Background: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Courses. STEM fields are forecasted to continue to be high demand and among the highest-paid and fastest-growing careers. Therefore, there has been interest on the part of the Legislature in promoting STEM courses of study for the benefit of Washington students and employers.

Several state K-12 initiatives have been advanced in recent years to emphasize STEM education, including the creation of a STEM working group; funding STEM coordination at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction; incorporating STEM into career and technical education programs; providing high school level funding to middle schools operating STEM programs; and designating schools with a focus on STEM instruction to serve as lighthouse programs to provide technical assistance for the creation of other schools with a STEM focus.

Advanced Placement (AP) Courses. The AP program allows students to take rigorous college-level courses while still in high school. Students may earn college credit and/or advanced placement into upper-level college courses by taking AP exams. Many colleges and universities recognize AP courses when making admissions decisions.

Certificated Instruction Staff (CIS) Salaries. The Legislature allocates money to each district for employee salaries and associated fringe benefits. In the case of CIS – teachers, counselors, librarians, and other instructional staff requiring certification – the state funding is provided based on a state-salary allocation schedule. An individual’s education level and teaching experience determines the allocation for base salary and those base values are published in each biennial operating budget bill as a state-salary allocation schedule.

The state does not require school districts to pay CIS in accordance with the state-salary allocation schedule. However, the Legislature does limit a school district’s authority to establish salaries for CIS by setting a minimum and an average salary level. The minimum level cannot be less than the minimum on the state-salary allocation schedule for a CIS who has a BA or MA with no years of experience. The rationale for this is to ensure a minimum salary for beginning CIS. In addition, the actual average salary in the district cannot be more than the average salary calculated based on the state allocation schedule. A rationale for this limitation is to prevent districts from paying a few CIS a very high salary and the rest at the minimum. The state funding provided to school districts for CIS salaries is subject to collective bargaining within the state limitations.

Supplemental Pay. School districts may provide supplemental pay for additional time, responsibilities, and incentives (TRI) beyond that provided by the state. The vast majority of supplemental contracts are paid from local revenue. State law provides that supplemental pay contracts must not create any present or future-funding obligation for the state.

Minimum Hours and Days of Annual Instruction for K-12 Students. RCW 28A.150.220 requires that each school district provide a minimum amount of instruction time each school year. For students enrolled in grades 1-12, that must be at least a district-wide annual average of 1000 hours. In 2009, the Legislature enacted changes to this requirement, increasing the annual minimum for students in grades 7-12 to at least 1080 hours to be phased in according to an implementation schedule adopted by the Legislature. The 2011 Legislature added the statutory requirement that implementation must occur not before the 2014-15 school year.

For students in kindergarten, the minimum amount of annual instruction is at least 450 instructional hours, increasing to at least 1000 instructional hours according to the Legislature's phase in for full-day kindergarten by the 2017-18 school year.

Additionally, that statute requires a minimum of 180 school days per school year for grades 1-12, and 180 half-days of instruction in kindergarten, to be increased to 180 full days as full-day kindergarten is phased in by the Legislature.

Exemptions from 1000-Hour and 180-Day Requirements. In accordance with RCW 28A.305.140, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) may grant waivers from basic education program requirements for minimum hours and days of annual instruction on the basis that they are necessary to implement successfully a local plan to provide for all students in the district an effective education system that is designed to enhance the educational program for each student. In accordance with RCW 28A.305.141, waivers may also be granted from the requirement for a 180-day school year, through August 2014, to a limited number of districts meeting certain enrollment criteria that propose to operate schools on a flexible calendar for purposes of economy and efficiency.

Currently, 108 of 295 school districts have been granted waivers under one or more waiver categories.

Summary of Bill: A pilot program is created with the objective of providing exemplary teachers the opportunity to continue to work directly with students in the classroom, serve as mentors and instructors to other teachers, and earn administrator-level compensation.

STEM AP Masters Teacher Pilot. A pilot program is created for STEM AP master teachers with the following objectives:

elevate the status of the STEM and AP teaching profession;
provide exemplary STEM teachers with the opportunity to serve as master teachers and continue to teach their students;
provide an opportunity for these teachers to mentor others; and
provide a career advancement structure that provides administrative-level compensation for these teachers.

The pilot is established for the 2013-14 school year, and starts with five diverse school districts, with each of the five districts having no more than three designated STEM AP master teachers.

In addition to teaching at least one AP course, teaching in their own classrooms, and instructing and mentoring other teachers, the master teachers will work beyond districts' contracted days and be on a year-round calendar; not be subject to the districts' collective bargaining agreement; and receive an annual salary of not less than $100,000.

The criteria is set out for selecting master teachers. The Superintendent of Public Instruction must report to the Governor and the Legislature by December 2014, summarizing the results of the pilot and making a recommendation on whether the pilot should be continued, expanded, or discontinued.

Limits on Locally-Paid CIS Salaries. Current statutory language allowing for locally-paid salary enhancements for TRI and for specific innovation activities is eliminated. Locally-funded salary enhancements for non-basic education functions that are unique to the school district may not exceed 10 percent of the state-allocated salary amount.

Minimum Amount of Annual Instructional Days and Hours. The requirement for a minimum of 180 days of instruction is removed from the basic education definition in RCW 28A.150.220, and the required minimum annual hours of instruction, including planned increases for kindergarten and grades 7-12 is retained. References to the 180-day minimum in various statutes are removed and replaced with a reference to the minimum number of annual instructional hours specified in RCW 28A.150.220.

SBE. SBE's authority to grant waivers from the minimum amount of annual instruction are removed