Bill Text: TX SB1703 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to continuing education for public school counselors and the provision of postsecondary counseling by certain counselors at public schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-26 - Referred to Education [SB1703 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB1703-Introduced.html
  87R11351 ANG-F
 
  By: Blanco S.B. No. 1703
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to continuing education for public school counselors and
  the provision of postsecondary counseling by certain counselors at
  public schools.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 21.054(f), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (f)  Continuing education requirements for a counselor must
  provide that at least 25 percent of training required every five
  years include instruction regarding:
               (1)  assisting students in developing high school
  graduation plans;
               (2)  implementing dropout prevention strategies;
               (3)  informing students concerning:
                     (A)  college admissions, including college
  financial aid resources and application procedures; and
                     (B)  career opportunities, including the
  possibilities for local and regional employment;
               (4)  counseling students concerning mental health
  conditions and substance abuse, including through the use of
  grief-informed and trauma-informed interventions and crisis
  management and suicide prevention strategies; [and]
               (5)  effective implementation of a comprehensive
  school counseling program under Section 33.005;
               (6)  implicit bias related to race and socioeconomic
  status, including the historical tracking process by which students
  of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds were placed on
  certain academic tracks based on their perceived abilities,
  interests, and expected career paths; and
               (7)  methods for effectively integrating college,
  career, and military readiness data into student advising.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 33.007(a), (b), and (c), Education
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Each school counselor designated as a college readiness
  counselor at an elementary, middle, or junior high school,
  including an open-enrollment charter school offering those grades,
  shall advise students and their parents or guardians regarding the
  importance of postsecondary education, coursework designed to
  prepare students for postsecondary education, and financial aid
  availability and requirements.
         (b)  During the first school year a student is enrolled in a
  high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment
  charter school, and again during each year of a student's
  enrollment in high school or at the high school level, a school
  counselor designated as a college readiness counselor shall provide
  information about postsecondary education to the student and the
  student's parent or guardian. The information must include
  information regarding:
               (1)  the importance of postsecondary education;
               (2)  the advantages of earning an endorsement and a
  performance acknowledgment and completing the distinguished level
  of achievement under the foundation high school program under
  Section 28.025;
               (3)  the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for
  a high school equivalency examination relative to the benefits of
  taking courses leading to a high school diploma;
               (4)  financial aid eligibility;
               (5)  instruction on how to apply for federal financial
  aid;
               (6)  the center for financial aid information
  established under Section 61.0776;
               (7)  the automatic admission of certain students to
  general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section
  51.803;
               (8)  the eligibility and academic performance
  requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M,
  Chapter 56;
               (9)  the availability of programs in the district under
  which a student may earn college credit, including advanced
  placement programs, dual credit programs, joint high school and
  college credit programs, and international baccalaureate programs;
               (10)  the availability of education and training
  vouchers and tuition and fee waivers to attend an institution of
  higher education as provided by Section 54.366 for a student who is
  or was previously in the conservatorship of the Department of
  Family and Protective Services; and
               (11)  the availability of college credit awarded by
  institutions of higher education to veterans and military
  servicemembers for military experience, education, and training
  obtained during military service as described by the informational
  materials developed under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code.
         (c)  At the beginning of grades 10 and 11, a school counselor
  certified under the rules of the State Board for Educator
  Certification and designated as a college readiness counselor shall
  explain the requirements of automatic admission to a general
  academic teaching institution under Section 51.803 to each student
  enrolled in a high school or at the high school level in an
  open-enrollment charter school who has a grade point average in the
  top 25 percent of the student's high school class.
         SECTION 3.  This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
  school year.
         SECTION 4.  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.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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