BILL REQ. #: S-0875.2
State of Washington | 61st Legislature | 2009 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/29/09. Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.
AN ACT Relating to conditional funding for teachers to pursue national board for professional teaching standards certification; amending RCW 28A.405.415; adding a new section to chapter 28A.410 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds and declares:
(1) The national board for professional teaching standards has
established high and rigorous standards for what highly accomplished
teachers should know and be able to do in order to increase students'
learning results;
(2) The national board certifies teachers who meet these standards
through a rigorous, performance-based assessment process;
(3) A certificate awarded by the national board attests that a
teacher has met high and rigorous standards and has demonstrated the
ability to make sound professional judgments about how to best meet
students' learning needs and effectively help students meet challenging
academic standards; and
(4) Teachers who pursue national board certification should receive
funding assistance in order to encourage more teachers to pursue
certification for the benefit of Washington students.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 28A.410
RCW to read as follows:
(1) Certificated instructional staff who have met the eligibility
requirements and have applied for certification from the national board
for professional teaching standards shall receive a conditional twenty-five hundred dollars for the assessment fee. The fee shall be an
advance on the first annual bonus under RCW 28A.405.415. The
assessment fee for national certification 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
limitation under RCW 28A.400.200.
(2) Recipients who fail to receive certification after three years
are required to repay the twenty-five hundred dollars. The office of
the superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules to define
the terms for repayment, including applicable fees.
Sec. 3 RCW 28A.405.415 and 2008 c 175 s 2 are each amended to
read as follows:
(1)(a) Except as provided in section 2 of this act, certificated
instructional staff who have attained certification from the national
board for professional teaching standards shall receive a bonus each
year in which they maintain the certification. The bonus shall be
calculated as follows: The annual bonus shall be five thousand dollars
in the 2007-08 school year. Thereafter, the annual bonus shall
increase by inflation.
(b) Certificated instructional staff who receive an advance under
section 2 of this act shall receive the remainder of their first annual
bonus during the first year they are eligible for the bonus under this
section.
(2) Certificated instructional staff who have attained
certification from the national board for professional teaching
standards shall be eligible for bonuses in addition to that provided by
subsection (1) of this section if the individual is in an instructional
assignment in a school in which at least seventy percent of the
students qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program.
(3) The amount of the additional bonus under subsection (2) of this
section for those meeting the qualifications of subsection (2) of this
section is five thousand dollars.
(4) The bonuses provided under this section are 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.
(5) Except for an advance received under section 2 of this act, the
bonuses provided under this section shall be paid in a lump sum amount.