Bill Text: TX SB1703 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to continuing education for public school counselors and the provision of postsecondary counseling by certain counselors at public schools.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-26 - Referred to Education [SB1703 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB1703-Introduced.html

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87R11351 ANG-F
By: Blanco S.B. No. 1703

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to continuing education for public school counselors and
the provision of postsecondary counseling by certain counselors at
public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.054(f), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(f) Continuing education requirements for a counselor must
provide that at least 25 percent of training required every five
years include instruction regarding:
(1) assisting students in developing high school
graduation plans;
(2) implementing dropout prevention strategies;
(3) informing students concerning:
(A) college admissions, including college
financial aid resources and application procedures; and
(B) career opportunities, including the
possibilities for local and regional employment;
(4) counseling students concerning mental health
conditions and substance abuse, including through the use of
grief-informed and trauma-informed interventions and crisis
management and suicide prevention strategies; [and]
(5) effective implementation of a comprehensive
school counseling program under Section 33.005;
(6) implicit bias related to race and socioeconomic
status, including the historical tracking process by which students
of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds were placed on
certain academic tracks based on their perceived abilities,
interests, and expected career paths; and
(7) methods for effectively integrating college,
career, and military readiness data into student advising.
SECTION 2. Sections 33.007(a), (b), and (c), Education
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Each school counselor designated as a college readiness
counselor at an elementary, middle, or junior high school,
including an open-enrollment charter school offering those grades,
shall advise students and their parents or guardians regarding the
importance of postsecondary education, coursework designed to
prepare students for postsecondary education, and financial aid
availability and requirements.
(b) During the first school year a student is enrolled in a
high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment
charter school, and again during each year of a student's
enrollment in high school or at the high school level, a school
counselor designated as a college readiness counselor shall provide
information about postsecondary education to the student and the
student's parent or guardian. The information must include
information regarding:
(1) the importance of postsecondary education;
(2) the advantages of earning an endorsement and a
performance acknowledgment and completing the distinguished level
of achievement under the foundation high school program under
Section 28.025;
(3) the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for
a high school equivalency examination relative to the benefits of
taking courses leading to a high school diploma;
(4) financial aid eligibility;
(5) instruction on how to apply for federal financial
aid;
(6) the center for financial aid information
established under Section 61.0776;
(7) the automatic admission of certain students to
general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section
51.803;
(8) the eligibility and academic performance
requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M,
Chapter 56;
(9) the availability of programs in the district under
which a student may earn college credit, including advanced
placement programs, dual credit programs, joint high school and
college credit programs, and international baccalaureate programs;
(10) the availability of education and training
vouchers and tuition and fee waivers to attend an institution of
higher education as provided by Section 54.366 for a student who is
or was previously in the conservatorship of the Department of
Family and Protective Services; and
(11) the availability of college credit awarded by
institutions of higher education to veterans and military
servicemembers for military experience, education, and training
obtained during military service as described by the informational
materials developed under Section 302.0031(h), Labor Code.
(c) At the beginning of grades 10 and 11, a school counselor
certified under the rules of the State Board for Educator
Certification and designated as a college readiness counselor shall
explain the requirements of automatic admission to a general
academic teaching institution under Section 51.803 to each student
enrolled in a high school or at the high school level in an
open-enrollment charter school who has a grade point average in the
top 25 percent of the student's high school class.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022
school year.
SECTION 4. 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, 2021.