SENATE BILL REPORT

                                    SB 5525

                            AS OF FEBRUARY 20, 1991

Brief Description:  Requiring teaching experience for teacher educators.

SPONSORS:Senators Bauer, Bailey, Saling and A. Smith.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION

Staff:  Jean Six (786‑7423)

Hearing Dates:February 20, 1991

BACKGROUND:

The climate of the public school classroom and the duties of the public school teacher are evolving as society changes.  The culture and environment in which the children of the 1990s must live and learn has an effect on their behavior and performance in the classroom.  Factors such as the increase in the number of single-parent households, drug and alcohol abuse, and increasing rates of crime, among other things, are changing the nature of the teaching enterprise.

Faculty in the institutions of higher education who are responsible for the preparation of the public school teachers in Washington need to engage in public service by working within the public school classrooms and experiencing for themselves the effects of the cultural and societal changes.

SUMMARY:

In all public institutions of higher education, each faculty member of the school, department, or college of education, and each member of the institution's faculty whose primary teaching responsibility is teaching classes for prospective K-12 teachers, shall spend at least 180 hours every five years teaching in the public schools of the state.  These requirements shall be met as a condition for program approval by the State Board of Education.

The governing board of each of the public institutions shall adopt salary policies to ensure that faculty members fulfilling this public service responsibility are appropriately rewarded for their participation in continuing education.

Appropriation:  none

Revenue:  none

Fiscal Note: requested February 6, 1991