AN
ACT Relating to the professional educator standards board; and amending RCW
28A.410.200 and 28A.410.220.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
28A.410.200 and 2000 c 39 s 102 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)(a)
The Washington professional educator standards board is created, consisting of
nineteen members to be appointed by the governor to four-year terms and the
superintendent of public instruction, who shall be an ex officio, nonvoting
member.
(b)
As the four-year terms of the first appointees expire or vacancies to the board
occur for the first time, the governor shall appoint or reappoint the members
of the board to one-year to four-year staggered terms. Once the one-year to
three-year terms expire, all subsequent terms shall be for four years, with the
terms expiring on June 30th of the applicable year. The terms shall be
staggered in such a way that, where possible, the terms of members representing
a specific group do not expire simultaneously.
(c)
No person may serve as a member of the board for more than two consecutive full
four-year terms.
(d)
The governor shall annually appoint the chair of the board from among the
teachers and principals on the board. No board member may serve as chair for
more than two consecutive years.
(2)
Seven of the members shall be public school teachers, one shall be a private
school teacher, three shall represent higher education educator preparation
programs, four shall be school administrators, two shall be educational staff
associates, one shall be a parent, and one shall be a member of the public.
(3)
Public school teachers appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington public school;
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position; and
(c)
Include one teacher currently teaching at the elementary school level, one at
the middle school level, one at the high school level, and one vocationally
certificated.
(4)
Private school teachers appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington approved
private school; and
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position in an
approved private school.
(5)
Appointees from higher education educator preparation programs must include two
representatives from institutions of higher education as defined in RCW
28B.10.016 and one representative from an institution of higher education as
defined in RCW 28B.07.020(4).
(6)
School administrators appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of administrative experience in a Washington public
school district;
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in a school administrator
position; and
(c)
Include two public school principals, one Washington approved private school
principal, and one superintendent.
(7)
Educational staff associates appointed to the board must:
(a)
Have at least three years of educational staff associate experience in a
Washington public school district; and
(b)
Be currently certificated and actively employed in an educational staff
associate position.
(8)
Each major caucus of the house of representatives and the senate shall submit a
list of at least one public school teacher. In making the public school
teacher appointments, the governor shall select one nominee from each list
provided by each caucus. The governor shall appoint the remaining members of
the board from a list of qualified nominees submitted to the governor by
organizations representative of the constituencies of the board, from
applications from other qualified individuals, or from both nominees and
applicants.
(9)
All appointments to the board made by the governor shall be subject to
confirmation by the senate.
(10)
The governor shall appoint the members of the initial board no later than June
1, 2000.
(11)
In appointing board members, the governor shall consider the diversity of the
population of the state.
(12)
Each member of the board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240
and shall be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in carrying out the duties
of the board in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
(13)
The governor may remove a member of the board for neglect of duty, misconduct,
malfeasance or misfeasance in office, or for incompetency or unprofessional
conduct as defined in chapter 18.130 RCW. In such a case, the governor shall
file with the secretary of state a statement of the causes for and the order of
removal from office, and the secretary of state shall send a certified copy of
the statement of causes and order of removal to the last known post office address
of the member.
(14)
If a vacancy occurs on the board, the governor shall appoint a replacement
member from the nominees as specified in subsection (8) of this section to fill
the remainder of the unexpired term. When filling a vacancy of a member nominated
by a major caucus of the legislature, the governor shall select the new member
from a list of at least one name submitted by the same caucus that provided the
list from which the retiring member was appointed.
(15)
Members of the board shall hire an executive director and an administrative
assistant to reside in the office of the superintendent of public instruction
for administrative purposes only.
Sec.
2. RCW
28A.410.220 and 2000 c 39 s 201 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)(a)
Beginning not later than September 1, 2001, the Washington professional
educator standards board shall make available and pilot a means of assessing an
applicant's knowledge in the basic skills. For the purposes of this section,
"basic skills" means the subjects of at least reading, writing, and
mathematics. Beginning September 1, 2002, except as provided in (c) of this
subsection and subsection (3) of this section, passing this assessment shall be
required for admission to approved teacher preparation programs and for persons
from out-of-state applying for a Washington state residency teaching
certificate.
(b)
On an individual student basis, approved teacher preparation programs may admit
into their programs a candidate who has not achieved the minimum basic skills
assessment score established by the Washington professional educator standards
board. Individuals so admitted may not receive residency certification without
passing the basic skills assessment under this section.
(c)
The Washington professional educator standards board may establish criteria to
ensure that persons from out-of-state who are applying for residency
certification and persons applying to master's degree level teacher preparation
programs can demonstrate to the board's satisfaction that they have the
requisite basic skills based upon having completed another basic skills
assessment acceptable to the Washington professional educator standards board
or by some other alternative approved by the Washington professional educator
standards board.
(2)
Beginning not later than September 1, 2002, the Washington professional
educator standards board shall provide for the initial piloting and
implementation of a means of assessing an applicant's knowledge in the subjects
for which the applicant has applied for an endorsement to his or her residency
or professional teaching certificate. The assessment of subject knowledge
shall not include instructional methodology. Beginning September 1, ((2003))
2005, passing this assessment shall be required to receive an
endorsement for certification purposes.
(3)
The Washington professional educator standards board may permit exceptions from
the assessment requirements under subsections (1) and (2) of this section on a
case-by-case basis.
(4)
The Washington professional educator standards board shall provide for
reasonable accommodations for individuals who are required to take the
assessments in subsection (1) or (2) of this section if the individuals have
learning or other disabilities.
(5)
With the exception of applicants exempt from the requirements of subsections
(1) and (2) of this section, an applicant must achieve a minimum assessment
score or scores established by the Washington professional educator standards
board on each of the assessments under subsections (1) and (2) of this section.
(6)
The Washington professional educator standards board and superintendent of
public instruction, as determined by the Washington professional educator
standards board, may contract with one or more third parties for:
(a)
The development, purchase, administration, scoring, and reporting of scores of
the assessments established by the Washington professional educator standards
board under subsections (1) and (2) of this section;
(b)
Related clerical and administrative activities; or
(c)
Any combination of the purposes in this subsection.
(7)
Applicants for admission to a Washington teacher preparation program and
applicants for residency and professional certificates who are required to successfully
complete one or more of the assessments under subsections (1) and (2) of this
section, and who are charged a fee for the assessment by a third party
contracted with under subsection (6) of this section, shall pay the fee charged
by the contractor directly to the contractor. Such fees shall be reasonably
related to the actual costs of the contractor in providing the assessment.
(8)
The superintendent of public instruction is responsible for supervision and
providing support services to administer this section.
(9)
The Washington professional educator standards board shall collaboratively
select or develop and implement the assessments and minimum assessment scores
required under this section with the superintendent of public instruction and
shall provide opportunities for representatives of other interested educational
organizations to participate in the selection or development and implementation
of such assessments in a manner deemed appropriate by the Washington
professional educator standards board.
(10)
The Washington professional educator standards board shall adopt rules under
chapter 34.05 RCW that are reasonably necessary for the effective and efficient
implementation of this section.
