Continuing Education for Educators.  The Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) adopts rules and creates policies for the preparation and certification of educators.  PESB's statutory duties include specifying the types and kinds of educator certificates to be issued and the conditions for certification.

Every five years, teachers and administrators must renew their certificate by meeting one of the following continuing education requirements:

• complete 100 clock hours or the equivalent in college credit;
• complete four professional growth plans (PGPs); or
• complete a combination of PGPs and clock hours.

PESB approves clock hour providers, who are required to convene a committee to review and approve courses to be offered. PESB also approves certain courses that some certificated staff are required to complete.

Specific Continuing Education Requirements.  For administrators renewing a certificate on or after July 1, 2023, the continuing education must meet the following requirements:

• 10 percent must focus on equity-based school practices;
• 10 percent must focus on the National Professional Standards for Education Leaders (NPSEL); and
• 5 percent must focus on government-to-government relationships with federally recognized tribes.

For teachers renewing a certificate on or after July 1, 2023, 15 percent of continuing education must focus on equity-based school practices.

Required continuing education for administrators and teachers related to equity-based school practice and the NPSEL must be provided by one or more of the following entities, if they are an approved clock hour provider: 

• the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI);
• school districts;
• educational service districts;
• PESB-approved administrator or teacher preparation programs;
• the Association of Washington School Principals; or
• the Washington Education Association.

Required continuing education for administrators and teachers related to government-to-government relationships with federally recognized tribes must be provided by one or more subject matter experts approved by the Governor's Office on Indian Affairs in collaboration with the Tribal Leaders Congress on Education and the Office of Native Education in OSPI.

OSPI and PESB must maintain on their websites a list of approved subject matter experts on government-to-government relationships with federally recognized tribes.

A provider of an administrator or teacher continuing education program focused on equity-based school practices or the NPSEL must publicly post the learning objectives of the program on its website.  If the provider does not have a website it must post the learning objectives of the program in a conspicuous place in the entity's main office and submit a copy of the learning objectives to PESB.

To determine whether providers of administrator and teacher continuing education programs focused on equity-based school practices and on NPSEL are in substantial compliance with requirements related to posting learning objectives and the continuing education program approval standards, OSPI must audit providers as follows:

• an organization or entity that is not a PESB-approved continuing education provider prior to the effective date of the bill must be audited within two years of initial PESB-approval; and
• a representative sample of each of the following categories of approved providers must be audited each year:  (1) PESB-approved educator preparation programs and other college and university programs; (2) school districts, public schools, educational service districts, and any other local, state, or federal agencies; (3) private schools approved by the State Board of Education; and (4) any other organizations or entities.

The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard. PRO: This bill allows PESB to designate providers as opposed to listing specific entities that can offer clock hours, omitting certain clock hour providers.  The bill grandfathers in the providers currently listed in statute.  This bill is a great example of opportunities for cultural competency.  Deadlines could be moved a year to provide more time to complete the government-to-government professional trainings.  The bill corrects prior mistakes but could also bring in youth-focused groups as well.  The standards align well with various private schools' educational philosophies.

None.

PRO: This bill corrects discrepancies in state law that inadvertently left out certain providers of continuing education, including for courses on diversity, equity, and inclusion.  The bill also ensures that standards are met by all clock hour providers through an audit process.  Certain clock hour providers are currently shut out from providing continuing education courses that teachers want and need.  The lack of required hours has already negatively impacted our teachers.
 
OTHER: More clarity and flexibility should be provided for providers that are offering equity-based clock hours.  There are concerns over the lack of oversight of clock hour providers.  High-quality providing of equity-based clock hours is imperative; there needs to be a better system of quality control.  Improvements could be made to the application and approval process, provider complaints, and having PESB perform the audits in the bill.