By: Kolkhorst  S.B. No. 925
         (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2015; March 9, 2015, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 20, 2015,
  reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
  following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 20, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 925 By:  Kolkhorst
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to providing training academies for public school teachers
  who provide reading instruction to students in kindergarten through
  grade five.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter J, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 21.4552 to read as follows:
         Sec. 21.4552.  TEACHER LITERACY ACHIEVEMENT ACADEMIES.
  (a)  The commissioner shall develop and make available literacy
  achievement academies for teachers who provide:
               (1)  reading instruction to students at the
  kindergarten or first, second, or third grade level; and
               (2)  reading comprehension instruction to students at
  the fourth or fifth grade level.
         (b)  A literacy achievement academy developed under this
  section:
               (1)  must include training in:
                     (A)  effective and systematic instructional
  practices in reading, including phonemic awareness, phonics,
  fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; and
                     (B)  the use of empirically validated
  instructional methods that are appropriate for struggling readers;
  and
               (2)  may include training in effective instructional
  practices in writing.
         (c)  The commissioner shall adopt criteria for selecting
  teachers who may attend a literacy achievement academy. In
  adopting selection criteria under this subsection, the
  commissioner shall require granting a priority to teachers employed
  by a school district at a campus at which 50 percent or more of the
  students enrolled are educationally disadvantaged.
         (d)  From funds appropriated for that purpose, a teacher who
  attends a literacy achievement academy is entitled to receive a
  stipend in the amount determined by the commissioner.  A stipend
  received under this subsection is not considered in determining
  whether a school district is paying the teacher the minimum monthly
  salary under Section 21.402.
         (e)  On request of the commissioner, regional education
  service centers shall assist the commissioner and agency with
  training and other activities relating to the development and
  operation of literacy achievement academies.
         SECTION 2.  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, 2015.
 
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