Title ED, Education Code

Sec. 21.405. DUTY-FREE LUNCH. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), each classroom teacher or full-time librarian is entitled to at least a 30-minute lunch period free from all duties and responsibilities connected with the instruction and supervision of students. Each school…

Sec. 21.406. DENIAL OF COMPENSATION BASED ON ABSENCE FOR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE PROHIBITED. A school district may not deny an educator a salary bonus or similar compensation given in whole or in part on the basis of educator attendance because of the educator's absence from school …

Sec. 21.407. REQUIRING OR COERCING TEACHERS TO JOIN GROUPS, CLUBS, COMMITTEES, OR ORGANIZATIONS: POLITICAL AFFAIRS. (a) A school district board of trustees or school district employee may not directly or indirectly require or coerce any teacher to join any group, club, committee,…

Sec. 21.408. RIGHT TO JOIN OR NOT TO JOIN PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION. This chapter does not abridge the right of an educator to join any professional association or organization or refuse to join any professional association or organization. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, …

Sec. 21.409. LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR TEMPORARY DISABILITY. (a) Each full-time educator employed by a school district shall be given a leave of absence for temporary disability at any time the educator's condition interferes with the performance of regular duties. The contract or emp…

Sec. 21.414. CLASSROOM SUPPLY REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM. (a) The commissioner shall establish a reimbursement program under which the commissioner provides funds to a school district for the purpose of reimbursing classroom teachers in the district who expend personal funds on classr…

Sec. 21.415. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS. (a) A school district shall provide in employment contracts that qualifying employees may receive an incentive payment under an awards program established under Subchapter O if the district participates in the program. (b) The district shall ind…

Sec. 21.417. RESOURCES, INCLUDING LIABILITY INSURANCE, FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS. (a) From funds appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose, the agency shall contract with a third party to provide the following services for a classroom teacher employed under a probationary,…

Sec. 21.418. ELECTION BY TEACHER TO USE UNPAID LEAVE. The board of trustees of a school district shall adopt a policy that provides a classroom teacher employed by the district the option to elect not to take the teacher's paid personal leave concurrently with unpaid leave the te…

Sec. 21.451. STAFF DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS. (a) The staff development provided by a school district to an educator other than a principal must be: (1) conducted in accordance with standards developed by the district; and (2) designed to improve education in the district. (a-1) S…

Sec. 21.4511. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS. (a) From funds appropriated for that purpose in an amount not to exceed $2.5 million each year, the commissioner may develop and award grants to school districts, regional education service centers…

Sec. 21.4513. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS AUDIT. (a) Using only available funds and resources from public or private sources, the agency shall periodically conduct an audit of the professional development requirements applicable to educators in this state, including sta…

Sec. 21.4514. CONTINUING EDUCATION AND TRAINING CLEARINGHOUSE; ADVISORY GROUP. (a) In this section: (1) "Board" means the State Board for Educator Certification. (2) "Clearinghouse advisory group" means the clearinghouse advisory group established under Subsection (d). (b) The bo…

Sec. 21.4515. ANNUAL ADOPTION OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY. (a) The board of trustees of a school district and the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school, to the extent applicable, shall annually review the clearinghouse published under Section 21.4514 and adop…

Sec. 21.452. DEVELOPMENTAL LEAVES OF ABSENCE. (a) The board of trustees of a school district may grant a developmental leave of absence for study, research, travel, or another suitable purpose to an employee who: (1) is employed in a position requiring a permanent teaching certif…

Sec. 21.453. STAFF DEVELOPMENT ACCOUNT. (a) The staff development account is an account in the general revenue fund. The account consists of gifts, grants, donations, appropriations for the purpose of staff development under this subchapter, and any other money transferred by law…

Sec. 21.4552. TEACHER LITERACY ACHIEVEMENT AND READING INTERVENTION ACADEMIES. (a) The commissioner shall develop and make available literacy achievement academies for teachers who provide reading instruction to students at any grade level. (b) A literacy achievement academy deve…

Sec. 21.4553. TEACHER MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT AND INTERVENTIONIST ACADEMIES. (a) The commissioner shall develop and make available mathematics achievement academies for teachers who provide mathematics instruction to students at any grade level. (b) A mathematics achievement acad…

Sec. 21.4555. CIVICS TRAINING PROGRAM. (a) To facilitate the teaching of curriculum consistent with Sections 28.002(h-2) and 28.0022, the commissioner shall develop and make available civics training programs for teachers and administrators. (b) A civics training program develope…

Sec. 21.4556. CIVICS TRAINING PROGRAM ADVISORY BOARD. (a) The commissioner shall establish an advisory board to advise the commissioner in developing the civics training programs under Section 21.4555. (b) The advisory board is composed of nine members appointed by the commission…

Sec. 21.456. SCIENCE TRAINING. (a) The commissioner shall develop and have approved by the board training materials and other teacher training resources for a school district to use in assisting science teachers in developing: (1) expertise in the appropriate science curriculum; …

Sec. 21.457. TRAINING FOR TEACHERS OF EMERGENT BILINGUAL STUDENTS. The commissioner shall develop and make available training materials and other teacher training resources to assist teachers in developing the expertise required to enable emergent bilingual students to meet state…

Sec. 21.4571. TEXAS ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT SYSTEM TRAINING. (a) The commissioner may not require a school district employee to repeat training or online calibration activities the employee has previously successfully completed related to administering the Texas E…

Sec. 21.458. MENTORS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-2), each school district may assign a mentor teacher to each classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching experience in the subject or grade level to which the teacher is assigned. A teacher assigned as a …

Sec. 21.459. BIBLE COURSE TRAINING. (a) The commissioner shall develop and make available training materials and other teacher training resources for a school district to use in assisting teachers of elective Bible courses in developing: (1) expertise in the appropriate Bible cou…

Sec. 21.462. RESOURCES REGARDING STUDENTS WITH MENTAL HEALTH OR SUBSTANCE ABUSE CONDITIONS. The agency, in coordination with the Health and Human Services Commission, shall establish and maintain an Internet website to provide resources for school district or open-enrollment char…

Sec. 21.464. PREKINDERGARTEN TEACHER TRAINING COURSE. (a) The commissioner shall develop a prekindergarten teacher training course to be offered to prekindergarten teachers employed by a school district or open-enrollment charter school. (b) A course provided under this section s…

Sec. 21.465. AUTISM TRAINING. (a) A school district may provide a salary incentive or similar compensation to a teacher who completes training provided by a regional education service center relating to autism. (b) A school district that decides to provide an incentive or compens…

Sec. 21.466. TEACHER QUALITY ASSISTANCE. (a) From money appropriated or otherwise available for the purpose, the agency shall develop training for and provide technical assistance to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools regarding: (1) strategic compensation, staff…

Sec. 21.468. TEACHER POSITION INFORMATION. The agency shall collect data from school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to address teacher retention and recruitment, including the classifications, grade levels, subject areas, duration, and other relevant information re…

Sec. 21.501. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "program" means the Texas Troops to Teachers Program. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 396, Sec. 2.07(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 21.502. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The agency shall establish a program to: (1) assist persons who have served in the armed forces of the United States and are separated from active duty to obtain certification as an elementary or secondary school teacher in this state; and (…

Sec. 21.503. ELIGIBILITY. A person is eligible for the program if the person: (1) has served in the armed forces of the United States; (2) is honorably discharged, retired, or released from active duty on or after October 1, 1990, after at least six years of continuous active dut…

Sec. 21.504. INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS. (a) The agency shall develop an application for the program. (b) The agency and the State Board for Educator Certification shall distribute the applications and information regarding the program. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 396, S…

Sec. 21.505. SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS. (a) The agency shall select persons to participate in the program on the basis of applications submitted to the agency. (b) Each application must be submitted: (1) in the form and contain the information the agency requires; and (2) in a ti…

Sec. 21.506. LIMITATION ON IMPLEMENTATION. The agency may not select a person to participate in the program unless the agency has sufficient state appropriations to pay the stipend provided by Section 21.509 at the time of the selection. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 396, Se…

Sec. 21.507. PREFERENCES. (a) In selecting persons to participate in the program, the agency shall give preference to a person who: (1) has significant educational or military experience in science, mathematics, or engineering and agrees to seek employment as a teacher in one of …

Sec. 21.508. AGREEMENT. A person selected to participate in the program must enter into a written agreement with the agency under which the person agrees to: (1) obtain, within the period the agency by rule requires, certification as an elementary or secondary school teacher in t…

Sec. 21.509. STIPEND. The agency shall pay to each participant in the program a stipend of $5,000. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 396, Sec. 2.07(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1999.

Sec. 21.510. REIMBURSEMENT. (a) A participant in the program who fails to obtain certification or employment as required in the agreement under Section 21.508 or who voluntarily leaves or is terminated for cause from the employment after teaching in a public elementary or seconda…

Sec. 21.511. RULES. The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this subchapter. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 396, Sec. 2.07(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87 (S.B. 1969), Sec. 7.001, eff. September 1, 2009. SUBCHAPTER L. TEACH FOR T…

Sec. 21.551. PURPOSES. The purposes of the alternative certification Teach for Texas Pilot Program are to: (1) attract to the teaching profession persons who have expressed interest in teaching and to support the certification of those persons as teachers; (2) recognize the impor…

Sec. 21.552. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. The State Board for Educator Certification by rule shall establish the Teach for Texas Pilot Program consistent with the purposes provided by Section 21.551. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1590, Sec. 8, eff. June 19, 1999. Renumbered from Sec…

Sec. 21.553. FINANCIAL INCENTIVES. (a) The pilot program must offer to participants financial incentives, including tuition assistance and loan forgiveness. In offering a financial incentive, the State Board for Educator Certification shall: (1) require a contract between each pa…

Sec. 21.601. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning assigned by 20 U.S.C. Section 1001 and its subsequent amendments. (2) "Program" means the Careers to Classrooms Program. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 808, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. …

Sec. 21.602. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. The agency shall establish a program to: (1) assist persons in obtaining certification in this state as elementary or secondary school teachers or educational aides; and (2) facilitate the employment of those persons by school districts in t…