Bill Text: TX HB353 | 2017 | 85th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced

Texas House Bill 353 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to the salary paid to classroom teachers employed by public schools; making an appropriation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-07-31 - Referred to Appropriations [HB353 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB353-Introduced.html

	85S10815 MM-D

	By: Allen	H.B. No. 353



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the salary paid to classroom teachers employed by
	public schools; 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), (c-4), and (d) and amending
	Subsection (g) to read as follows:
	(c-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for the 2017-2018
	school year, a classroom teacher is entitled to a monthly salary
	that is at least equal to the sum of:
	(1) the monthly salary the teacher would have received
	for the 2017-2018 school year under the district's salary schedule
	for the 2016-2017 school year, if that schedule had been in effect
	for the 2017-2018 school year, including any local supplement and
	any money representing a career ladder supplement the teacher would
	have received in the 2017-2018 school year; and
	(2) the amount determined by the commissioner under
	Subsection (c-3), not to exceed $100.
	(c-3) The commissioner, in collaboration with
	representatives from school districts and using publicly available
	data, shall determine a cost-of-living adjustment for classroom
	teacher salaries based on any change in the average cost of living
	since the most recent state-funded pay raise for classroom
	teachers.
	(c-4) Subsections (c-2), (c-3), and this subsection expire
	September 1, 2018.
	(d) A classroom teacher employed by a school district in the
	2017-2018 school year is, as long as the teacher is employed by the
	same district, entitled to a salary that is at least equal to the
	salary the teacher received for the 2017-2018 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. Section 42.2513(a), Education Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(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 sum of:
	(1) the product of $500 multiplied by the number of
	full-time district employees, other than administrators or
	employees subject to the minimum salary schedule under Section
	21.402; [~~and~~]
	(2) the product of the annual raise provided as a
	result of Section 21.402(c-2), as added by __.B. ____, Acts of the
	85th Legislature, 1st Called Session, 2017, multiplied by the
	number of classroom teachers employed by the district; and
	(3) the product of $250 multiplied by the number of
	part-time district employees, other than administrators.
	SECTION 3. 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, 2017, to school districts to
	provide classroom teacher salary increases as provided by Section
	42.2513, Education Code, as amended by this Act.
	SECTION 4. Section 21.402(c-1), Education Code, is
	repealed.
	SECTION 5. (a) Subject to Subsection (b) of this section:
	(1) 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; and
	(2) if this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
	immediate effect, this Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
	last day of the legislative session.
	(b) This Act takes effect only if it receives 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.