Background: Certificated Instructional Staff Salary Schedule. The state allocates funding to school districts for certificated instructional staff (CIS) based on a salary schedule that is established each year in the budget bill and is subject to conditions and limitations contained in the budget. Previous salary schedules have contained increments, under which the schedule includes increased salary allocations for CIS staff as they gain additional years of experience or educational credits. Educational credits are eligible for inclusion in the salary schedule if they meet criteria specified in statute.

Summary of Bill: Salary Bonuses for Eligible CIS. The bill provides that in addition to the statewide CIS salary allocations in the state omnibus appropriations act, each school district must receive allocations sufficient to fund a salary bonus equivalent to 10 percent of its base pay for eligible CIS who teach in math, science, or special education. Eligible CIS means a classroom teacher spending at least 50 percent of the teacher's workday in direct classroom and lab instruction or mentor teaching responsibilities in the fields of math or science at the middle, junior, or high school levels, or special education at all grade levels.

Expert Teacher. To receive the salary bonus, individuals must be deemed an expert to teach math, science, or special education according to criteria developed and administered by the Professional Educator Standards Board. In order to receive funding provided by this bill, school districts must certify to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction that they will provide bonuses to the eligible CIS and that funding will not be used to supplant any other state or local funding for compensation of the staff. The annual bonus must be paid in a lump sum amount and must not be included in the definition of earnable compensation under RCW 41.32.010(14).

Implementation Study. The sum of $50,000 is appropriated, or as much thereof as may be necessary, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, from the general fund to the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP) at the Evergreen State College for the purposes of examining the implementation and outcome of the math, science, and special education bonus program established by this bill. The examination must include, but is not limited to, a review of the effect on recruitment and retention of math, science, and special education teachers on a statewide and school district basis; the change in experience and other quality indicators of teaching performance of math, science, and special education instruction; the cost effectiveness of the salary bonus program; and potential changes that would result in more effective math, science, and special education instruction and cost-effectiveness. WSIPP must submit a report to the Governor and appropriate committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2021.

Expiration Date. Salary bonuses expire on June 30, 2022.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony: CON: When the Legislature is addressing compensation for CIS, we should look at the entire system instead. The bill does not take into account the salary schedule and the need for CIS. There is no real need for math and science teachers, but there also is not a surplus of applicants in many districts. Math and science teachers would rather have modern technology and smaller class sizes than an arbitrary raise. The Legislature should put in place the recommendations of the compensation taskforce instead. Career and technical education and foreign languages are the two areas most impacted by staffing shortages at the moment and are both in high market demand, but this bill does not target them.

OTHER: Districts have been developing compensation bonuses for years to try and retain special education staff. Districts are now contracting with agencies to outsource education at twice the cost of a normal educator, proving that there are shortages in staff.