November 2015 Committee of the Full Board Item 3

Review of Proposed Amendment to 19 TAC Chapter 242, Superintendent Certificate, §242.20, Requirements for the Issuance of the Standard Superintendent Certificate

November 20, 2015

COMMITTEE OF THE FULL BOARD: ACTION
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: ACTION

SUMMARY: This item provides the State Board of Education (SBOE) an opportunity to review the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) rule action that would amend 19 TAC Chapter 242, Superintendent Certificate, §242.20, Requirements for the Issuance of the Standard Superintendent Certificate. The proposed amendment to 19 TAC §242.20 would provide an individual seeking a superintendent certificate the option to substitute managerial experience in a public school district for the requirement of a principal certificate. Additionally, the amendment would allow a candidate to obtain standard certification as a superintendent provided that the candidate is hired by a public school district in Texas, successfully completes an SBEC-approved superintendent preparation program, satisfactorily completes the certification examination for superintendents, and holds a post-baccalaureate degree. The proposed amendment would also require the school district board of trustees to publicly post the reasons the candidate meets the current district needs regarding the position of superintendent.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: The statutory authority for 19 TAC §242.20 is the Texas Education Code (TEC), §§21.003(a), 21.040(4), 21.041(b)(2)-(4), and 21.046(a).

EFFECTIVE DATE: The proposed effective date of the proposed amendment to 19 TAC §242.20 would be December 27, 2015.

PREVIOUS BOARD ACTION: None.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND SIGNIFICANT ISSUES: The SBEC rules in 19 TAC Chapter 242 establish requirements for the issuance and renewal of the superintendent certificate. Section 242.20 currently provides requirements for a superintendent certificate.

In December 2014, Texas Education Agency (TEA) staff held a stakeholder meeting with educators to discuss the rules in 19 TAC Chapter 242. Upon bringing stakeholder recommendations to the SBEC during the March 2015 meeting, the SBEC requested that TEA staff convene an additional stakeholder meeting with business leaders. This meeting was held in June 2015. Both stakeholder groups determined that the rules in 19 TAC Chapter 242 need to be revised and updated to allow for a broader pathway to superintendent certification so that the pool of candidates for superintendent could include more diverse experiences and skillsets. The proposed amendment to 19 TAC §242.20 captures the recommendations of stakeholders from the December 2014 and June 2015 stakeholder meetings.

In 19 TAC §242.20, language would be added in proposed subsection (a) to provide for the substitution of managerial experience in a public school district for the requirement of a principal certificate, provided that the managerial experience was at least three years in duration, including supervisory or appraisal duties that included district-level planning and coordination of programs, activities, or initiatives and involved either the creation or maintenance of a budget. The amendment would also require the candidate seeking the substitution of managerial experience for principal certification to submit an application to TEA staff so that TEA staff can ensure that the experience meets the requirements specified in the rule. A minor change was made to the proposed amendment to 19 TAC §242.20(a)(5)(B), as published, to clarify that TEA staff will notify the applicant for alternative superintendent certification of TEA staff's decision within 60 days after receipt of the application.

Proposed subsection (b) would allow for an alternative pathway, where a candidate could obtain standard certification as a superintendent provided that the candidate is hired by a public school district in Texas, successfully completes an SBEC-approved superintendent preparation program, satisfactorily completes the certification examination for superintendents, and holds a post-baccalaureate degree. This amendment would allow for a district to name a nontraditional candidate as the lone finalist for the position of superintendent, and would allow the candidate to enroll in a superintendent preparation program, receive a probationary certificate prior to being hired, and then work toward fulfilling the remaining requirements while on a probationary certificate so that the candidate would be eligible for a standard superintendent certificate. At its October 2015 meeting, the SBEC amended language in 19 TAC §242.20(b), as published, to require a post-baccalaureate degree and that the school district board of trustees publicly post the reasons the candidate meets the current district needs regarding the position of superintendent.

The proposed amendment to 19 TAC §242.20 would broaden the prerequisite experience required of superintendent candidates to allow for managerial experience in education to substitute for the principal certification requirement and, alternatively, to allow for experience outside of the field of education, provided a school district has determined that a particular candidate fits the current needs of the school district and has stated publically how the skillset of the nontraditional candidate fulfills the current needs of the district. The current rule narrowly limits the required experience in education to principal certification, which in turn requires two years of teaching experience. The effect of the proposed amendment would be an expansion of the superintendent candidate pool to include those who had not necessarily been teachers or principals.

Attachment III provides a side-by-side chart of the current and proposed additional pathways to obtain superintendent certification.

SBOE Review of Proposed SBEC Rules

Under the TEC, §21.042, the SBEC must submit a written copy of each rule it proposes to adopt to the SBOE for review. The SBOE may reject the proposed rule by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members of the SBOE present and voting, but may not modify a rule. The rule takes effect as a rule of the SBEC if the SBOE fails to review the rule contained in this item by December 17, 2015, which is the 90th day after the date the SBOE first received the proposed rule.

FISCAL IMPACT: TEA staff has determined that there are fiscal implications as a result of the proposed amendment. The following fiscal implications are based on an economic benefit to state government (education service centers and public universities) for fiscal years (FYs) 2016-2020. TEA staff also determined that there is no additional fiscal impact on local governments and there are no additional costs to persons or entities required to comply with the proposed amendment. In addition, there is no direct adverse economic impact for small businesses and microbusinesses; therefore, no regulatory flexibility analysis, specified in Texas Government Code, §2006.002, is required.

Since the proposed amendment would allow individuals previously foreclosed to superintendent preparation to enroll in such a program, TEA staff has determined that a small, positive fiscal impact for EPPs that offer superintendent preparation could result from a slightly increased pool of potential candidates seeking superintendent preparation. TEA staff has assumed that in 2016, about ten candidates would enroll in EPPs that otherwise would not have enrolled, loosely based on the number of superintendents currently working under a certification waiver in the state. In addition, TEA staff has assumed that the cost of an average certification program (a non-degree program) is approximately $15,000 and there would be an annual increase of about 10% in the number of candidates that enroll in programs as more educators seek out the proposed (non-traditional) path to superintendent certification. The proposed amendment to 19 TAC §242.20 would cause an increase of revenues to state government in the amount of $150,000 in FY 2016, $165,000 in FY 2017, $181,500 in FY 2018, $199,650 in FY 2019, and $219,615 in FY 2020.

PUBLIC AND STUDENT BENEFIT: The public and student benefit anticipated as a result of the proposed amendment to 19 TAC §242.20 would be the potential expansion of the pool of candidates from which to hire superintendents.

PROCEDURAL AND REPORTING IMPLICATIONS: The proposed amendment would create a new procedural process for individuals seeking to substitute managerial experience for the principal certificate, as those individuals would need to submit an application to TEA and TEA would need to review the application and respond to the applicant.

LOCALLY MAINTAINED PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: The proposed amendment would have no additional locally maintained paperwork requirements.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: In accordance with the SBEC rulemaking process, a summary of comments received by the SBEC on its proposed rule will be shared with the SBOE under separate cover prior to this SBOE meeting.

ALTERNATIVES: None.

OTHER COMMENTS AND RELATED ISSUES: None.

MOTION TO BE CONSIDERED: The State Board of Education:

Take no action on the proposed amendment to 19 TAC Chapter 242, Superintendent Certificate, §242.20, Requirements for the Issuance of the Standard Superintendent Certificate.

Staff Members Responsible:
Ryan Franklin, Associate Commissioner
Educator Leadership and Quality

Tim Regal, Director
Educator Evaluation and Support

Attachments:
I. Statutory Citations (PDF, 14KB)
II. Text of Proposed Amendment to 19 TAC Chapter 242, Superintendent Certificate, §242.20, Requirements for the Issuance of the Standard Superintendent Certificate (PDF, 18KB)
III. Side-By-Side Chart of Current and Proposed Additional Pathways to Obtain Texas Superintendent Standard Certification (PDF, 24KB)