Austin – State Rep. Dianne White Delisi announced today that she has filed her first piece of legislation in the special session. Her House Bill 23 creates a statewide program to pair experienced teachers as mentors to new classroom instructors during their first two years in the classroom. The mentor teachers will receive a significant state-funded salary supplement for their additional duties.


Participation in this new mentoring program will be voluntary. It will not be an unfunded mandate upon local school districts.


"The evidence is clear that a well-run mentoring program brings value to the classroom," Delisi stated. "It helps new teachers get through those tough rookie years. They become skilled teachers faster and are less likely to become discouraged and leave the classroom."


It has been estimated under the most conservative methodology that turnover among public school teachers costs Texas a minimum of $329 million each year. Other estimates place the losses as high as $2.1 billion a year. New teacher turnover rates are significant in these calculations, as 19 percent of beginning teachers do not return after their first year.


"This is bad math. We spent taxpayer funds to train these new teachers and it is critical that we do a better job of helping them to get started in the teaching profession," Delisi said. "Pairing these new teachers with a skilled veteran is a strategy that we know works, because we have been testing it for years in our state."


The State of Texas has operated a mentoring pilot program under the Texas Beginning Educator Support System (TxBESS) since 1999. The results have been positive regarding a significant increase in the retention of new teachers participating in TxBESS. Indeed, a properly operated mentoring program demonstrated the ability to save enough money in reduced turnover rates to cover its own costs.


"This is a reform that is particularly exciting to me," Delisi said. "We have an opportunity to assist new teachers in those critical first two years and create an advancement opportunity for some of our veteran instructors that features additional compensation. Pairing of new teachers with seasoned instructors will also benefit the students – which has to be the ultimate goal of any reform."


Gov. Rick Perry has called the Texas Legislature into special session to address constitutional deficiencies in the school finance system. However, the governor has indicated that he will consider adding additional educational items to the session call once the funding matters are addressed.


"I believe that a proposal which has demonstrated it can pay for itself is an appropriate one to consider during any discussion on school finance and education reform," Delisi concluded. "Should the governor decide to open the call to additional items, I would respectfully request that the creation of a teacher mentoring program be included."