BILL REQ. #:  H-3993.1 

Read first time 01/12/2006.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to advanced certification and education for teachers; amending RCW 28A.410.250; adding a new section to chapter 28A.405 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that advanced certification and education for teachers should focus on deepening teachers' knowledge in the academic content area in which they instruct. The legislature further finds that current professional certification programs fail to provide adequate focus on academic content, instead offering general and often repetitive coursework in classroom management, learning theory, personal growth, and other topics. Moreover, professional certification programs vary widely depending on the college or university offering them. Professional certification does not provide sufficient additional value to a teacher's knowledge and skills to warrant being required of all teachers. Therefore the legislature intends to remove the mandate of professional certification for teachers and replace it with an incentive for teachers to obtain advanced education in a specific content area.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.410.250 and 2005 c 498 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     The ((agency responsible for educator certification)) professional educator standards board shall adopt rules for professional certification that:
     (1) Authorize but do not require teachers to seek or obtain professional certification as an advanced level of certification;
     (2) Provide for a uniform and standard program, activities, and expectations for all approved professional certification programs;
     (3) Provide maximum program choice for applicants((, promote portability among programs,)) and promote maximum efficiency for applicants in attaining professional certification;
     (((2) Require professional certification no earlier than the fifth year following the year that the teacher first completes provisional status, with an automatic two-year extension upon enrollment;
     (3))) (4) Grant professional certification to any teacher who attains certification from the national board for professional teaching standards;
     (((4))) (5) Permit any teacher currently enrolled in or participating in a program leading to professional certification to continue the program under administrative rules in place when the teacher began the program;
     (((5))) (6) Provide criteria for the approval of educational service districts, beginning no later than August 31, 2007, to offer programs leading to professional certification. The rules shall be written to encourage institutions of higher education and educational service districts to partner with local school districts or consortia of school districts, as appropriate, to provide instruction for teachers seeking professional certification;
     (((6) Encourage)) (7) Require institutions of higher education to offer professional certificate coursework as continuing education credit hours. This shall not prevent an institution of higher education from providing the option of including the professional certification requirements as part of a master's degree program;
     (((7))) (8) Provide criteria for a liaison relationship between approved programs and school districts in which applicants are employed;
     (((8))) (9) Identify an expedited professional certification process for out-of-state teachers who have five years or more of successful teaching experience to demonstrate skills and impact on student learning commensurate with Washington requirements for professional certification. The rules may require these teachers, ((within one year of the time they begin to teach in the state's public schools,)) if they seek professional certification, to take a course in or show evidence that they can teach to the state's essential academic learning requirements; and
     (((9))) (10) Identify an evaluation process of approved programs that includes a review of the program coursework and applicant coursework load requirements, linkages of programs to individual teacher professional growth plans, linkages to school district and school improvement plans, and, to the extent possible, linkages to school district professional enrichment and growth programs for teachers, where such programs are in place in school districts. ((The agency shall provide a preliminary report on the evaluation process to the senate and house of representatives committees on education policy by November 1, 2005. The board shall identify:
     (a) A process for awarding conditional approval of a program that shall include annual evaluations of the program until the program is awarded full approval;
     (b) A less intensive evaluation cycle every three years once a program receives full approval unless the responsible agency has reason to intensify the evaluation;
     (c) A method for investigating programs that have received numerous complaints from students enrolled in the program and from those recently completing the program;
     (d) A method for investigating programs at the reasonable discretion of the agency; and
     (e) A method for using, in the evaluation, both program completer satisfaction responses and data on the impact of educators who have obtained professional certification on student work and achievement.))

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.405 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Effective September 1, 2006, certificated instructional staff who have attained a master's or doctorate degree in an academic content area that is directly aligned with one of the endorsements issued to their teaching certificate shall receive an annual bonus. Certificated instructional staff who attain such an advanced degree after September 1, 2006, shall receive the annual bonus beginning the school year immediately following attainment of the degree.
     (2) The bonus under this section is provided in addition to compensation received under a district's salary schedule adopted in accordance with RCW 28A.405.200 and shall not be included in calculations of a district's average salary and associated salary limitations under RCW 28A.400.200. The bonus is not part of basic education.
     (3) The bonus shall be paid in monthly increments and shall be included in the definition of "earnable compensation" under RCW 41.32.010. The annual amount of the bonus shall be three thousand five hundred dollars, prorated for less than full-time employment.
     (4) The professional educator standards board shall adopt rules defining the alignment of academic degrees and endorsement areas.