Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
Appropriations Committee
HB 2458
Brief Description: Making experience factor adjustments for certificated instructional staff.
Sponsors: Representatives Rule, Hutchins, Doglio, Rude, Caldier, Timmons, Paul, Couture, Ryu, Peterson, Ortiz-Self and Bateman.
Brief Summary of Bill
  • Defines a process for determining the experience factor for certificated instructional staff salary allocations annually.  
  • Maintains experience factor eligibility in the 2024-25 school year for any school district that was eligible in 2023-24.
  • Gradually reduces experience factors for school districts that lose eligibility beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
Hearing Date: 2/3/24
Staff: James Mackison (786-7104).
Background:

School districts employing certificated instruction staff (CIS) with relatively higher levels of experience and advanced degrees are eligible for an experience factor to be applied to the minimum state salary allocations for CIS generated by prototypical school formulas.   An experience factor of 4 percent is provided to school districts that meet both of the following criteria:  (1) a median years of experience for CIS above the statewide average years of experience for CIS; and (2) a ratio of CIS advanced degrees to bachelor's degrees higher than the statewide ratio.

 

Experience factors were initially assigned for CIS salary allocations from the 2019-20 school year through 2022-23 and were rebased in 2023.  In total 46 districts receive the experience factor in the 2023-24 school year.  School districts eligible in the 2022-23 school year for the experience factor that became ineligible as part of the 2023 rebase received a 2 percent factor in the operating budget for the 2023-24 school year. 
Summary of Bill:

Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, a process for determining the experience factor is defined.  The process includes the following requirements:

  • Eligibility must be determined annually based on annually reported staffing data to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) as of December 31 of the school year preceding the allocation.  
  • Eligibility must be calculated by the OSPI by January 15 each year and lists of the eligible and ineligible school districts must be shared with the fiscal committees of the Legislature and posted on the OSPI website.

 

Experience factors are also defined for school districts not eligible under the criteria of years of experience and ratio of advanced degrees to bachelor's degrees:

  • A school district eligible for the experience factor in the 2023-24 school year maintains eligibility in the 2024-25 school year.
  • Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, any school district that loses the experience factor drops from 4 percent to 2 percent if they were eligible the previous school year.
  • Beginning in the 2026-27 school year, a school district ineligible for two consecutive years no longer receives the experience factor until they regain eligibility.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Available.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.