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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Gonzales

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/23//06

1/25/06 HB 160

SHORT TITLE Expand Teacher Education Field Courses

SB

ANALYST Baca

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$2,000.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB233

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education department (HED)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 160 appropriates $2,000,000 from the general fund to the Higher Education Depart-

ment (HED) for expenditure in FY07 to support the expansion and improvement of educator

field experience courses at public post-secondary educational institutions statewide. The HED

shall apportion these funds based on enrollment in field experience courses among two- and

four- year institutions that prepare educators and instructional support providers for licensure by

expanding and improving field experiences prior to practice teaching and supporting formal col-

laborations between public schools and colleges of education. The funds shall be used to sup-

plement institutional funds allocated for field experience programs.

House Bill 160 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $2.0 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 shall revert to the gen-

eral fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

It is generally believed that teacher education programs need to be improved and providing field

experiences are considered key strengthening activities that help prepare teachers. It is believed

that providing field experiences in addition to those currently afforded would help improve the

quality of professionals entering the teaching field. HED has provided a table that shows the

number of prospective teachers enrolled in field experience courses.

Enrollments in Field Experience in Education Courses

LOWER DIV

UPPER DIV

GRADUATE

Total

Year COURSES STUDENTS COURSES STUDENTS COURSES STUDENTS COURSES STUDENTS

9495

27

122

142

1600

128

585

297

2307

9596

30

202

129

1885

140

653

299

2740

9697

35

310

188

1704

155

715

378

2729

9798

64

528

161

1748

191

872

416

3148

9899

52

475

138

1407

181

932

371

2814

9900

64

595

174

1502

221

1075

459

3172

0001

77

727

218

1591

199

965

494

3283

0102

82

758

236

1672

187

901

505

3331

0203

90

784

211

1534

231

1130

532

3448

0304

64

775

213

1257

232

1012

509

3044

Changes

137% 535% 50% -21%

81% 73%

71%

32%

Source: Higher Education Department

House Bill 160 – Page

3

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

HED reports that four year institutions do not have sufficient funding to provide adequate field

experiences to students enrolled in teacher education programs primarily because there is inade-

quate funding to pay filed supervisors. Further, the HED reports, the funding proposed will be

used to improve alternative licensure programs.

The PED contributes that:

It would be very desirable for most educator preparation courses to have a field experi-

ence component. All teacher preparation programs have early field experiences but they

are confined mostly to giving candidates a general taste of what is involved in working in

public education. Field experiences tied to each course, module or strand of a program

would significantly strengthen educator preparation programs.

This request was not included in the list of priority projects submitted to the HED and, conse-

quently, was not included in the FY07 funding recommendations submitted to the Legislature.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The field experiences to be proposed in the bill will not be available to prospective teachers.

LB/mt