February 17, 2015
WHERE WILL WE FIND THE TEACHERS?
One of the great things about the job of TACS Executive Director is to travel to many of the ESCs and to
meet with many of my old friends and to make new friends. I had the privilege to be in Region 5 ESC last
Wednesday to address the superintendents of the region. While I had prepared some, I hoped, useful and
witty remarks for the group, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I learned more good information
than I imparted. Of course, this is a realization I have most of the time when I visit with educators!
In his report, the center’s executive director, Danny Lovett gave the group details of a conversation that
he had had with Texas Education Agency’s person who heads teacher certification. Danny had
mentioned that so many of the districts in his area were struggling to find certified teachers to provide
courses for some of the HB 5 endorsements. The gentleman from TEA asked why schools were
struggling with the issue, and Danny responded that there was a shortage of teachers, especially in CTE.
The response to Danny was, “Why don’t they use a School District Teaching Permit?” Mr. Lovett told him
that the Agency had stopped allowing them several years ago, but the TEA’s response was that they can
still be used.
So, what is a School District Teaching Permit (SDTP)? To discover for yourself, go to the TEA webpage,
click “A-Z Index” and find School District Teaching Permit. When you click it, you will discover that a
school district can issue an SDTP to someone who does not hold a teaching permit if the person has:
• A bachelor’s degree (unless the person will teach trades and industrial or health science technology
[HST] subjects that do not require a bachelor’s degree),
• Relevant college coursework in the subject area,
• Active professional licensure, certification, or registration by a nationally recognized professional
accrediting agency,
• Five years of full-time wage earning work experience requiring licensure within the past eight years, and
• A letter from the school district confirming that the fingerprinting and criminal-history check as a noncertified educator has been completed.
If all of the criteria are met, the district may employ the individual as long as the district submits two forms
that can be found on the TEA website to the Commissioner of Education no later than the 31st day of
employment. The individual hired on an SDTP will not be designated as Highly Qualified, and the SDTP
can only be used for a classroom teaching assignment.
If for some reason the Commissioner denies the SDTP, the teacher must be removed from the
classroom, but the district can appeal the decision one time.
TACS has been tracking several bills that will allow individuals with either work experience or state
licensure to teach CTE courses, but the SDTP appears to be a better solution than any bill filed to date!
Why not go to the TEA website and check it out?
SO, WHAT’S NEW IN AUSTIN?
The House Article III subcommittee has been appointed. The Article III subcommittee will make
recommendations to the House Appropriations Committee regarding public education funding issues.
Representative John Otto, the House Appropriations Chairman, did a fantastic job with his appointments
to the subcommittee. Trent Ashby, a former school board member, is the chairman, and Helen Giddings
is the vice-chair. Other members are Donna Howard (former school board member), Gary VanDeaver
(retired superintendent from New Boston ISD), Marisa Marquez, Dade Phelan, and John Raney. Several
of the subcommittee members are supported by ParentPAC because of their support for public education.
For superintendents who are interested in correcting the less than 300 square mile penalty of the Small
School Adjustment, this subcommittee and the House Public Education Committee assignments are
particularly promising. When you realize that a bill sponsored by a committee chair has an 85-90 %
chance of becoming law, a bill sponsored by a committee member has a 55-60% chance of surviving,
and a bill sponsored by other legislators has only a 20% chance, HB 645 or HB 666 chances look pretty
good. HB 645 is Rep. Ashby’s Small School Adjustment bill and HB 666 is Rep. Ken King’s bill that
addresses the adjustment. Rep. King is on the House Public Education Committee. Keep your fingers
crossed if a fix to the penalty is important to you!
The Senate Education Committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday of this week. SB 149 by Senator
Kel Seliger will be heard. SB 149, if passed into law, will allow a student to graduate from high school
without passing all EOCs if they have met other stringent requirements and they are approved for
graduation by an “individual graduation committee”. Supporters hope that the bill can be “fast tracked” so
that this year’s seniors at risk of not graduating can benefit.
On a final note, Chairman John Otto met with Evan Smith, the Editor-in-Chief of the TEXAS TRIBUNE at
an event on Wednesday morning. When Smith asked Rep. Otto if, as 1 of 150 House members, he
supported vouchers, his answer was interesting. Otto said that he supported “choice” and he did not think
parents should be forced to send their children to failing schools. However, he continued that the present
system should not be upset to solve the problem and that he does not favor a “one size fits all”
solution. When Mr. Smith asked him if there was support for vouchers in the House, Rep. Otto replied,
“No, not at this time.”
Barry Haenisch
Executive Director