SENATE BILL REPORT

                                    SB 5698

           AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, FEBRUARY 27, 1991

Brief Description:  Changing provisions relating to teacher training and recruitment.

SPONSORS:Senators Bauer, Craswell, Rinehart, von Reichbauer and Skratek; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Majority Report:  That Substitute Senate Bill No. 5698 be substituted therefor, and the substitute bill do pass and be referred to Committee on Ways & Means.

      Signed by Senators Bailey, Chairman; Erwin, Vice Chairman; Craswell, Murray, Oke, Pelz, Rinehart, A. Smith, and Talmadge. 

Staff:  Susan Mosborg (786‑7439)

Hearing Dates:February 20, 1991; February 27, 1991

BACKGROUND:

Over the last several years, the Legislature has passed several bills dealing with teacher recruitment and training, including measures for minority teacher recruitment, creation of a paraprofessional degree program, placing student teachers in rural school districts, providing cooperating teachers for student teachers, and providing mentor teachers for beginning teachers.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction proposes consolidating such programs at the educational service district (ESD) level to help ensure their funding and provide more efficient use of teacher recruitment and training resources.

SUMMARY:

Centers for Improvement of Teaching.  Each ESD shall establish a Center for the Improvement of Teaching.  The centers shall administer, coordinate, and act as fiscal agent for programs related to the recruitment and training of K-12 personnel.  To assist in these activities, each ESD shall establish an Improvement of Teaching Coordinating Council, which shall include representatives of school administrators, certificated and classified school personnel, the public, and higher education institutions.

Minority Teacher Recruitment Program.  An aspect of the Washington State Minority Teacher recruitment program is implemented by providing for tuition assistance to classified school district classroom assistants who are members of groups traditionally under-represented in the teaching profession in Washington.

Paraprofessional Training.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction may grant funds to ESDs or school districts, or both, to develop a 25-hour training program for classroom assistants.  Application requirements are provided.

Student Teaching Centers. The State Board of Education shall establish a network of at least one Student Teaching Center in each ESD.  The purpose of the centers shall be to expand opportunities for student teacher placements in school districts statewide, provide cooperating teachers for all student teachers, and enhance the quality of student teaching programs.  The Student Teaching Centers shall be developed jointly by at least one school district, one college or university, and one ESD.  The ESD or the higher education institution may serve as fiscal agent.  Each center shall receive funds based on its share of the state's student teaching placements. 

Language regarding cooperating teachers under the Excellence in Teacher Preparation program (RCW 28A.625.420) is repealed and reenacted without substantive change.

Special Needs Tuition Assistance Program.  The Special Needs Tuition Assistance Program is created.  Each ESD shall recommend to the State Board of Education on a yearly basis the subject matter or instructional specialty area or areas in which staffing shortages exist.  The State Board shall review the ESD recommendations, and upon board approval, SPI shall allocate available funds to the ESD for tuition assistance.

EFFECT OF PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE:

Sections of the bill regarding the minority teacher recruitment program, paraprofessional training, student teaching centers, and the special needs tuition assistance programs are deleted.  The section establishing the Centers for the Improvement of Teaching is retained.

The Centers for the Improvement of Teaching are responsible for coordinating and administering in-service training, the teacher assistance program, the minority teacher recruitment program, paraprofessional training programs, student teaching centers, special needs tuition assistance and other programs as may be delegated to the centers by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI).

The appropriation of $11,023,000 is reduced to $867,000.  $837,000 is provided for the Centers for the Improvement of Teaching.  $30,000 is provided for an ongoing, formal evaluation of the program's effectiveness in improving teacher recruitment and performance.

Appropriation:  $867,000 to the Superintendent of Public Instruction

Revenue:  none

Fiscal Note:  requested February 14, 1991

TESTIMONY FOR:

The bill establishes a continuum of teacher training and recruitment programs to provide career teacher training.  Representation on each center's advisory council links K-12 education and higher education.

Paraprofessional training programs such as the Futures Program, a collaboration between the Yakima School District and Washington State University, have been very successful.  The student teaching pilot projects have also been very successful, especially at increasing collaboration among educational service districts (ESDs), school districts, and higher education institutions, and at placing student teachers in rural areas.

It is often difficult for districts to provide teacher training by themselves, especially in rapidly growing programs.  Cooperating makes it cost effective.

The bill has support from across the state.  ESDs like it because it allows them to provide additional training programs not specifically included in the bill, but now being experimented with, under one, coordinated, comprehensive training program. 

The bill provides for needed teacher training, recruiting minority teachers who can serve as role models, paraprofessional training, and a simple way to identify unmet staffing needs.

TESTIMONY AGAINST:  None

TESTIFIED:  PRO:  Senator Bauer; Marcia Costello, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; Silvia Negrete, Yakima School District; Selinda Gongora, student teacher; Margaret Habecker, cooperating teacher; Robert Harder, Washington State University; Marie Pickle, North Mason School District; Jim Miller, ESD 112; Fay Page, Washington State PTA; Dwayne Slate, Washington State School Directors' Association