1. (a) To qualify to teach all phases of driver education and add a driver education endorsement as a specialization area on his or her current Texas teaching certificate after January 1, 1999, an individual must:

   1. (1) possess a Bachelor's degree;
   2. (2) complete nine semester hours of driver education classroom, in-car, simulation, and traffic safety instruction;
   3. (3) possess a valid Texas teaching certificate as defined by the State Board for Educator Certification in Chapter 230 of this title (relating to Professional Educator Preparation and Certification);
   4. (4) possess a valid Texas driver's license for the type of vehicle used for instruction; and
   5. (5) not accumulate ten or more penalty points on a driving record evaluation for the three-year period immediately preceding application using the record evaluation standards established by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), which are the same standards used to evaluate Texas school bus drivers.

2. (b) A fully certified teacher of driver education may be designated by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as a supervising teacher of driver education by successfully completing one of the following:

   1. (1) six semester hours of university instruction beyond the basic nine hours of driver education certification courses that include administering driver education programs that incorporate classroom and in-car instruction, techniques of simulation and multicar driving range instruction, supervising, and administering traffic safety education. The instruction for supervising teachers must be given by a university approved to train driver education supervising teachers; or
   2. (2) five years as a driver education teacher, during which the individual must teach at least one driver education course per year. The individual must obtain the recommendation of a superintendent, chief school official, or education service center (ESC) director submitted on a form provided by TEA.
3. (c) The TEA shall issue certificates of completed training for supervising teachers.
4. (d) At least once each year a school district, an ESC, or a college or university must document that each certified driver education teacher employed in the driver education program meets the driving record evaluation standards established by the DPS for Texas school bus drivers.

Source Note:The provisions of this §75.1002 adopted to be effective May 29, 1996, 21 TexReg 4328; amended to be effective January 1, 1999, 23 TexReg 6953.