Pub Ed Committee considers bills on salaries, school start dates, and more

Two of the House priority education bills were heard in the House Public Education Committee hearing Tuesday, along with a number of other bills including one to revise the school start date laws. The bills were all left pending.

• HB 11 by Rep. Harold Dutton includes some of the recommendations of the Teacher Vacancy Task Force, such as a "Texas Teacher Residency Partnership Program" designed to provide a path to teacher certification in partnership with school districts that includes more field-based experience. While some provisions of the bill are positive, TCTA testified regarding our concerns about inadequate provisions to address teachers' additional duties; our opposition to the proposed removal of State Board of Education oversight of State Board for Educator Certification rules; and our concern about expansion of the Teacher Incentive Allotment.
• HB 100 by Rep. Ken King includes the House's proposal to address educator salaries and other funding issues. Proposed changes to the minimum salary schedule are complicated, rely in part on participation in the Teacher Incentive Allotment program, and unlike the current 21-step schedule would max out minimum salaries at 10 years of experience. Rep. King noted that the bill is a work in progress so it could undergo significant changes before it is voted out of committee. Click here to see TCTA's written testimony.
• HB 2546 by Rep. Will Metcalf would change the school start date, in an effort to help the tourism industry that has struggled with earlier and inconsistent school openings. The bill would eliminate the ability of districts of innovation of exempt themselves from the school start date law (921 out of 936 DOIs have done so), but would allow DOIs to start no earlier than the 3rd Wednesday in August (current law is the fourth Monday in August).