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