AN ACT Relating to base compensation hours for teachers; amending RCW 28A.400.200 and 41.59.105; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that full-time certificated staff in our state's K-12 public schools work a full-time job in a substantially compressed one hundred eighty-day traditional calendar. National and state research affirms that our K-12 teachers, teaching a full-time load, work in excess of one thousand six hundred fifty hours per year. These employees are not part-time workers as is often perceived by the public. Rather, these are full-time jobs on a compressed schedule, averaging nine and one-half hours per day of work.

Therefore, the legislature intends to define the full-time nature of this work in these time standards as part of the state's program of basic education.

Sec. 2. RCW 28A.400.200 and 2018 c 266 s 205 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Every school district board of directors shall fix, alter, allow, and order paid salaries and compensation for all district employees in conformance with this section.

(2)(a) Through the 2017-18 school year, salaries for certificated instructional staff shall not be less than the salary provided in the appropriations act in the statewide salary allocation schedule for an employee with a baccalaureate degree and zero years of service;

(b) Salaries for certificated instructional staff with a master's degree shall not be less than the salary provided in the appropriations act in the statewide salary allocation schedule for an employee with a master's degree and zero years of service; and

(i) Salaries for full-time certificated instructional staff must not be less than forty thousand dollars, to be adjusted for regional differences in the cost of hiring staff as specified in RCW 28A.150.410, and to be adjusted annually by the same inflationary measure as provided in RCW 28A.400.205;

(ii) Salaries for full-time certificated instructional staff with at least five years of experience must exceed by at least ten percent the value specified in (c)(i) of this subsection;

(iii) A district may not pay full-time certificated instructional staff a salary that exceeds ninety thousand dollars, subject to adjustment for regional differences in the cost of hiring staff as specified in RCW 28A.150.410. This maximum salary is adjusted annually by the inflationary measure in RCW 28A.400.205;

(iv) These minimum and maximum salaries apply to the services provided as part of the state's statutory program of basic education and exclude supplemental contracts for additional time, responsibility, or incentive pursuant to this section or for enrichment pursuant to RCW 28A.150.276;

(v) A district may pay a salary that exceeds this maximum salary by up to ten percent for full-time certificated instructional staff: Who are educational staff associates; who teach in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, or math; or who teach in the transitional bilingual instruction or special education programs.

(3)(a)(i) Through the 2017-18 school year the actual average salary paid to certificated instructional staff shall not exceed the district's average certificated instructional staff salary used for the state basic education allocations for that school year as determined pursuant to RCW 28A.150.410.

(ii) For the 2018-19 school year, salaries for certificated instructional staff are subject to the limitations in RCW 41.59.800.

(iii) Beginning with the 2019-20 school year, for purposes of ((subsection (4) of this section,)) RCW 28A.150.276((,)) and 28A.505.100, each school district must annually identify the actual salary paid to each certificated instructional staff for services rendered as part of the state's program of basic education.

(b) Through the 2018-19 school year, fringe benefit contributions for certificated instructional staff shall be included as salary under (a)(i) of this subsection only to the extent that the district's actual average benefit contribution exceeds the amount of the insurance benefits allocation, less the amount remitted by districts to the health care authority for retiree subsidies, provided per certificated instructional staff unit in the state operating appropriations act in effect at the time the compensation is payable. For purposes of this section, fringe benefits shall not include payment for unused leave for illness or injury under RCW 28A.400.210; employer contributions for old age survivors insurance, workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, and retirement benefits under the Washington state retirement system; or employer contributions for health benefits in excess of the insurance benefits allocation provided per certificated instructional staff unit in the state operating appropriations act in effect at the time the compensation is payable. A school district may not use state funds to provide employer contributions for such excess health benefits.

(c) Salary and benefits for certificated instructional staff in programs other than basic education shall be consistent with the salary and benefits paid to certificated instructional staff in the basic education program.

(d) Base compensation hours for full-time certificated instructional staff shall be:

(i) One thousand hours of direct instructional time with students;

(ii) Four hundred hours of structured in-building time. This time may include direct instruction, planning time, grading time, professional development, and other responsibilities as directed by building principals that are consistent with the school district's strategic plan and the school improvement plan defined for that school; and

(iii) Two hundred fifty hours of additional time outside of the building at the discretion of the individual certificated staff member.

(4)(a) Salaries and benefits for certificated instructional staff may exceed the limitations in subsection (3) of this section only by separate contract for additional time, for additional responsibilities, or for incentives. Supplemental contracts shall not cause the state to incur any present or future funding obligation. Supplemental contracts must be accounted for by a school district when the district is developing its four-year budget plan under RCW 28A.505.040.

(b) Supplemental contracts shall be subject to the collective bargaining provisions of chapter 41.59 RCW and the provisions of RCW 28A.405.240, shall not exceed one year, and if not renewed shall not constitute adverse change in accordance with RCW 28A.405.300 through 28A.405.380. No district may enter into a supplemental contract under this subsection for the provision of services which are a part of the basic education program required by Article IX, section 1 of the state Constitution and RCW 28A.150.220.

(c)(i) Beginning September 1, 2019, supplemental contracts for certificated instructional staff are subject to the following additional restrictions: School districts may enter into supplemental contracts only for enrichment activities as defined in and subject to the limitations of RCW 28A.150.276, and only for hours, duties, and responsibilities in addition to the base compensation hours under subsection (3)(d) of this section.

(ii) For a supplemental contract, or portion of a supplemental contract, that is time-based, the hourly rate the district pays may not exceed the hourly rate provided to that same instructional staff ((for services)) under ((the basic education salary identified under subsection (3)(a)(iii) of this section))their base contract. For a supplemental contract, or portion of a supplemental contract that is not time-based, the contract must document the additional duties, responsibilities, or incentives that are being funded in the contract.

(5) Employee benefit plans offered by any district shall comply with RCW 28A.400.350, 28A.400.275, and 28A.400.280.

Sec. 3. RCW 41.59.105 and 2017 3rd sp.s. c 13 s 818 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) All collective bargaining agreements entered into between a school district employer and school district employees under this chapter after June 10, 2010, as well as bargaining agreements existing on June 10, 2010, but renewed or extended after June 10, 2010, shall be consistent with RCW 28A.657.050.

(2) All collective bargaining agreements entered into between a school district employer and school district employees under this chapter shall be consistent with RCW 28A.400.280 and 28A.400.350, and must incorporate the time requirements under RCW 28A.400.200(3)(d).

(3) Employee bargaining shall be initiated after July 1, 2018, over the dollar amount to be contributed beginning January 1, 2020, on behalf of each employee for health care benefits. Bargaining must subsequently be conducted in even-numbered years between the governor or governor's designee and one coalition of all the exclusive bargaining representatives impacted by benefit purchasing with the school employees' benefits board established in RCW 41.05.740, consistent with RCW 28A.400.280 and 28A.400.350. The coalition bargaining must follow the model initially established for state employees in RCW 41.80.020.

(4) The governor shall submit a request for funds necessary to implement the collective bargaining agreement for the dollar amount to be expended for school employee health benefits, or for legislation necessary to implement the agreement. A request for funds shall not be submitted to the legislature by the governor unless such request:

(a) Has been submitted to the director of the office of financial management by October 1st prior to the legislative session at which the request is to be considered; and

(b) Has been certified by the director of the office of financial management as being feasible financially for the state.

The legislature shall approve or reject the submission of the request for funds. The legislature shall not consider a request for funds unless the request is transmitted to the legislature as part of the governor's budget document submitted under RCW 43.88.030 and 43.88.060.

If the legislature rejects or fails to act on the submission, either party may reopen all or part of the agreement. However, if the director of the office of financial management does not certify a request under this section as being feasible financially for the state, the parties shall enter into collective bargaining solely for the purpose of reaching a mutually agreed upon modification of the agreement necessary to address the absence of those requested funds. The legislature may act upon the health care benefit provisions of the modified collective bargaining agreement if those provisions are agreed upon and submitted to the office of financial management and legislative budget committees before final legislative action on the biennial or supplemental operating budget. If the legislature rejects or fails to act on the submission, either party may reopen all or part of the agreement.

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