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

SPONSOR Hall

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/23/08

HB 15

SHORT TITLE Educator Licensure Fund Purposes

SB

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 15 amends existing statute to provide that funds in the Educator Licensure Fund be

subject to legislative appropriation and that the purposes of the fund be expanded.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

According to a performance evaluation discussed under “Significant Issues", the PED received

$400,000 in General Fund appropriations to support the cost of overseeing the PDD process; the

PED’s vendor that processed the PDDs collected a little over $250 in FY07 and approximately

$75 in FY08; the Educator Ethics Bureau collected $753.3 in application fees in FY07. The bill

does not affect revenues or appropriations, but directs the fund into which they must deposited

and the uses for those funds.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

A performance evaluation of the Public Education Department’s three-tiered teacher licensure

system by LFC, LESC and the Office of Education Accountability recommended, among other

things, that Section 22-8-44 be amended to clarify the uses of the Educator Licensure Fund. The

joint evaluation concluded that current licensing fee revenue was not sufficient to cover the costs

associated with the PED’s educator licensing functions, professional development dossiers

(PDD) and general oversight.

House Bill 15 – Page

2

Current statute provides for money in the fund to be used to fund the educator background check

program. The bill expands the use of the fund to include enforcement of educator ethics

requirements and the processing of applications for licensure or renewal of licensure, including

review of professional development dossiers (PDD).

The findings of the joint evaluation also expressed concern that there is no clear method in place

to assure that fees paid through Vision Link to reviewers are being reported to either the state or

federal government as income.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The PED manages an Online Portfolio Alternative License (OPAL) program that supports the

PED obligation to issue level one license through an alternative method. In order to collect

application fees from those seeking licensure through an alternative method the department

suggests the following language for consideration by the Legislature.

On Page 2, line 8 after the word “dossiers" insert thereof “and portfolios for alternative

licensure"

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

PED notes that funds paid to Vision Link, the PDD contractor, by contractual agreement are

retained by Vision Link in an interest bearing account. The contractor is required to return any

unused funds and deposit them into the educator licensure fund at the end of the four-year

contract.

PA/bb