AN ACT CONCERNING LOCAL OR REGIONAL BOARDS OF EDUCATION, EXCLUSIVE BARGAINING REPRESENTATIVES AND MEMBERS OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10-153a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(a) Members of the teaching profession shall have and shall be protected in the exercise of the right to form, join or assist, or refuse to form, join or assist, any organization qualified as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, for professional or economic improvement and to negotiate in good faith through representatives of their own choosing with respect to salaries, hours and other conditions of employment free from interference, restraint, coercion or discriminatory practices by any employing board of education or administrative agents or representatives thereof in derogation of the rights guaranteed by this section and sections 10-153b to 10-153n, inclusive, as amended by this act.

(b) The organization designated as the exclusive representative of a teachers' or administrators' unit shall have a duty of fair representation to the members of such unit on all contract provisions, except, for any agreement entered into after October 1, 2016, such organization shall not be required to represent any employee in such unit who is not a member of such organization for the purposes of grievance proceedings.

(c) Nothing in this section or in any other section of the general statutes shall preclude a local or regional board of education from making an agreement with an exclusive bargaining representative to require as a condition of employment that all employees in a bargaining unit pay to the exclusive bargaining representative of such employees an annual service fee, not greater than the amount of dues uniformly required of members of the exclusive bargaining representative organization, [which] that represents the costs of collective bargaining [,] and contract administration; [and grievance adjustment;] and that such service fee be collected by means of a payroll deduction from each employee in the bargaining unit.

(d) Nothing in this section or in any other section of the general statutes shall preclude a local or regional board of education from making an agreement with an exclusive bargaining representative to require such local or regional board of education to pay to such exclusive bargaining representative an annual service fee that represents the costs incurred by such exclusive bargaining representative for providing services to employees in a bargaining unit that may include, but need not be limited to, services directly related to collective bargaining for salaries, hours and other conditions of employment, contract administration, professional development services, including, but not limited to, those services described in sections 10-220a and 10-145o, and such other services as agreed to by such local or regional board of education and the exclusive bargaining representative. Such service fee shall be calculated on a per bargaining unit employee basis and shall be paid directly to the exclusive bargaining representative.

Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-153b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(a) Whenever used in this section or in sections 10-153c to 10-153n, inclusive: (1) The "administrators' unit" means the professional employee or employees in a school district or charter school not excluded from the purview of sections 10-153a to 10-153n, inclusive, as amended by this act, employed in positions requiring an intermediate administrator or supervisor certificate, or the equivalent thereof, or charter school educator permit, issued by the State Board of Education under the provisions of section 10-145q, and whose administrative or supervisory duties, for purposes of determining membership in the administrators' unit, shall equal at least fifty per cent of the assigned time of such employee. Certified professional employees covered by the terms and conditions of a contract in effect prior to October 1, 1983, shall continue to be covered by such contract or any successor contract until such time as the employee is covered by the terms and conditions of a contract negotiated by the exclusive bargaining unit of which the employee is a member for purposes of collective bargaining pursuant to the provisions of this section. (2) The "teachers' unit" means (A) the group of professional employees who hold a certificate or durational shortage area permit issued by the State Board of Education under the provisions of sections 10-144o to 10-149, inclusive, and are employed by a local or regional board of education in positions requiring such a certificate or durational shortage area permit and are not included in the administrators' unit or excluded from the purview of sections 10-153a to 10-153n, inclusive, as amended by this act, and (B) the group of professional employees who hold a certificate, durational shortage area permit issued by the State Board of Education under the provisions of sections 10-144o to 10-149, inclusive, or a charter school educator permit issued by the State Board of Education under the provisions of section 10-145q, and are employed by a charter school in positions requiring such a certificate, durational shortage area permit or charter school educator permit and are not included in the administrators' unit or excluded from the purview of sections 10-153a to 10-153n, inclusive, as amended by this act. (3) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Education. (4) "To post a notice" means to post a copy of the indicated material on each bulletin board for teachers in every school in the school district or, if there are no such bulletin boards, to give a copy of such information to each employee in the unit affected by such notice. (5) "Budget submission date" means the date on which a school district is to submit its itemized estimate of the cost of maintenance of public schools for the next following year to the board of finance in each town having a board of finance, to the board of selectmen in each town having no board of finance and, in any city having a board of finance, to said board, and otherwise to the authority making appropriations therein. (6) "Days" means calendar days. (7) "Organization" means any organization qualified as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time.