TITLE: Relating to the salary paid to certain professional employees of public schools.

SUMMARY: Relating to the salary paid to certain professional employees of public schools.

FULL TEXT:
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. Section 21.402, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (c-2), (c-3), and (d) and amending Subsection (g) to read as follows: (c-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), for the 2019-2020 school year, a classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school nurse is entitled to a monthly salary that is at least equal to the sum of: (1) the monthly salary the employee would have received for the 2019-2020 school year under the district's salary schedule for the 2018-2019 school year, if that schedule had been in effect for the 2019-2020 school year, including any local supplement and any money representing a career ladder supplement the employee would have received in the 2019-2020 school year; and (2) $500. (c-3) Subsection (c-2) and this subsection expire September 1, 2020. (d) A classroom teacher, full-time librarian, full-time school counselor certified under Subchapter B, or full-time school nurse employed by a school district in the 2019-2020 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 2019-2020 school year. (g) The commissioner may adopt rules to govern the application of this section, including rules that: (1) require the payment of a minimum salary under this section to a person employed in more than one capacity for which a minimum salary is provided and whose combined employment in those capacities constitutes full-time employment; and (2) specify the credentials a person must hold to be considered a [speech pathologist or] school nurse under this section. SECTION 2. Section 42.2513(a), Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (a) 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 equal to the sum of: (1) the product of $500 multiplied by the number of full-time district employees, other than administrators or employees subject to the minimum salary schedule under Section 21.402; [and] (2) the product of $5,000 multiplied by the number of classroom teachers, full-time librarians, full-time school counselors certified under Subchapter B, Chapter 21, and full-time school nurses employed by the district; and (3) the product of $250 multiplied by the number of part-time district employees, other than administrators. SECTION 3. Section 21.402(c-1), Education Code, is repealed. SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year. SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.