Humble Independent School District
District of Innovation
Proposed Amendment
Teacher Certification
Prior to 2013, students were expected to graduate under the “4x4” which required such courses as physics and Algebra II. With the adoption of House Bill 5 by the Texas Legislature in 2013, the state’s graduation requirements moved to a more personalized graduation plan that allowed students to earn endorsements in specific areas of study, including STEM, business and industry, public services, etc.
Many of the career pathways that fall under the endorsements, such as health services or engineering, require very specialized certification in that particular field. Texas Education Code requirements are as follows: Section 21.003 (certification requirement); Section 21.044 (requirements to obtain a certificate); Section 21.053 (requiring the presentation of a certificate to be employed as a teacher); Section 21.055 (requirements for a CTE teacher permit). The Texas Education Code provisions are supplemented by state regulations in 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 231. Together, these statutes and regulations inhibit the development of post high school plans and improvement of workforce skills to the extent these laws limit the District’s ability to hire teachers to teach hard-to-fill, high-demand career and technical courses when quality certified teachers are not available.
In addition, students need access to courses that promote college and career readiness, including the ability to communicate in a language other than English. The district needs the discretion to hire the most qualified individuals to teach Languages Other Than English (LOTE) for high school credit courses. Having the ability to recruit language experts will help fill teaching positions left vacant due to the lack of certified teachers.
Lastly, Humble ISD has begun personalizing their fine arts offerings so that students have opportunities to be part of such musical courses as mariachi, courses that not only speak to a student’s interests but also nurture cultural backgrounds. Like CTE and LOTE, finding certified music teachers with such unique experiences as mariachi is rare, thus making it a hard-to-fill position.
In order to provide more personalized opportunities to students and enable them to obtain the educational benefit of career and technical, LOTE and fine arts course offerings, the District seeks to establish its own local qualification requirements for such courses in lieu of the requirements set forth in law while adhering to Texas Education Code sections 21.003, 21.044, 21.053, 21.055 and 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 231. This exemption will afford the District the flexibility to hire professionals in these specific fields, professionals who have the experience and the skills needed to teach these unique and hard-to-fill courses.
