Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Education Appropriations & Oversight Committee

HB 1132

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Description: Regarding reducing compensation for educational and academic employees.

Sponsors: Representative Haigh; by request of Office of Financial Management.

Brief Summary of Bill

  • Suspends Initiative 732 Cost-of-Living-Adjustments (COLAs) for K-12 and applicable higher education system staff for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.

  • Eliminates the requirement to make-up the COLAs suspended in the 2009-11 State Omnibus Operating Appropriations Act (Operating Budget) in the 2011-13 and 2013-15 biennia.

  • Makes base bonuses paid to teachers certified under the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) subject to appropriations in the Operating Budget.

  • Suspends bonuses for NBPTS-certified teachers teaching in high poverty schools for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years.

Hearing Date: 1/18/11

Staff: Ben Rarick (786-7349).

Background:

Initiative 732.

Initiative 732 (I-732) was approved by voters in the November 2000 general election. It required the state to provide an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for K-12 teachers and other public school employees, as well as community college and technical college academic employees and classified employees at technical colleges. The COLA is based on the Seattle-area Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the most recently completed calendar year.

In 2003, after the Washington Supreme Court ruled in McGowan v State regarding interpretation of the state's funding obligation, the Legislature amended the statute to specify that the state must provide funding for cost-of-living increases for K-12 state funded formula staff units only.

Legislation was enacted to suspend I-732 for the 2003-05 biennium. Therefore, no COLAs were provided for the 2003-04 or 2004-05 school years. However, a salary adjustment was provided that biennium for state formula certificated instructional staff in their first seven years of service.

The Legislature again suspended I-732 for the 2009-11 biennium. In addition, the Legislature specified in Chapter 573, Laws of 2009 (SHB 2363) that the suspended COLAs in the 2009-11 biennium would be made up in the ensuing biennia. Specifically, statute requires that salary rates must be adjusted such that, by the end of the 2014-15 school year, base salaries used in state allocation formulas are, at a minimum, what they would have otherwise been if COLAs had not been suspended during the 2009-11 biennium.

Initiative 732 COLA adjustments assumed in the 2009-11 maintenance level budget are 4.2 percent for the 2009-10 school year, and .6 percent for the 2010-11 school year. According to the November, 2011 forecast from the Economic Revenue and Forecasting Council, Seattle CPI is 0.4 percent for calendar year 2010 (applicable to school year 2011-12) and 1.9 percent for calendar year 2011 (applicable to school year 2012-13).

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Program.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) provides an opportunity for teachers to seek an advanced teaching credential by undertaking a rigorous application process. Once earned, the certification is valid for 10 years. The application process requires candidates to complete 10 assessments that are reviewed by trained educators. The assessments include four portfolio entries that feature teaching practice and six constructed response exercises that assess subject knowledge. The NBPTS program was created in 1987 after several important research reports documented emerging needs for outcomes-based professional development in the teaching profession. The program is framed around Five Core Principles which shape the requirements of certification. They include:

  1. Teachers are Committed to Students and Their Learning

  2. Teachers Know the Subjects They Teach and How to Teach Those Subjects to Students.

  3. Teachers are Responsible for Managing and Monitoring Student Learning.

  4. Teachers Think Systematically about Their Practice and Learn from Experience.

  5. Teachers are Members of Learning Communities.

Washington in its 10th year of participation in the program. In 2000, Washington had 71 NBPTS-certified teachers. Currently, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction projects 5,247 in this school year, and nearly 1,450 2010-11 candidates in process with portfolios due March 31, 2011.

Additionally, the OSPI offers a conditional loan that funds $2,000 of the $2,500 fee for beginning the process of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification. The loan is competitive, and must be repaid once a candidate achieves certification and receives a bonus. The conditional loan was accepted by just under 1,000 candidates in 2009-10, and 800 in 2010-11 candidates.

The maintenance-level budget for fiscal year 2011 assumes 5,022 teachers will receive NBPTS base bonuses of $5,090 per teacher this school year, while 1,353 teachers will receive additional $5,000 NBPTS bonuses for teaching in high poverty schools.

Summary of Bill:

The bill suspends I-732 COLA's for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years for both K-12 and applicable higher education employees. Furthermore, statutory requirements to make up suspended COLA's in the 2011-13 and 2013-15 biennia are eliminated.

Additionally, the bill makes base bonuses for teachers certified under the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) program subject to appropriations in the state omnibus operating appropriations act for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years. It further suspends, for the same time period, NBPTS-certified teacher eligibility for bonuses for teaching in high poverty schools.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Requested on 1/13/2011.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.