Bill Text: TX SB508 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the development of a statewide online education and career advising tool and the establishment of a grant program to reimburse private employers for paid internships provided to certain public school students in career and technology education programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-23 - Left pending in committee [SB508 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB508-Introduced.html
86R3477 KJE-D | ||
By: Miles | S.B. No. 508 |
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relating to the development of a statewide online education and | ||
career advising tool and the establishment of a grant program to | ||
reimburse private employers for paid internships provided to | ||
certain public school students in career and technology education | ||
programs. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 28.0092 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 28.0092. ONLINE EDUCATION AND CAREER ADVISING TOOL. | ||
(a) In this section, "institution of higher education" has the | ||
meaning assigned by Section 61.003. | ||
(b) Subject to the availability of federal funding for this | ||
purpose, the agency shall develop and implement a statewide online | ||
education and career advising tool to assist children in making | ||
informed, meaningful, and attainable postsecondary and career | ||
plans. | ||
(c) The online education and career advising tool must | ||
include: | ||
(1) an individualized career pathway generator that | ||
assists a child in selecting a career and identifying the secondary | ||
and postsecondary courses the child should take to advance toward | ||
that career; and | ||
(2) information regarding: | ||
(A) any local, regional, or statewide | ||
articulation agreements regarding dual credit programs or the | ||
transfer of course credit between institutions of higher education; | ||
(B) the postsecondary and career options | ||
associated with each endorsement under Section 28.025(c-1), | ||
including the dual credit courses related to each endorsement that | ||
apply toward a certificate or degree program at an institution of | ||
higher education; | ||
(C) any stackable degree programs provided by an | ||
institution of higher education through which a student may obtain | ||
a series of credentials as the student progresses through the | ||
program; | ||
(D) existing and anticipated employment | ||
opportunities statewide and in a child's community, aligned to | ||
state and regional workforce needs; | ||
(E) anticipated earnings in various careers; | ||
(F) local, regional, and statewide career | ||
training and certification programs, including the requirements, | ||
costs, and available options for those programs; and | ||
(G) the time and cost required for and other | ||
expenses related to various postsecondary and career options. | ||
(d) In developing and implementing the online education and | ||
career advising tool, the agency shall consult with the Texas | ||
Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce | ||
Commission. On request by the agency, the coordinating board and | ||
the commission shall provide to the agency any data maintained by | ||
the coordinating board or commission that is necessary to develop | ||
the tool. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 29.194 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 29.194. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PAID INTERNSHIPS. (a) To | ||
encourage private entities to participate in providing career and | ||
technology education to assist public school students in developing | ||
the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a broad range | ||
of career opportunities, the commissioner shall establish a | ||
competitive grant program under which grants are awarded to school | ||
districts and open-enrollment charter schools for the | ||
reimbursement of private entities for all or part of the cost of | ||
providing a paid internship or similar program to a student | ||
participating in a career and technology education program in the | ||
district or school. | ||
(b) In awarding grants under this section, the commissioner | ||
shall give preference to school districts and open-enrollment | ||
charter schools that, as determined by the commissioner: | ||
(1) have a high percentage of students who fail to | ||
perform satisfactorily on relevant state assessments; and | ||
(2) serve economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. | ||
(c) To be eligible to receive reimbursement under the grant | ||
program, a paid internship or similar program must: | ||
(1) satisfy a curriculum requirement for an | ||
endorsement adopted by rule under Section 28.025(c-1), or qualify | ||
as a dual credit course; and | ||
(2) pay the student at least the minimum wage required | ||
by law. | ||
(d) The total amount of grants awarded under this section | ||
may not exceed $5 million in a state fiscal biennium. A grant | ||
awarded to a school district or open-enrollment charter school may | ||
not exceed the lesser of: | ||
(1) $1 million in a state fiscal biennium; or | ||
(2) an amount determined by the commissioner not to | ||
exceed $2,500 for each participating student enrolled in the | ||
district or school in the school year in which the grant is awarded. | ||
(e) A grant awarded to a school district or open-enrollment | ||
charter school may only be used to reimburse a private entity for | ||
all or part of the cost of providing an eligible paid internship or | ||
similar program to a student participating in a career and | ||
technology education program in the district or school. A private | ||
entity may not receive reimbursement under this section for | ||
providing a paid internship or similar program to a student who is | ||
related to the owner of the entity within the third degree of | ||
consanguinity as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573, | ||
Government Code. | ||
(f) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year, | ||
the commissioner, in cooperation with the Texas Workforce | ||
Commission, shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, | ||
and the legislature a report on the effectiveness of the grant | ||
program in creating jobs. The report must include, to the extent | ||
available: | ||
(1) the total number of paid internships or similar | ||
programs for which a private entity received reimbursement through | ||
a grant awarded under this section and the total amount of money | ||
reimbursed for those internships or programs through a grant; | ||
(2) the total number of students who completed a paid | ||
internship or similar program described by Subdivision (1) and were | ||
subsequently hired for a permanent job in this state by the private | ||
entity that offered the internship or program; | ||
(3) for the permanent jobs described by Subdivision | ||
(2): | ||
(A) the median wage of those jobs; | ||
(B) the North American Industry Classification | ||
System classification of each of those jobs; and | ||
(C) the number of those jobs that provide health | ||
benefits coverage; | ||
(4) the number of private entities that offered a paid | ||
internship or similar program described by Subdivision (1) that are | ||
historically underutilized businesses, as defined by Section | ||
2161.001, Government Code, and the total amount of money reimbursed | ||
through a grant awarded under the grant program for the internship | ||
or program; | ||
(5) demographic information on students participating | ||
in paid internships or similar programs described by Subdivision | ||
(1), including the school districts or open-enrollment charter | ||
schools in which the students are enrolled, to the extent allowed | ||
under state and federal law; and | ||
(6) an assessment of the number of eligible paid | ||
internships or similar programs that would not have been offered in | ||
the absence of a reimbursement provided through a grant and the | ||
total number of students who completed those internships or | ||
programs, including for each school year in which grants are | ||
awarded, an estimate of the number of public high school students of | ||
legal working age who were employed in this state for any period of | ||
time during that school year outside of a paid internship or similar | ||
program described by Subdivision (1). | ||
(g) The commissioner, in consultation with the Texas | ||
Workforce Commission, shall adopt rules as necessary to implement | ||
this section. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 42.005, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (g-2) to read as follows: | ||
(g-2) The time during which a student participates in a paid | ||
internship or similar program that is funded in whole or in part | ||
through a grant awarded under the grant program established by | ||
Section 29.194 shall be counted as part of the minimum number of | ||
instructional hours required for a student to be considered a | ||
full-time student in average daily attendance for purposes of this | ||
section. | ||
SECTION 4. Section 29.194, Education Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year. | ||
SECTION 5. 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, 2019. |