OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

~- AUSTIN 

Xey L7, 1939 

Ronorable Eortimer Brown 

Executive Secretary 

Te8Oher lletir~nt S~sten of TOXW 

motin, TOXIM 

gplflr ~ObQol'telrP? 

Rs oaae ttmre lu doubt a8 to 

uld be ooneidmed thd offeotfvo 

qpl~isd to Sootion 8, SWmeotion 

.A5t.,gqa.Ld Lt be within the povmr af the 

Rosrd of ,Tz!ustsoq.-Qf tho Tollllhe~ pzetdsemmt syutcm to pyuo upon the adaor, an*, 

if sc+, *hat limltatione mnald tWBoa@ 

h8vo to ebmevo in neP* the dao? 
Honorable Xortlmer Brown, May 17, 1939, Page 2 

"(4) If there is doubt as to whether 

or not a persjn.hes beaome a taaaher if 

he seoures e oontraut to teach during the 

summer as soon aa the employing sohool 

opens its next regxllar school sew, would 

it be within the power of the Board of 

Trustees of the Teaoher Retlrelaent System 

to pees upon that point?" 

Seotlon 3, Subsection 5, of the Teeoher Retirement Aot (i&s of Forty-Fifth Legislatiqe, 1937, chap. 470, 

p. '1178) provides as iollowcl: 

am~ae rho has taught In the Stat-0 

ot Texas in aOOOl'dUZO0 with thetOflDS Or 

this Aot, but rho JIB not fn Oerrioe dUr3ng the year in whloh the hot beoamos sSiqotlve, shall, ii ho bsoomas a teaohm, 

w$y two (8) yoan of the datsnoh 

A& boeomos, effeotlvq, and it ho ooatinuo s u suo h for l mrlod or rite (S) 

eonaeoutiro .-am. be entitle&to reoalv~ 

orodit and rwalting bonefltr rOT prior 

8er~Ioe as provided for in this Aot." 

Sootion 8 or the Teaoher Retimmmt Aoi 

the rdlioring prorision: 

l + + ëThe ltotlromnt system 86 o nated @hall bo establiahrd as of Jhly 1, 

USI.' 

eolltdns 

tkotiin 1 provides, in part, as follmfsr 

"(3) *Toaoher*'ahall man a person 

employed on a full-tias, re&ular 8ahry 

basis by board8 Of oommon sohool dlstriOts, 

boards of lnd~pendont sohool distrfots, 

00onty 80h00v boards, 80ti-t 30d or 

Trustoe8, Btato Board or EduoatlOn .aad 

Btate Dopartmont or Eduoation, boards or 
Honorable Mort5mor Brown, May 17, 1939, Page 3 

regents or aqlleges and uuiverslties, and 

any other legally oonetituted board or 

agency of en educational Institution or 

organl%ation supported wholly or pertly 

by the State. In all cases of doubt, the 

Rietirememt Board of Trustees, hereinafter 

defined, shall determine whether a person 

is a teacher as defined in this Aot. A 

teacher shall mean a person rendering service to organized pub110 eduaation in profoeeionel and buelneee adrPlnietratlon and ~, 

supervision and in lnstruotioa, in pub110 

eohoole 88 defiaod 'ia eubeootlon ($3) of 

thle eootion. 

"(81 iSe~loo~ shdllmean sonioe se 

a tsaobur as deegribed in.Subseotion (8) 

or thle eeotion. 

*(SS) QohoolYear* shall mean the 

year beginniry on or about Boptomber lst 

and andlng oa or about Aqpet Slet.* 

Sootion 15 oi the Teaoher Retlrezmnt Aot provide; 

as fbllore: 

vh0 ~IIUXMZSMO or thf8 -88~2-0 to 

ths people tanor, oroatoe (UI emeaoaoy and an imporatin pubLfo nooesslty 

that the Constitutional Rule reguirlna 

bills to be read on three several days 

lnraoh Ewes be, and the l eme is harebf suspended, aad that this Aot take et-- 

r00t and b0 in r0200 r-5 ad aftor it8 

paeeage, and it, is so onaoted. m 

provides: 

Art1010 III, Sootfon 39, of the Texas Constitution 

-0 law paeeed by the Legislature, 

l soept the CanomLAppmpriatlon Aot, 

shall take erreot or go Into roroo tantll nlne.ty (?p4 daya after the adjournment or the nSe~0n atrhiah it wae anaoted, unless in oan of ea emergemy, 

whiah e~orgenoy must be expressed in a 
Honorable xortimer Erow, May 17, 1939, Page 4 

pr8aIUbl8 or in the body Or the Act, th8 

Leglslature.shall, by a vote 0r twothirds of all the membbers elected to 

eaah House, otherwiss direat; said vote 

to be taken by yeas and nays, end antered upon the Journal." 

The not8 at the and Or this Act eppeerhg at p-8 

1197 of the General and Special Laws Of Texas, 1937# Regular Session, shows that this Aot was finally passed by the 

House In adoptInS a Confer8nCe Committee Report on Xay 20, 

1937, by a vote or 115 yeae, 6 nays; and passed by the Sanate by the l &ptlon of a Conferenoe Comittee Report oa Hey 

Bl, 1937, by a rote of.87 ysae and 1 nay. It la aleo ladioated that this Aot N approved Jane 9. 1959. 

Yor varloua purposes three datme are of *rtauoolnoonstNlngthls Aat. That is, JbnoO,l9SP, the 

date upon whloh tho Aot as am uiaotmont of the kgi8lattmo 

hoam dr00tiY0; July 1, 19s0, the date as or which the 

Rotlreaent systam was ostabllshed; aml Septabor 1, 19939, 

being the bs&aiag f3r ths rint ash001 ysu, the date upon whioh oertaln pmvleloaa of the Aot beau operative. 

Whea referring to .theee various datos~ tno .&odelatum by apt 1aaguyrS $.%msay lMtaMo8 Sp~l&ll~ indloatod the date whloh was lntekded. Ybr exemplo~,..~~-8eotlon' 

S, Bubdirislon 1, whlsh protidoe that "all period who ars 

teaohus on the data a! on~whioh the EWinrsnt ,Byskn le 

eetabllshed ehall beoomo memborm am got. that :&to, .otoi?,! 

ordinarily rhan 20r0dmg to Wptsmber 1 wm Aot *akm or 

thsi?%~!mineOftho~#hodl ~~r~19S7-lQsW,or @me elmllar *xpree8lon; We reoogniu .that la som8 lmturoes the 

Aot may mealy rrrer to tho ten -yoarF, or mm0 other. tom 

valoh( when taken to@harwlth its @ntext,:may ore8ta 

same smblgulty or doubt, hut In Soetlon S, 8ubeaotloa 8, 

uhero tho Act rorem to Wm data on uhioh this Aof beoaes 

effeotlre? we do not think that la thle lnetanoo the oontut 

plainly requlree a' dlrr0rcmt nbmaiins than that exgreeeed. 

In answer to your fleet puestlon you are, tharefore, advised that the date upon uhioh Senate Blll Xo. 47 

beoame effeotive, ss that term la ueed ln Saotlon S, Stabeeotlon 6, wee JQna QG,"lBS7. Cur anewar to this question 

renders itunneoeeearyto answer the third. 

In your woond uo8tloa 

that it night be tba opin 1 on oi thti?d:p~::y&i?%o 
Honorable ~ortlmer Bmwn, May 17, 1939, Page 5 

Xot b8oaMi efr8otiV8 within the provlsions'or Seotion 3, 

Subsection 5, on Se@tember 1, 1937, and In order to epeclfically dispose of the problem you hhve In mind we will 

assume that e teacher secured a contrect prior to June 9, 

1939, with s public school that cells for his servioee to 

begin ae soon as that school opens for the next regular 

school term. 

Referring t0 S8CtiOn 1, Subsection 3, we note 

that there we two requlremnts sst out in the doiinltion 

of a teeaher. One or these requirtxmnte 18 that Wteaoherw 

shell meen a pereon employed upon e full time, ro@ar eelary basis; and, eeoond, that a *teaoher shall aeau 8 parson 

rendering service to organized pub110 l duoation la proroel lonal and bueineee administration and eupervlelon, aud In 

lnetruotlon, in pub110 eohoole, as defined in Subeeotlon 8 

0r this 0aot1on.= We do not think that *mudsrlng eon100 

to organlsed publio eduaatlona l eta ., wa s lnto ndo d to mo a n 

that la order to be a tsaohar, as defined la thla Aa%,- that 

tbs pora~n *ould neoeesarlly have to b e l t.that'tlmq ~rqtuoily engsgod in euoh eervlce, but rather th&-thla *mti.- 

elon 18 deeorlptlre or the type or work naosssaryto bo 

performad to qualify es a teacher. Thle oonet~otlon bsoomo& more evident when rarious wotlonr or tlmAot are 'aonl ldsrsd, euah as Seotlon S, Subeeotlon 1, whloh prpvldoe 

that all persons who are teaahue on the date.ae at whloh 

the Betlrament 

.beomse lt le 

9 etsm 1s aetabllshed shall beooie mmberk, 

QU z $0 evident that it was lntendsd by euoh 

notion to reaoh every pereon engaged in the proiseslon of 

a k8oher, when, la hot. tho date ypon whloh the Systa 

wae established wae July 1, and as a matter 41 oomon 

kaowleQe very few teaohere wbre aotually sawed la rsndoring the eervloe deflnad at that tlms. 

Wo oen think of many lnetaaoee whloh may raise 

serious quaetione as to whether a person who la fully quaIifled to teaoh has aotuelly been amployed as a teaohsr eo 

ae to be entltlad to the benefits of Seotlon 3, Subseotlon 

5. In such oases dt doubt we think thst Seotfon 1, Subeaotion 3. plaoee it within the discretion of the Retiranent 

Board of Truetees to determine dhether such psreon is a 

teacher as defined In thie hct. 

In answer'& your second and fourth questions, 

it is our opinion thst the Retlremnt Board of Trustees 

may determine whether a pereon ha8 bean employed as a 

feeoher as contemplated by Section SI Subeeotloa 6, Of 
Honorable Mortfmer Brown, May 17, 1939, Page 6 

the Teacher Retiremeat hot prior to June 9, 1939, subjeot 

to the limitstion, however, you should recognize an a 

teaaher a porson who has secured e bona tide written aontract prior to June 9, 1939, thut calls lor his senloea 

ta begin as soon as that sohool opens for the next regular school term. 

Yours very truly 

ATTOPNXX GEXICRAL OF T!SXAS 

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