BILL REQ. #:  H-2602.1 

READ FIRST TIME 2/28/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to salary bonuses for individuals certified by the national board for professional teaching standards; 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 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 student 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 attain national board certification should be acknowledged and rewarded 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.405 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) 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:
     (a) The annual bonus shall be five thousand two hundred fifty dollars for fiscal year 2008 and five thousand four hundred dollars for fiscal year 2009. Thereafter, the annual bonus shall be an amount established in the omnibus appropriations act, or a pro rata share of that amount subject to the conditions of (b) of this subsection; and
     (b) State appropriations for this bonus may be limited to the amount of funding required to provide the full amount of the bonus to five percent of the certificated instructional staff who are eligible to receive certification from the national board for professional teaching standards. If the percentage of certificated instructional staff who attain certification from the national board for professional teaching standards exceeds five percent of those eligible to attain such certification, and if providing a full bonus to all eligible certificated instructional staff will exceed the amount of funding appropriated by the legislature for the bonuses, each eligible certificated instructional staff shall receive a pro rata share of the amount provided.
     (2) Certificated instructional staff who have attained certification from the national board for professional teaching standards shall be eligible for one or more bonuses in addition to that provided by subsection (1) of this section if the individual:
     (a) 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; and
     (b) Has attained certification from the national board for professional teaching standards in middle level and/or high school level mathematics and/or science and is in a mathematics and/or science 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)(a) of this section is five thousand dollars. The amount of the additional bonus for those meeting the qualifications of subsection (2)(a) and (b) of this section is ten 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.