school counseling program and provides for certain requirements relating to such a
program. The bill authorizes a district to employ or contract with one or more nonphysician mental
health professionals. The bill expands the scope of coordinated health programs that TEA is required to
make available to each district, revises the required recommendations composing part of the duties of a
local school health advisory council, and provides for the publication of certain statements relating to
district policies and procedures to promote student physical and mental health and regarding whether
each campus employs a full‑time nurse or full‑time counselor in the student handbook and for the
posting of those statements on the district's website. The bill provides for TEA‑developed guidelines for
school districts regarding partnerships with certain mental health providers and regarding obtaining
mental health services through Medicaid, a school‑based health center at an open-enrollment charter
school, and a local health education and health care advisory council established by the governing body
of such a school. The bill requires the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and TEA to make
information about the mental health first aid program available on their respective websites. The bill
revises provisions relating to a local mental health authority's annual report to HHSC and the HHSC
report to the legislature.

House Bill 18 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to make conforming changes.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB18

Legislative Session: 86(R)

House Bill 3 Effective: See below

House Author: Huberty et al. Senate Sponsor: Taylor et al.

House Bill 3 amends the Education Code, Government Code, Human Resources Code, Insurance
Code, Penal Code, and Tax Code to revise the public school finance system and to make other changes
relating to public education, property tax compression, and the enforcement of certain conduct
standards for employees of public schools and related entities. Except as otherwise provided, the bill's
provisions are effective September 1, 2019.
Public School Finance and Property Tax Compression

House Bill 3 changes the order in which funds are applied to finance the foundation school program by
requiring state available school funds to be applied first. Effective January 1, 2020, the bill creates the
tax reduction and excellence in education fund, which consists of certain dedicated funding sources and
is to be used to pay the cost of tier one allotments or to reduce district maintenance and operation
(M&O) tax rates.

House Bill 3 increases the basic allotment and requires a district, for any year in which the basic
allotment is increased, to use a certain portion of the increase to increase compensation to full‑time
employees other than administrators.

House Bill 3 makes changes to various student‑based allotments and other funding elements. Among
other provisions, the bill:

· eliminates the gifted and talented student allotment, the high school allotment, and the small and
mid‑sized district and cost of education adjustments to the basic allotment;

· creates the following:

o a small and mid-sized district allotment;

o a funding incentive for districts or charter schools offering certain additional instructional days;

o an allotment for certain special‑purpose school districts;

o a dyslexia allotment;

o an early education allotment for students who are educationally disadvantaged or of limited English
proficiency;

o a college, career, or military readiness outcomes bonus;

o a fast growth allotment;

o a teacher incentive allotment to attract teachers to high needs and rural district campuses;

o a mentor program allotment for mentoring new classroom teachers; and

o a dropout recovery school and residential placement facility allotment;

· revises the special education allotment and compensatory education allotment, requires the
establishment of an associated advisory committee for each of those allotments effective June 12, 2019,
and requires the commissioner of education to reallocate certain funds, if necessary, to maintain the
federally mandated level of state support for special education; and

· revises the bilingual, career and technology education, transportation, and new instructional
facility allotments.

House Bill 3 sets the state compression percentage initially at 93 percent. Effective September 1, 2020,
the bill redefines the state compression percentage as the percentage of the rate of $1.00 per $100
valuation of taxable property that is used to determine a district's maximum compressed tax rate and
provides a method for calculating that percentage.

House Bill 3 sets the maximum maintenance tax rate per $100 of taxable value that may be adopted by
a district as the sum of $0.17 and the district's maximum compressed tax rate. The bill sets a district's
tier one M&O tax rate at the number of cents levied by the district for M&O purposes that does not
exceed the district's maximum compressed tax rate and establishes that a district's enrichment tax rate
consists of the following components:

· the first eight cents of additional M&O tax effort that exceeds the district's tier one M&O tax rate;
and

· any cents of additional M&O tax effort that exceeds the sum of the district's tier one M&O tax rate
and those first eight cents.
House Bill 3 prohibits a district from increasing its maintenance tax rate to create a revenue surplus for
the purpose of paying the district's debt service and provides for the enforcement of this prohibition.
Effective January 1, 2020, the bill requires a district board of trustees to conduct an efficiency audit
before seeking voter approval to adopt an M&O tax rate. Effective September 1, 2020, the bill provides
for a new method of calculating a district's maximum compressed tax rate and establishes a limitation
mechanism under which one district's maximum compressed rate may not differ from another district's
rate by more than 10 percent.

House Bill 3 revises the basis for calculating a district's tier two allotment as follows:

· converts the first two copper pennies to golden pennies so that there are eight golden pennies and
nine copper pennies;

· removes language linking the golden penny yield to the tax revenue of the Austin Independent
School District and sets the yield instead as 160 percent of the basic allotment, with a floor of the 96th
percentile of wealth; and

· changes the copper penny yield from $31.95 to 80 percent of the basic allotment.

House Bill 3 repeals provisions relating to the equalized wealth level for purposes of state funding
recapture and sets out provisions relating to the local revenue level in excess of entitlement for the
same purposes. The bill establishes the nature and cost of the purchase of attendance credit for
recapture purposes in terms of a dollar amount and eliminates the early agreement credit.

House Bill 3 requires an employing district or charter school to pay the state's contribution to the
Teacher Retirement System of Texas on the portion of a qualifying member's salary that exceeds the
statutory minimum salary.

House Bill 3 revises provisions relating to a district's rollback tax rate, renamed as the voter‑approval tax
rate, including requirements for associated ballot language and election dates, the standard calculation
method, and certain alternate methods. Effective September 1, 2020, the bill simplifies the standard
calculation method.
House Bill 3 revises the applicability of certain foundation school program adjustments and allotments
to an open‑enrollment charter school. The bill revises and repeals certain provisions relating to the
funding effects of a district's disaster remediation costs. The bill repeals provisions relating to certain
school facilities standards, provisions relating to certain special‑purpose elements of state funding, and
provisions requiring the Legislative Budget Board to adopt rules for the calculation of certain equalized
funding elements and establishing a related reporting requirement.

Public Education

House Bill 3 requires each public school district and open‑enrollment charter school to adopt five‑year
early childhood literacy and math proficiency plans that set quantifiable per‑campus performance goals.
The bill sets out requirements regarding reading standards in kindergarten through third grade,
including phonics instruction, certain educator training and strategic teacher placement, and the
integration of reading diagnostic tests. The bill revises requirements for the adoption of certain such
tests and requires a person seeking educator certification to teach prekindergarten through grade six to
demonstrate proficiency in the science of teaching reading.

House Bill 3 requires free full‑day prekindergarten classes to be offered for eligible children age four and
older and makes compliance with high quality prekindergarten standards mandatory. The bill eliminates
the high‑quality prekindergarten grant program and sets out further requirements and conditions
relating to prekindergarten provision.

House Bill 3 requires each district and charter school to adopt five‑year college, career, and military
readiness plans that set quantifiable per‑campus performance goals. The bill requires each public high
school student to submit a free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) or a Texas application for
state financial aid (TASFA) before graduating and provides for certain opt‑out procedures. The bill
establishes a grant program to support summer career and technology education, a blended learning
grant program, and a high school equivalency examination subsidy program.

House Bill 3 authorizes district‑level adoption of local optional teacher designation systems, which may
be based on a state‑recommended appraisal process and performance criteria or on a locally developed
and adopted process and criteria. The bill provides for a memorandum of understanding between the
commissioner of education and Texas Tech University for purposes of monitoring the quality and
fairness of the teacher designation systems. The bill eliminates the previous subject‑specific master
teacher certifications and related grant programs. The bill revises provisions relating to a district's
assignment of a mentor teacher to a classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching
experience.
House Bill 3 requires a district to annually certify its provision of a gifted and talented program and
provides for a reduction in state funding for a noncompliant district. The bill requires a study of the
statewide standardized tests administered to students in grades three through eight with regard to the
appropriateness of each test's reading level and the extent to which test content aligns with state
curriculum standards.

House Bill 3 establishes various reporting requirements and certain advisory committees. The bill's
provisions relating to public education matters other than finance and employee misconduct are
effective June 12, 2019.

Certain Misconduct of Employees or Prospective Employees of Public Educational Entities

House Bill 3 sets out provisions regarding employing, terminating, and reporting misconduct of public
school and related entity personnel. Among other provisions, the bill requires TEA to create a
do‑not‑hire registry of persons ineligible for employment by public schools and other applicable entities.
Certain information obtained by a district or TEA through required criminal history record reviews or
through notification of certain State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) disciplinary measures
triggers a person's inclusion on the registry. The bill requires the SBEC and TEA to develop and maintain
Internet portals for electronic filing of required reports regarding educators and noncertified staff,
respectively, and requires the TEA portal to provide access to the registry. The bill harmonizes the
requirements that apply to various types of educational entities and establishes penalties for
noncompliant charter entities and districts of innovation. Implementation of these provisions by TEA or
the SBEC is mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose.

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/BillSummary.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB3