Jonathan Stickland Calls Point of Order on HB 4

Please find attached the Point of Order called by State Rep. Jonathan Stickland
against House Bill 4 today.

The point of order relates to a provision added to House Bill 4 in committee which
would require any pre-kindergarten teacher under the new proposed high quality
program to obtain the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. This
credential is a trademark of the Council for Professional Recognition of Washington
D.C.

According to the Council for Professional Recognitions website, the CDA requires
120 hours of professional education, 480 hours of professional experience, the
submission of a professional portfolio and family questionnaire, a $425
assessment fee, a verification visit with a CDA Professional Development
Specialist, observation of the candidate in the classroom setting, reflective
dialogue, and a CDA exam completed at a Pearson Vue test center.

House Bill 4 fails to acknowledge the creation of these onerous new requirements in
its caption, as required by House Rule 8, Section 1(d).

Rep. Stickland provided the following statements with regard to his point of order on
House Bill 4:

I promised my constituents I would fight against common core and all federal
regulations on state education, including more unfunded mandates. House Bill 4
should be sent back to the Committee on Public Education so that members can
further consider the efficacy of handing over approval of Texas Pre-K teachers to a
Washington, DC, based organization and the testing giant Pearson Vue.

Point of Order Explained below:

Point of Order - CSHB4 - Rule 8, Section 1(d)

Mr. Speaker, I raise a point of order against further consideration of House Bill 4
under Rule 8, Section 1(d).
Proposed Section 29.167(b) of House Bill 4 provides that "Each teacher for a
prekindergarten program class must have been awarded a Child Development
Associate (CDA) credential. The bill provides for Regional Education Service
Centers to provide CDA training. However the Child Development Associate
credential is a trademark of the Council for Professional Recognition of Washington,
DC. The Texas Association for the Education of Young Children (TAEYC) defines
the CDA Credential as "a nationally recognized credential awarded to individuals
who have demonstrated competency through both experience and education in
working with young children ages 0-5. According to the TAEYC, candidates for the
CDA must meet the following four criteria: be 18 years or older, have a high school
diploma or equivalent, have 480 hours of experience working with young children
within the past five years and have 120 hours of formal child care education and
training within the past five years in the CDA training content areas. The credential
is required to be renewed after three years and after five years following each
subsequent renewal.
According to the Council for Professional Recognitions website, the CDA requires
120 hours of professional education, 480 hours of professional experience, the
submission of a professional portfolio and family questionnaire, a $425
assessment fee, a verification visit with a CDA Professional Development
Specialist, observation of the candidate in the classroom setting, reflective
dialogue, and a CDA exam completed at a Pearson Vue test center.
See http://www.cdacouncil.org/storage/documents/Downloadable_Forms/CDA_crede
ntialing_Overview_NEW.pdf
By its plain wording, HB4 would require every pre-kindergarten teacher wishing to
be employed as part of the proposed high quality pre-k program to acquire a Child
Development Associate credential, and to satisfy all of the requirements for
receiving said credential. This requirement could render current pre-k teachers in
this state who do not possess the credential unable to be employed under the
proposed program.
House Rule 8, Section 1(d) provides:
A house bill that would create a requirement that an individual or entity obtain a
license, certificate, registration, permit, or other authorization before engaging in a
particular occupation or profession or that would expand an existing requirement to

additional individuals or entities must include a short statement at the end of its
title or caption indicating the general effect of the bill on the occupation or
profession, such as requiring an occupational license or expanding the
applicability of an occupational license (or permit or certificate).
While the CDA is characterized as a credential, it would meet the definition of
being a certificate, registration, or permit, and certainly falls under the catchall provision of section (d) for other authorization. In this case, the authorization
required for employment as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher under House Bill 4s
program would be required to come from an out-of-state organization working in
conjunction with the testing conglomerate Pearson Vue.
Despite these provisions, the caption for House Bill 4 does not contain the required
short statement at its end describing the new occupational credential. The caption
currently reads: "relating to a high quality prekindergarten program provided by
public school districts.
The CDA requirement of House Bill 4 was added as part of the committee substitute,
meaning that it was largely unknown to members of the public who viewed the bill
before it received a formal hearing and who testified on the bill in committee, or to
members of the legislature who viewed the filed version of the legislation. The CDA
provision is not addressed in the background and purpose of the bill and is only
addressed in a brief recital of the text of the bill in the bill analysis. The House
Research Organization analysis of the bill likewise fails to fully examine the CDA
provision and its implications.
The purpose of the caption rule in Rule 8 Section 1(d) is to give notice to members
and the public of expansion of occupational licenses and similar types of
requirements which could prevent Texans from working in (or continuing to work in)
their desired profession. House Bill 4, in its current form, could affect the lives of
countless Texans. According to the Legislative Budget Board, the number of Texans
who currently hold the Child Development Associate credential is unknown. Those
Texans in the pre-k teacher profession who currently do not possess the CDA
credential and who wish to be employed as a pre-k teacher under the program
proposed by House Bill 4, and their representatives, deserve adequate notice of the
bills effects as required by Rule 8 Section 1(d).
The point of order should be sustained, and House Bill 4 should be referred back to
the Committee on Public Education for further discussion on the issue of the CDA
requirement, and for its caption to be amended to comply with House Rules.