S-145                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5246

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Senators Gaspard, Bailey, Rinehart, Saling, Patterson, Bauer, Bender, Warnke, Craswell, Smitherman, Johnson, Anderson, Conner, Garrett and Moore

Read first time 1/21/87 and referred to Committee on Education.

AN ACT Relating to excellence in teacher preparation; adding new sections to chapter 28A.04 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     Sections 2 through 5 of this act may be known and cited as the Washington award for excellence in teacher preparation program act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.04 RCW to read as follows:

          (1) The state board of education shall establish an annual award program for excellence in teacher preparation to recognize higher education teacher educators for their leadership, contributions, and commitment to education.

          (2) The program shall recognize annually one teacher preparation faculty member from one of the teacher preparation programs approved by the state board of education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.04 RCW to read as follows:

          The award for the teacher educator shall include:

          (1) A certificate presented to the teacher educator by the governor, the president of the state board of education, and the superintendent of public instruction at a public ceremony; and

          (2) A grant to the teacher program unit of the institution from which the teacher educator is selected, which grant shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars and which grant shall be awarded under section 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.04 RCW to read as follows:

          The state board of education shall adopt rules under chapter 34.04 RCW to carry out the purposes of sections 2 through 5 of this act.  These rules shall include establishing the selection criteria for the Washington award for excellence in teacher preparation  program.  The state board of education is encouraged to consult with teacher educators, deans, and program unit members in developing the selection criteria.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 28A.04 RCW to read as follows:

          The teacher program unit for the institution from which the teacher educator has been selected to receive an award shall be eligible to apply for an educational grant as provided under section 3 of this act.  The state board of education shall award the grant after the state board has approved the grant application as long as the written grant application is submitted to the state board within one year after the award is received by the teacher educator.  The grant application shall identify the educational purpose toward which the grant shall be used.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.     The sum of five thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1989, from the general fund to the state board of education for the purpose of this act.