H-4784.1

HOUSE BILL 2937

State of Washington
66th Legislature
2020 Regular Session
ByRepresentatives Dolan, Chapman, Riccelli, Ryu, Shewmake, and Santos
Read first time 02/12/20.Referred to Committee on Appropriations.
AN ACT Relating to creating a three-tiered salary schedule for certificated instructional staff; and amending RCW 28A.150.410 and 28A.150.412.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 28A.150.410 and 2018 c 266 s 202 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Through the 2017-18 school year, the legislature shall establish for each school year in the appropriations act a statewide salary allocation schedule, for allocation purposes only, to be used to distribute funds for basic education certificated instructional staff salaries under RCW 28A.150.260. For the purposes of this section, the staff allocations for classroom teachers, teacher-librarians, guidance counselors, and student health services staff under RCW 28A.150.260 are considered allocations for certificated instructional staff.
(2) Through the 2017-18 school year, salary allocations for state-funded basic education certificated instructional staff shall be calculated by the superintendent of public instruction by determining the district's average salary for certificated instructional staff, using the statewide salary allocation schedule and related documents, conditions, and limitations established by the omnibus appropriations act.
(3) Through the 2017-18 school year, no more than ninety college quarter-hour credits received by any employee after the baccalaureate degree may be used to determine compensation allocations under the state salary allocation schedule and LEAP documents referenced in the omnibus appropriations act, or any replacement schedules and documents, unless:
(a) The employee has a master's degree; or
(b) The credits were used in generating state salary allocations before January 1, 1992.
(4) Beginning in the 2007-08 school year and through the 2017-18 school year, the calculation of years of service for occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, and psychologists regulated under Title 18 RCW may include experience in schools and other nonschool positions as occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, nurses, social workers, counselors, or psychologists. The calculation shall be that one year of service in a nonschool position counts as one year of service for purposes of this chapter, up to a limit of two years of nonschool service. Nonschool years of service included in calculations under this subsection shall not be applied to service credit totals for purposes of any retirement benefit under chapter 41.32, 41.35, or 41.40 RCW, or any other state retirement system benefits.
(5)(a) By the 2018-19 school year, the minimum state allocation for salaries for certificated instructional staff in the basic education program must be increased to provide a statewide average allocation of sixty-four thousand dollars adjusted for inflation from the 2017-18 school year except as provided in (b) of this subsection.
(b) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the average salary allocation for a district's certificated instructional staff in the basic education program must be based on a three-tiered salary schedule that provides the sum of (b)(i), (ii), and (iii) of this subsection, if the amount to be provided to a district under this subsection (5)(b) is greater than the allocation under (a) of this subsection (5) adjusted for the district's experience factor under RCW 28A.150.412(2)(c).
(i) An experienced tier average allocation of greater than sixty-four thousand dollars adjusted for inflation from the 2017-18 school year multiplied by the district's percentage of certificated instructional staff with an advanced degree and more than fifteen years of experience.
(ii) A middle tier average allocation of sixty-four thousand dollars adjusted for inflation from the 2017-18 school year multiplied by the district's percentage of certificated instructional staff with an advanced degree and greater than or equal to five years and less than fifteen years of experience, or a bachelor's degree and greater than or equal to ten years of experience.
(iii) A lower tier average allocation of less than sixty-four thousand dollars adjusted for inflation from the 2017-18 school year multiplied by the district's percentage of certificated instructional staff with an advanced degree and less than five years of experience, or a bachelor's degree and less than ten years of experience.
(iv) Districts receiving salary allocations based on the three-tiered schedule in this subsection (5)(b) may not receive the experience factor adjustment under RCW 28A.150.412(2)(c).
(c) Average salary allocations for the experienced and lower tiers may be established in the omnibus appropriations act. The superintendent of public instruction must collect the staffing information necessary from districts to calculate the district's average salary under (b) of this subsection (5) based on the three-tiered salary schedule for certificated instructional staff.
(6) By the 2018-19 school year, the minimum state allocation for salaries for certificated administrative staff in the basic education program must be increased to provide a statewide average allocation of ninety-five thousand dollars adjusted for inflation from the 2017-18 school year.
(7) By the 2018-19 school year, the minimum state allocation for salaries for classified staff in the basic education program must be increased to provide a statewide average allocation of forty-five thousand nine hundred twelve dollars adjusted by inflation from the 2017-18 school year.
(8) For school year 2018-19, a district's minimum state allocation for salaries is the greater of the district's 2017-18 state salary allocation, adjusted for inflation, or the district's allocation based on the state salary level specified in subsections (5) through (7) of this section, and as further specified in the omnibus appropriations act.
(9) Beginning with the 2018-19 school year, state allocations for salaries for certificated instructional staff, certificated administrative staff, and classified staff must be adjusted for regional differences in the cost of hiring staff. Adjustments for regional differences must be specified in the omnibus appropriations act for each school year through at least school year 2022-23. For school years 2018-19 through school year 2022-23, the school district regionalization factors are based on the median single-family residential value of each school district and proximate school district median single-family residential value as described in RCW 28A.150.412.
(10) Beginning with the 2023-24 school year and every four years thereafter, the minimum state salary allocations and school district regionalization factors for certificated instructional staff, certificated administrative staff, and classified staff must be reviewed and rebased, as provided under RCW 28A.150.412, to ensure that state salary allocations continue to align with staffing costs for the state's program of basic education.
(11) For the purposes of this section, "inflation" has the meaning provided in RCW 28A.400.205 for "inflationary adjustment index."
Sec. 2. RCW 28A.150.412 and 2018 c 266 s 203 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Beginning with the 2023 regular legislative session, and every four years thereafter, the legislature shall review and rebase state basic education compensation allocations compared to school district compensation data, regionalization factors, what inflationary measure is the most representative of actual market experience for school districts, and other economic information. The legislature shall revise the minimum allocations, regionalization factors, and inflationary measure if necessary to ensure that state basic education allocations continue to provide market-rate salaries and that regionalization adjustments reflect actual economic differences between school districts.
(2)(a) For school districts with single-family residential values above the statewide median residential value, regionalization factors for school years 2018-19 through school year 2022-23 are as follows:
(i) For school districts in tercile 1, state salary allocations for school district employees are regionalized by six percent;
(ii) For school districts in tercile 2, state salary allocations for school district employees are regionalized by twelve percent; and
(iii) For school districts in tercile 3, state salary allocations for school district employees are regionalized by eighteen percent.
(b) In addition to the regionalization factors specified in (a) of this subsection, school districts located west of the crest of the Cascade mountains and sharing a boundary with any school district with a regionalization factor more than one tercile higher, are regionalized by six additional percentage points.
(c) ((In))Subject to RCW 28A.150.410(5)(b), in addition to the regionalization factors specified in this subsection, for school districts that have certificated instructional staff median years of experience that exceed the statewide average certificated instructional staff years of experience and a ratio of certificated instructional staff advanced degrees to bachelor degrees above the statewide ratio, an experience factor of four percentage points is added to the regionalization factor, beginning in the 2019-20 school year.
(d) Additional school district adjustments are identified in the omnibus appropriations act, and these adjustments are partially reduced or eliminated by the 2022-23 school year as follows:
(i) Adjustments that increase the regionalization factor to a value that is greater than the tercile 3 regionalization factor must be reduced by two percentage points each school year beginning with school year 2020-21, through 2022-23.
(ii) Adjustments that increase the regionalization factor to a value that is less than or equal to the tercile 3 regionalization factor must be reduced by one percentage point each school year beginning with school year 2020-21, through 2022-23.
(3) To aid the legislature in reviewing and rebasing regionalization factors, the department of revenue shall, by November 1, 2022, and by November 1st every four years thereafter, determine the median single-family residential value of each school district as well as the median value of proximate districts within fifteen miles of the boundary of the school district for which the median residential value is being calculated.
(4) No district may receive less state funding for the minimum state salary allocation as compared to its prior school year salary allocation as a result of adjustments that reflect updated regionalized salaries.
(5) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(a) "Median residential value of each school district" means the median value of all single-family residential parcels included within a school district and any other school district that is proximate to the school district.
(b) "Proximate to the school district" means within fifteen miles of the boundary of the school district for which the median residential value is being calculated.
(c) "School district employees" means state-funded certificated instructional staff, certificated administrative staff, and classified staff.
(d) "School districts in tercile 1" means school districts with median single-family residential values in the first tercile of districts with single-family residential values above the statewide median residential value.
(e) "School districts in tercile 2" means school districts with median single-family residential values in the second tercile of districts with single-family residential values above the statewide median residential value.
(f) "School districts in tercile 3" means school districts with median single-family residential values in the third tercile of districts with single-family residential values above the statewide median residential value.
(g) "Statewide median residential value" means the median value of single-family residential parcels located within all school districts, reduced by five percent.
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