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The 80th regular session of the Texas Legislature has ended. While TCTA was very successful in getting beneficial bills passed and defeating bad legislation, some important issues were neglected or inadequately addressed. The following is only a fragment of the issues addressed during the session; be sure to check out the Politics and Government section of the TCTA website for more information.
At the time this publication went to print, many of these bills were awaiting consideration by the governor, unless otherwise noted. Any bills not signed or vetoed by June 17th became law without his signature.

TCTA Victories

Legislation we initiated and successfully lobbied through the process

HB 973 by Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands): Ensures that a person who resigns at the end of the school year is entitled to health insurance coverage and funding throughout the remainder of the contract year. HB 973 was signed by the governor and goes into effect Sept. 1, 2007.

HB 1622 by Rep. Dianne Delisi (R-Temple): Provides that district grievance policies must allow an employee to report a grievance against a supervisor alleging the supervisor’s violation of law to a different supervisor. HB 1622 has been signed by the governor and goes into effect Sept. 1, 2007.

SB 135 by Sen. Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio): Provides that a school district’s employment policy cannot restrict an employee from communicating directly with a school board member on a matter relating to the district’s operations. SB 135 was signed into law on April 23, 2007, and went into effect immediately.

SB 370 by Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano): Provides that a school district or district policy may not require an employee to assume liability for an act for which the employee is immune, or require an employee to pay for or replace property that was in the employee’s possession due to an act within the scope of the employee’s position. It also specifies that a school board may not require an employee to pay for electronic textbooks or technological equipment that is damaged, stolen, misplaced or not returned. SB 370 has been signed by the governor and went into effect immediately.

SB 1039 by Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville): Ensures that return-to-work retirees who are required to work days in June (but no later than June 15) because of the later start date that begins next school year will still be able to receive a pension check in June. Also provides that if a rehired retiree is required to attend a staff development activity in June or July, that time is not counted as “work” that would potentially endanger the June or July check.

TRS contribution rates and 13th check for retirees: TCTA-initiated HB 468, by Rep. Larry Phillips (R-Sherman), was the first bill of the session to propose the 13th check benefit increase for retirees. Ultimately, authorization of the 13th check was included in SB 1846.

Limitations on field testing: TCTA’s bill limiting field testing of standardized assessment instruments on a particular campus to no more than once every four years did not pass, but the concept was included in the bill that replaces high school TAKS testing with end-of-course exams. In that bill, SB 1031, field testing is limited to no more than once every other year.

Exemption from return-to-work surcharge for many retirees: TCTA’s bill to grandfather employees who retired on or before Aug. 31, 2005, from the TRS surcharges that districts must pay for rehired retirees did not receive a hearing, but the provision was included in SB 1846, a major TRS bill, and remained in that bill throughout the process.

Disclosure of health insurance information: A TCTA-initiated amendment to the Sunset bill requires that the information districts send to TRS regarding their health plans must be posted on the TRS website (though TRS will no longer certify comparability) and districts must make available their health insurance policies on their websites or at each campus.

TCTA TO THE RESCUE
In response to emerging events, TCTA was able to react quickly and get the following legislation changed to benefit educators:

SB 1067 by Sen. Shapiro: This bill tightens notification requirements regarding potentially dangerous students, and requires placement in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) or juvenile justice alternative education program (JJAEP) of a student who is a registered sex offender. SB 1067 was attached as an amendment to SB 6 and HB 2532, both of which passed.

Confidentiality of teacher certification exam scores: When a Houston TV station released the certification scores of thousands of area teachers in May with little time left in the legislative session, TCTA quickly responded by proposing language to address the problem and getting it inserted in SB 9, the bill strengthening criminal background checks of school employees. Language insisted upon by the Senate limits the confidentiality to the first five takes of the same exam; scores on subsequent exams will not be confidential.

Other Major Issues

Employee salaries
The state budget includes additional funding to districts for the purpose of increasing educator salaries. The amount works out to around $450 per teacher annually, or $425 for employees subject to the state minimum salary schedule (teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians). However, there is no requirement that the increase be an across-the-board raise, no specification regarding which categories of employees are eligible, and no prohibition on districts using the funding to subsidize an already-planned raise. The state minimum salary schedule will increase slightly due to the additional funding.

TCTA language that would have increased compensation for instructional aides by requiring that districts pay aides at least one-half the amount paid to a classroom teacher with the same years of experience was never scheduled for a hearing. It is possible that the funding provided to districts for increased educator salaries could be used to benefit instructional aides.

TRS issues
SB 1846 was designed to provide a 13th check benefit increase for retirees, and authorized an increase in the active member TRS contribution rate to 6.58% (from the current 6.4%). It includes an increase in the state contribution rate to 6.58%. It is our understanding that TRS intends to wait for the Aug. 31, 2007, valuation of the fund and use the new figures to determine whether the 13th check is affordable and whether an increase in the active member contribution is necessary. If affordable under the new figures (with or without an increased active member contribution), retirees could expect their 13th check in December or January. SB 1846 also includes a provision that will eliminate the surcharge that districts must pay for return-to-work retirees who retired on or before Aug. 31, 2007.

Student testing/end-of-course (EOC) exams
SB 1031 replaces high school TAKS tests with 12 end-of-course exams in core curriculum courses, beginning with 9th grade students in the 2011-12 school year. See page 8 for more details.

Criminal history checks
SB 9 strengthens the laws requiring criminal background checks of school employees. All school employees will be required to submit fingerprints for a national criminal history background check. Anyone who has been convicted of a felony or an offense involving a child that requires registration as a sex offender may not be employed at a public school. An exemption is provided for offenses occurring more than 30 years ago, if the terms of the court order were satisfied. A teacher’s virtual certificate will be “flagged” if the state receives a report of misconduct that presents a risk to students. At TCTA’s request, a provision was included in SB 9 to ensure that certification exam results are confidential; additional Senate language limits confidentiality to the first five attempts of a given exam.

Prominent bills that did not pass

Linking student test scores to individual teachers
TCTA members received several action alerts regarding SB 1643, a bill that would have made student performance, including standardized test scores, a significant factor in appraising teachers. A bill restructuring the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) would have required reporting of student performance tied to individual teachers. Thanks to considerable effort by TCTA and by educators who contacted their legislators on this issue, neither bill passed.

Allowing districts to avoid pass-through salary increases
A bill that would have allowed districts using minimum hiring schedules to avoid providing the full amount of state-funded pay raises did not pass.

Posted: 06/12/07