82R1443 PAM-D
	By: Martinez	H.B. No. 61

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the salary paid to certain professional employees of
	public schools.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 21.402(a), (b), and (d), Education
	Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), (e), or (f), a
	school district must pay each classroom teacher, full-time
	librarian, full-time counselor certified under Subchapter B, or
	full-time school nurse not less than the minimum monthly salary[,
	based on the employee's level of experience in addition to other
	factors, as determined by commissioner rule,] determined as
	provided by Subsection (b). [the following formula:
	[MS = SF x FS
	[where:
	["MS" is the minimum monthly salary;
	["SF" is the applicable salary factor specified by Subsection
	(c); and
	["FS" is the amount, as determined by the commissioner under
	Subsection (b), of state and local funds per weighted student,
	including funds provided under Section 42.2516, available to a
	district eligible to receive state assistance under Section 42.302
	with a maintenance and operations tax rate per $100 of taxable value
	equal to the product of the state compression percentage, as
	determined under Section 42.2516, multiplied by $1.50, except that
	the amount of state and local funds per weighted student does not
	include the amount attributable to the increase in the guaranteed
	level made by Chapter 1187, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
	Session, 2001.]
	(b)  The commissioner shall adopt rules to establish a method
	for annually setting a salary schedule for classroom teachers,
	full-time librarians, full-time counselors certified under
	Subchapter B, and full-time school nurses based on the employee's
	level of experience. The commissioner's method must provide a
	salary level for each year of experience from 0 years through 20
	years. The commissioner shall ensure that the salary schedule is
	consistent with the national average salary, based on experience,
	for those employees as determined by statistics gathered by the
	National Center for Education Statistics or a similar independent
	education-oriented institution. Not later than June 1 of each year,
	the commissioner shall determine, based on the salary schedule, the
	minimum monthly salary for each classroom teacher, full-time
	librarian, full-time counselor certified under Subchapter B, and
	full-time nurse [the amount of state and local funds per weighted
	student available, for purposes of Subsection (a), to a district
	described by that subsection] for the following school year.
	(d)  A classroom teacher, full-time speech pathologist,
	full-time librarian, full-time counselor certified under
	Subchapter B, or full-time school nurse employed by a school
	district in the 2011-2012 [2010-2011] school year is, as long as the
	employee is employed by the same district, entitled to a salary that
	is at least equal to the salary the employee received for the
	2011-2012 [2010-2011] school year.
	SECTION 2.  Section 21.403(a), Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a)  A teacher, librarian, counselor, or nurse shall advance
	one level [step] on the minimum salary schedule established by
	commissioner rule under Section 21.402 for each year of experience
	as a teacher, librarian, counselor, or nurse until level [step] 20
	is reached.
	SECTION 3.  Section 42.2516, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
	(e-1)  The amount of state aid or credit to which a school
	district is entitled under Section 42.2518 is in addition to the
	amount of revenue to which the district is entitled under
	Subsection (b).
	SECTION 4.  Subchapter E, Chapter 42, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 42.2518 to read as follows:
	Sec. 42.2518.  ADDITIONAL STATE AID OR CREDIT AGAINST COST
	OF ATTENDANCE CREDITS FOR PROFESSIONAL STAFF SALARIES. (a) For
	each school year, a school district, including a school district
	that is otherwise ineligible for state aid under this chapter, is
	entitled to state aid in an amount, as determined by the
	commissioner, equal to the difference between the district's salary
	cost under Section 21.402, as amended by __.B. ___, Acts of the 82nd
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2011, for all classroom teachers,
	full-time librarians, full-time counselors certified under
	Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses employed by
	the district and an amount equal to what the district's salary costs
	would have been for that school year under Section 21.402, as it
	existed before amendment by __.B. ___, Acts of the 82nd
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2011.
	(b)  A school district that is required to take action under
	Chapter 41 to reduce its wealth per student to the equalized wealth
	level is entitled to a credit, in the amount of state aid to which
	the district is entitled under this section, against the total
	amount required under Section 41.093 for the district to purchase
	attendance credits.
	(c)  A determination by the commissioner under this section
	is final and may not be appealed.
	(d)  The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
	section.
	SECTION 5.  Section 21.402(c), Education Code, is repealed.
	SECTION 6.  Not later than January 1, 2012, the commissioner
	of education shall adopt rules to establish a method for annually
	setting a salary schedule as provided by Section 21.402(b),
	Education Code, as amended by this Act.
	SECTION 7.  This Act applies beginning with the 2012-2013
	school year.
	SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.