S-2027               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 5622

                        _______________________________________________

                                                                            C 507 L 87

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Senators Gaspard, Smitherman, Bauer and Bender; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education)

Read first time 2/24/87.

AN ACT Relating to teachers; amending section 1, chapter 399, Laws of 1985 (uncodified); adding a new section to chapter 28A.67 RCW; repealing section 3, chapter 399, Laws of 1985 (uncodified); declaring an emergency; and providing an effective date.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 399, Laws of 1985 (uncodified) is amended to read as follows:

          The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules to establish and operate a ((beginning teachers)) teacher assistance ((pilot)) program ((to operate during the first year after this section takes effect for one hundred mentor teachers and during the second year after this section takes effect for up to one thousand mentor teachers.  The results of the program shall be reported to the legislature not later than two and one-half years from the effective date of this section)).  For the purposes of this section, the terms "mentor teachers," "beginning teachers," and experienced teachers may include any person possessing any one of the various certificates issued by the superintendent of public instruction under RCW 28A.70.005.  The program shall provide for:

          (1) Assistance by ((a)) mentor teachers who will provide a source of continuing and sustained support to ((a)) beginning teachers, or experienced teachers, or both, both in and outside the classroom.  ((Mentor teachers shall be selected so as to represent a reasonable distribution throughout all nine educational service districts)) A mentor teacher may not be involved in evaluations under RCW 28A.67.065 of a teacher who receives assistance from said mentor teacher under the teacher assistance program established under this chapter.  The mentor teachers shall also periodically inform their principals respecting the contents of training sessions and other program activities;

          (2) Stipends for mentor teachers and beginning teachers which shall not be deemed compensation for the purposes of salary lid compliance under RCW 28A.58.095:  PROVIDED, That stipends shall not be subject to the continuing contract provisions of this title ((28A RCW));

          (3) Workshops for the training of mentor and beginning teachers;

          (4) The use of substitutes to give ((the)) mentor teachers ((and)), beginning teachers, and experienced teachers opportunities to jointly observe and evaluate teaching situations and to give ((the)) mentor teachers opportunities to observe and assist ((the)) beginning and experienced teachers in the classroom; ((and))

          (5) ((A)) Mentor teachers ((to be a)) who are superior teachers based on ((his or her)) their evaluations, pursuant to chapter 28A.67 RCW, and ((to)) who hold ((a)) valid continuing certificates;

(6) Mentor teachers shall be selected by the district.  If a bargaining unit, certified pursuant to RCW 41.59.090 exists within the district, classroom teachers representing the bargaining unit shall participate in the mentor teacher selection process.

(7) Periodic consultation by the superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent's designee with representatives of educational organizations and associations, including educational service districts and public and private institutions of higher education, for the purposes of improving communication and cooperation and program review; and

(8) A report to the legislature describing the results of the program to be delivered not later than December 31, 1987.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Section 1 of this act is added to chapter 28A.67 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  Section 3, chapter 399, Laws of 1985 (uncodified) is hereby repealed.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect June 15, 1987.