The State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) will meet in Austin on July 24 and 25.
The agenda for Friday’s meeting is relatively light with only a few action items. One item of note is the designation of a temporary suspension committee required by Senate Bill (SB) 571. This bill gives the SBEC the authority to temporarily suspend educator certificates prior to a contested case hearing based on the continuing and imminent threat to public welfare or based on the arrest of an educator for serious offenses. While the committee will be named at this meeting, rulemaking will not take place until a future meeting.
The real meat of next week will be Thursday’s annual work session of the board. The 89th Legislature passed several bills related to the work of SBEC, and Thursday will be spent outlining the work ahead. In addition to major changes in school finance, House Bill (HB) 2 called for substantial changes in the educator preparation space. SB 571 will also require significant rulemaking.
Hotline readers will remember that in April, Gov. Greg Abbott announced new appointments to the SBEC along with reappointing Chair Jean Streepy for another term. These three new appointments are all from the charter and private school sectors. This will be the first meeting of the new board, and Texas AFT will be observing the new members closely as they discuss plans for the coming year.
We will provide a full recap in a future edition of the Hotline.