Bill Text: FL S0736 | 2011 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Education Personnel
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-03-16 - Ordered enrolled -SJ 262 [S0736 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S0736-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Education Personnel
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-03-16 - Ordered enrolled -SJ 262 [S0736 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S0736-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2011 CS for SB 736 By the Committee on Education Pre-K - 12; and Senator Wise 581-01884A-11 2011736c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to education personnel; providing a 3 short title; amending s. 1012.34, F.S.; revising 4 provisions related to the evaluation of instructional 5 personnel and school administrators; requiring that 6 the Department of Education approve school district 7 evaluation systems; requiring the Department of 8 Education to collect evaluation information from 9 school districts and to report such information to the 10 Governor and Legislature; providing requirements for 11 the evaluation systems; requiring the Commissioner of 12 Education to select formulas for school districts to 13 use in measuring growth in learning by students; 14 requiring the State Board of Education to adopt 15 formulas; conforming provisions to changes made by the 16 act; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.; revising provisions 17 requiring school districts to develop and implement 18 end-of-course assessments; amending s. 1012.22, F.S.; 19 revising the powers and duties of the district school 20 board with respect to school district compensation and 21 salary schedules; requiring that certain performance 22 criteria be included in the adopted schedules; 23 revising the differentiated pay provisions; creating 24 s. 1012.335, F.S.; providing definitions; revising the 25 contract requirements for instructional personnel 26 hired on or after a certain date; requiring that the 27 State Board of Education adopt rules defining the term 28 “just cause”; providing guidelines for such term; 29 providing that certain individuals who are hired as 30 instructional personnel are ineligible for contracts 31 issued under s. 1012.33, F.S.; amending s. 1002.33, 32 F.S.; requiring charter schools to adopt a salary 33 schedule for instructional personnel and school 34 administrators which meets certain requirements; 35 requiring charter schools to comply with requirements 36 relating to personnel evaluation procedures and 37 criteria and certain contracts; amending s. 1003.621, 38 F.S.; providing additional requirements for personnel 39 in academically high-performing school districts; 40 amending s. 1012.07, F.S.; revising the methodology 41 for determining critical teacher shortage areas; 42 amending s. 1012.2315, F.S.; providing additional 43 reporting requirements concerning instructional 44 personnel and school administrator assignments; 45 amending s. 1012.27, F.S.; revising the criteria for 46 transfer requests by teachers; conforming provisions 47 to changes made by the act; amending s. 1012.28, F.S.; 48 authorizing a principal to refuse to accept the 49 placement or transfer of instructional personnel under 50 certain circumstances; amending s. 1012.33, F.S.; 51 revising provisions relating to contracts with certain 52 education personnel; requiring that a district school 53 board’s decision to retain personnel be primarily 54 based on the employee’s performance; repealing s. 55 1012.52, F.S., relating to legislative intent for 56 teacher quality; amending s. 1012.795, F.S.; 57 conforming provisions to changes made by the act; 58 authorizing school districts to seek an exemption from 59 the State Board of Education from the requirement of 60 certain laws; authorizing the State Board of Education 61 to adopt rules; providing that a certain specified 62 provision of law does not apply to any rulemaking 63 required to administer the act; providing for the 64 repeal of certain special acts or general laws of 65 local application related to instructional personnel 66 in public schools or school districts; providing an 67 exception; providing for severability; providing for 68 application of a specified provision of the act; 69 providing effective dates. 70 71 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 72 73 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Race to the Top 74 for Student Success Act.” 75 Section 2. Effective upon this act becoming a law, section 76 1012.34, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 77 1012.34 Personnel evaluationAssessmentprocedures and 78 criteria.— 79 (1) EVALUATION APPROVAL AND REPORTING.— 80 (a) For the purpose of increasing student achievement by 81 improving the quality of instructional, administrative, and 82 supervisory services in the public schools of the state, the 83 district school superintendent shall establish procedures for 84 evaluatingassessingthe performance of duties and 85 responsibilities of all instructional, administrative, and 86 supervisory personnel employed by the school district. Each 87 school district shall annually report to the Department of 88 Education the evaluation results of its evaluation system for 89 instructional personnel and school administrators. 90 (b) The Department of Education must approve each 91 district’s evaluation systems for its instructional personnel 92 and school administratorsinstructional personnel assessment93system. The Department of Education shall monitor each 94 district’s implementation of its instructional personnel and 95 school administrator evaluation system for compliance with this 96 section. 97 (c) By December 1 of each year, the Commissioner of 98 Education shall report to the Governor, the President of the 99 Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives the 100 approval and implementation status of each district’s evaluation 101 system, including the aggregate performance results and findings 102 from the monitoring process for: classroom teachers, but 103 excluding substitute teachers; instructional personnel, as 104 defined in s. 1012.01(2)(b)-(d); and school administrators. 105 (2) EVALUATION SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.—The evaluation systems 106 mustThe following conditions must be considered in the design107of the district’s instructional personnel assessment system: 108 (a)The system mustBe designed to support effective 109 instruction and student achievement, and the results must be 110 used to inform district and school level improvement plans. 111 (b)The system mustProvide appropriate instruments, 112 procedures, and criteria for continuous quality improvement of 113 the professional skills, and the results must be used to inform 114 the professional development of instructional personnel and 115 school administrators. 116 (c)The system mustInclude a mechanism to examine 117 performance data from multiple sources, which includes giving 118giveparents an opportunity to provide input into employee 119 performance evaluationsassessmentswhen appropriate. 120 (d) IdentifyIn addition to addressing generic teaching121competencies, districts must determinethose teaching fields for 122 which special evaluation procedures and criteria will be 123 developed. 124 (e) Differentiate among four levels of performance, which 125 include the following: 126 1. Highly effective. 127 2. Effective. 128 3. Needs improvement or, for instructional personnel in the 129 first 3 years of employment or in the first year of a new 130 teaching assignment who need improvement, developing. 131 4. Unsatisfactory. 132 133 The Commissioner of Education shall consult with experts and 134 classroom teachers in developing the criteria for the 135 performance levels. In developing the criteria for the 136 performance levels, the Commissioner of Education shall consult 137 with a person appointed by each of the following associations: 138 the Florida School Boards Association, the Florida Association 139 of District School Superintendents, and the Florida Education 140 Association.Each district school board may establish apeer141assistance process. The plan may provide a mechanism for142assistance of persons who are placed on performance probation as143well as offer assistance to other employees who request it.144 (f)The district school board shallProvide for training 145 programs that are based upon guidelines provided by the 146 departmentof Educationto ensure that all individuals who have 147withevaluation responsibilities understand the proper use of 148 the evaluationassessmentcriteria and procedures. 149 (g) Include a process for monitoring the effective and 150 consistent use of evaluation criteria by supervisors and 151 administrators. 152 (h) Include a process for evaluating the effectiveness of 153 the system itself in improving the level of instruction and 154 learning in the district’s schools. 155 156 In addition, each district school board may establish a peer 157 assistance process. This process may be a part of the regular 158 evaluation system or used to assist employees placed on 159 performance probation, beginning teachers, or those who request 160 assistance. 161 (3) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—The evaluationassessment162 procedure for instructional personnel and school administrators 163 must beprimarilybased on the performance of students assigned 164 to their classrooms or schools, as provided in this section 165appropriate. Pursuant to this section, a school district’s 166 performance evaluationassessmentis not limited to basing 167 unsatisfactory performance of instructional personnel and school 168 administrators solely upon student performance, but may include 169 other criteria approved to evaluateassessinstructional 170 personnel and school administrators’ performance, or any 171 combination of student performance and other approved criteria. 172 The procedures must comply with, but are not limited to, the 173 following requirements: 174 (a) An evaluationassessmentmust be conducted for each 175 employee at least once a year, except that a newly hired 176 classroom teacher must be evaluated at least twice in the first 177 year of teaching in the school district. The evaluation 178assessmentmust be based upon sound educational principles and 179 contemporary research in effective educational practices.The180assessment must primarily use data and indicators of improvement181in student performance assessed annually as specified in s.1821008.22and may consider results of peer reviews in evaluating183the employee’s performance. Student performance must be measured184by state assessments required under s.1008.22and by local185assessments for subjects and grade levels not measured by the186state assessment program.The evaluationassessmentcriteria 187 must include, but needarenot be limited to, indicators ofthat188relate tothe following: 189 1. Performance of students. The evaluation must base at 190 least 50 percent of the results on data and indicators of 191 student learning growth assessed annually by state assessments 192 or, for subjects and grade levels not measured by the state 193 assessments, by district assessments as provided in s. 194 1008.22(8). The school district must use the state-adopted 195 measure of student growth for all courses associated with state 196 assessments and must select comparable measures of student 197 growth for other grades and subjects as provided in subsection 198 (8). 199 a. For classroom teachers, excluding substitute teachers, 200 the student growth portion of the evaluation must include growth 201 data, as defined in subsection (8), for students assigned to the 202 teacher over the course of at least 3 years. If less than 3 203 years of data are available, the school district must include 204 the years for which data are available and may reduce the 205 percentage of the evaluation based on student growth to not less 206 than 40 percent. 207 b. For instructional personnel who are not classroom 208 teachers, the student growth portion of the evaluation must 209 include growth data on state assessments, as defined in 210 subsection (8), for students assigned to the instructional 211 personnel over the course of at least 3 years, or may include a 212 combination of growth data and other measurable student outcomes 213 that are specific to the personnel assignment, provided that the 214 student growth data account for not less than 30 percent of the 215 evaluation. If less than 3 years of student growth data are 216 available, the district must include the years for which data 217 are available and may reduce the percentage of the evaluation 218 based on student growth to not less than 20 percent. 219 c. For school administrators, the student growth portion of 220 the evaluation must include growth data, as defined in 221 subsection (8), for students assigned to the school over the 222 course of at least 3 years. If less than 3 years of data are 223 available, the district must include the years for which data 224 are available, and may reduce the percentage of the evaluation 225 based on student growth to not less than 40 percent. 226 2. Instructional practice. For classroom teachers, criteria 227 must include indicators based on each of the Florida Educator 228 Accomplished Practices adopted by the State Board of Education. 229 For instructional personnel who are not classroom teachers, 230 performance criteria must be based on indicators of the Florida 231 Educator Accomplished Practices and may include specific job 232 performance expectations related to student support. 233 3. Instructional leadership. For school administrators, 234 criteria must include indicators based on each of the leadership 235 standards adopted by the State Board of Education under s. 236 1012.986, including the following: performance measures related 237 to the effectiveness of the instructional personnel in the 238 school; the administrator’s appropriate use of evaluation 239 criteria and procedures; recruitment and retention of effective 240 and highly effective classroom teachers; improvement in the 241 percentage of classroom teachers evaluated at the effective or 242 highly effective level; management of human, financial, and 243 material resources so as to maximize the share of resources used 244 for direct instruction, as opposed to overhead or other 245 purposes; and other leadership practices that result in improved 246 student outcomes. The system must include a means to give 247 parents and instructional personnel an opportunity to provide 248 input into the administrator’s performance evaluation, when 249 appropriate. 250 4. Professional responsibilities. This criteria must 251 include other professional responsibilities and employment 252 requirements, as established by the State Board of Education and 253 through policies of the district school board. 2542. Ability to maintain appropriate discipline.2553. Knowledge of subject matter. The district school board256shall make special provisions for evaluating teachers who are257assigned to teach out-of-field.2584. Ability to plan and deliver instruction and the use of259technology in the classroom.2605. Ability to evaluate instructional needs.2616. Ability to establish and maintain a positive262collaborative relationship with students’ families to increase263student achievement.2647. Other professional competencies, responsibilities, and265requirements as established by rules of the State Board of266Education and policies of the district school board.267 (b) All personnel must be fully informed of the criteria 268 and procedures associated with the evaluationassessmentprocess 269 before the evaluationassessmenttakes place. 270 (c) The individual responsible for supervising the employee 271 must evaluateassessthe employee’s performance. The evaluation 272 system may provide for the evaluator to consider input from 273 other personnel trained under paragraph (2)(f). The evaluator 274 must submit a written report of the evaluationassessmentto the 275 district school superintendent for the purpose of reviewing the 276 employee’s contract. The evaluator must submit the written 277 report to the employee no later than 10 days after the 278 evaluationassessmenttakes place. The evaluator must discuss 279 the written report of the evaluationassessmentwith the 280 employee. The employee shall have the right to initiate a 281 written response to the evaluationassessment, and the response 282 shall become a permanent attachment to his or her personnel 283 file. 284 (d) An evaluator may amend an employee’s evaluation based 285 upon assessment data from the current school year if the data 286 becomes available within 90 days after the close of the school 287 year. The evaluator must then comply with the procedures set 288 forth in paragraph (c). 289 (4) NOTIFICATION OF UNSATISFACTORY PERFORMANCE.—If an 290 employee is not performing his or her duties in a satisfactory 291 manner, the evaluator shall notify the employee in writing of 292 such determination. The notice must describe such unsatisfactory 293 performance and include notice of the following procedural 294 requirements: 295 (a)1.Upon delivery of a notice of unsatisfactory 296 performance, the evaluator must confer with the employee, make 297 recommendations with respect to specific areas of unsatisfactory 298 performance, and provide assistance in helping to correct 299 deficiencies within a prescribed period of time. 300 (b)1.2.a.If the employee holds a professional service 301 contract as provided in s. 1012.33, the employee shall be placed 302 on performance probation and governed by the provisions of this 303 section for 90 calendar days following the receipt of the notice 304 of unsatisfactory performance to demonstrate corrective action. 305 School holidays and school vacation periods are not counted when 306 calculating the 90-calendar-day period. During the 90 calendar 307 days, the employee who holds a professional service contract 308 must be evaluated periodically and apprised of progress achieved 309 and must be provided assistance and inservice training 310 opportunities to help correct the noted performance 311 deficiencies. At any time during the 90 calendar days, the 312 employee who holds a professional service contract may request a 313 transfer to another appropriate position with a different 314 supervising administrator; however, if a transfer is granted, it 315 does not extend the period for correcting performance 316 deficiencies. 317 2.b.Within 14 days after the close of the 90 calendar 318 days, the evaluator must evaluateassesswhether the performance 319 deficiencies have been corrected and forward a recommendation to 320 the district school superintendent. Within 14 days after 321 receiving the evaluator’s recommendation, the district school 322 superintendent must notify the employee who holds a professional 323 service contract in writing whether the performance deficiencies 324 have been satisfactorily corrected and whether the district 325 school superintendent will recommend that the district school 326 board continue or terminate his or her employment contract. If 327 the employee wishes to contest the district school 328 superintendent’s recommendation, the employee must, within 15 329 days after receipt of the district school superintendent’s 330 recommendation, submit a written request for a hearing. The 331 hearing shall be conducted at the district school board’s 332 election in accordance with one of the following procedures: 333 a.(I)A direct hearing conducted by the district school 334 board within 60 days after receipt of the written appeal. The 335 hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of 336 ss. 120.569 and 120.57. A majority vote of the membership of the 337 district school board shall be required to sustain the district 338 school superintendent’s recommendation. The determination of the 339 district school board shall be final as to the sufficiency or 340 insufficiency of the grounds for termination of employment; or 341 b.(II)A hearing conducted by an administrative law judge 342 assigned by the Division of Administrative Hearings of the 343 Department of Management Services. The hearing shall be 344 conducted within 60 days after receipt of the written appeal in 345 accordance with chapter 120. The recommendation of the 346 administrative law judge shall be made to the district school 347 board. A majority vote of the membership of the district school 348 board shall be required to sustain or change the administrative 349 law judge’s recommendation. The determination of the district 350 school board shall be final as to the sufficiency or 351 insufficiency of the grounds for termination of employment. 352 (5)(4)ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATIONS.—The district school 353 superintendent shall notify the department of any instructional 354 personnel who receive two consecutive unsatisfactory evaluations 355 and who have been given written notice by the district that 356 their employment is being terminated or is not being renewed or 357 that the district school board intends to terminate, or not 358 renew, their employment. The department shall conduct an 359 investigation to determine whether action shall be taken against 360 the certificateholder pursuant to s. 1012.795(1)(c). 361(5) The district school superintendent shall develop a362mechanism for evaluating the effective use of assessment363criteria and evaluation procedures by administrators who are364assigned responsibility for evaluating the performance of365instructional personnel. The use of the assessment and366evaluation procedures shall be considered as part of the annual367assessment of the administrator’s performance. The system must368include a mechanism to give parents and teachers an opportunity369to provide input into the administrator’s performance370assessment, when appropriate.371 (6) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing inThis section does notshall be372construed togrant a probationary employee a right to continued 373 employment beyond the term of his or her contract. 374 (7) ANNUAL REVIEW AND REVISIONS TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT 375 EVALUATION SYSTEM.—The district school board shall establish a 376 procedure for annually reviewing instructional personnel and 377 school administrator evaluationassessmentsystems to determine 378 compliance with this section. All substantial revisions to an 379 approved system must be reviewed and approved by the district 380 school board before being used to evaluateassessinstructional 381 personnel and school administrators. Upon request by a school 382 district, the department shall provide assistance in developing, 383 improving, or reviewing an evaluationassessmentsystem. 384 (8) MEASUREMENT OF STUDENT GROWTH IN LEARNING.— 385 (a) By June 1, 2011, the Commissioner of Education shall 386 select a formula to measure individual student growth on the 387 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test administered under s. 388 1008.22(3)(c)1. The formula must take into account each 389 student’s prior performance, grade level, and subject. In the 390 development of the formula, the Commissioner of Education shall 391 consider other factors, including, but not limited to, student 392 attendance, student disciplinary records, student disabilities, 393 and student English language proficiency. The formula may not 394 set different expectations for student growth based on gender, 395 race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. The commissioner shall 396 select additional formulas as appropriate for the remainder of 397 the statewide assessments included in s. 1008.22, beginning the 398 2011-2012 school year, and continue to select formulas as new 399 assessments are implemented into the state system. The State 400 Board of Education shall adopt all formulas into rule, and shall 401 adopt the formula for the FCAT into rule by October 1, 2012. 402 (b) Beginning with the 2011-2012 school year, each district 403 shall measure the growth in learning of each student using the 404 commissioner-adopted student growth measure for courses 405 associated with the FCAT. Each district shall implement 406 additional growth measures selected by the commissioner under 407 paragraph (a) as they become available. Beginning with the 2014 408 2015 school year, each school district shall measure the growth 409 in learning for each student using a comparable measure of 410 student growth for other grades and subjects for which the 411 school district has selected appropriate student assessments 412 under s. 1008.22(8). The Department of Education shall provide 413 model student growth measures that school districts may adopt 414 for this purpose. 415 (c) A school district may request through the evaluation 416 system approval process to use a student achievement measure 417 rather than a growth measure for courses for which achievement 418 is a more appropriate measure of instructional personnel 419 performance. A school district may request to use a combination 420 of growth and achievement. 421 (d) A school district may request through the evaluation 422 system approval process to include student growth demonstrated 423 on state assessments as a percentage of the evaluation of 424 classroom teachers who are assigned to courses not associated 425 with state assessments, if the growth remains based upon the 426 students assigned to the teacher and the percentage of growth 427 for the teacher’s assigned content area, as measured by the 428 district-selected assessment, is the greater percentage. 429 (e) For classroom teachers of courses for which the 430 district has not implemented appropriate assessments under s. 431 1008.22(8) or for which the school district has not adopted a 432 comparable measure of student growth under paragraphs (b)-(d), 433 student growth must be measured by the growth in learning of the 434 classroom teacher’s students on state assessments, or, for 435 courses in which enrolled students do not take the state 436 assessment, measurable learning targets must be established 437 based upon the goals of the school improvement plan and approved 438 by the school principal. A district school superintendent may 439 assign instructional team student learning growth to 440 instructional personnel in lieu of overall student learning 441 growth of the school in reading and mathematics based upon the 442 state assessment program under s. 1008.22. 443 (9)(8)RULEMAKING.—The State Board of Education shall adopt 444 rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 which, that445 establish uniform proceduresguidelinesfor the submission, 446 review, and approval of district evaluation systems and 447 reporting requirementsproceduresfor the annual evaluation 448assessmentof instructional personnel and school administrators; 449 the standards for each performance level required under 450 subsection (2) to ensure sufficient differentiation in 451 performance on the evaluation to measure the effectiveness of an 452 employee and consistency in meaning across school districts; the 453 measurement of student growth in learning and associated 454 implementation procedures required under subsection (8); a 455 process to permit instructional personnel to review the class 456 roster for accuracy and to correct any mistakes relating to the 457 identity of students for whom the individual is responsible; and 458 a process for monitoring school district implementation of 459 evaluations systems in accordance with this sectionand that460include criteria for evaluating professional performance. 461 Section 3. Subsection (8) of section 1008.22, Florida 462 Statutes, is amended to read: 463 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.— 464 (8) LOCAL ASSESSMENTS.— 465 (a) Measurement of the learning gains of students in all 466 subjects and grade levels other than subjects and grade levels 467 required for the state student achievement testing program is 468 the responsibility of the school districts. 469 (b) Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, each school 470 district shall administer for each course offered in the 471 district a student assessment that measures mastery of the 472 content, as described in the state-adopted course description, 473 at the necessary level of rigor for the course. Such assessments 474 may include: 475 1. Statewide assessments. 476 2. Other standardized assessments, including nationally 477 recognized standardized assessments. 478 3. Industry certification examinations. 479 4. District-developed or selected end-of-course 480 assessments. 481 482 This paragraph shall be implemented as the Commissioner of 483 Education identifies methods to assist and support districts in 484 the development and acquisition of assessments, as described in 485 paragraph (c). 486 (c) The Commissioner of Education shall identify methods to 487 assist and support districts in the development and acquisition 488 of assessments required under this subsection. Methods may 489 include the development of item banks, facilitation of the 490 sharing of developed tests among districts, and technical 491 assistance in best professional practices of test development 492 based on state-adopted curriculum standards, administration, and 493 security. 494 Section 4. Paragraphs (c) and (e) of subsection (1) of 495 section 1012.22, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 496 1012.22 Public school personnel; powers and duties of the 497 district school board.—The district school board shall: 498 (1) Designate positions to be filled, prescribe 499 qualifications for those positions, and provide for the 500 appointment, compensation, promotion, suspension, and dismissal 501 of employees as follows, subject to the requirements of this 502 chapter: 503 (c) Compensation and salary schedules.— 504 1. Definitions.—As used in this paragraph, the term: 505 a. “Salary schedule” means the schedule or schedules used 506 to provide the base pay for district school board personnel. 507 b. “Adjustment” means an addition to the base salary 508 schedule which is not a bonus, but becomes part of the 509 employee’s permanent base salary and is considered compensation 510 under s. 121.021(22). 511 c. “Supplement” means an annual addition to the base salary 512 schedule for the term of the negotiated supplement as long as 513 the employee continues his or her employment for the purpose of 514 the supplement. A supplement does not become part of the 515 employee’s continuing base salary but is considered compensation 516 under s. 121.021(22). 517 d. “Grandfathered salary schedule” means the schedule or 518 schedules adopted by a school district before July 1, 2014. 519 e. “Performance salary schedule” means the schedule or 520 schedules adopted by a school district pursuant to subparagraph 521 3. 522 f. “Instructional personnel” means instructional personnel 523 as defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a)-(d), excluding substitute 524 teachers. 525 g. “School administrator” means school administrators as 526 defined in s. 1012.01(3)(c). 527 2. Grandfathered salary schedule.—The district school board 528 shall adopt a salary schedule or salary schedules to be used as 529 the basis for paying all school employees hired before July 1, 530 2014. In determining the grandfathered salary schedule for 531 instructional personnel, a district school board must base a 532 portion of each employee’s compensation upon performance 533 demonstrated under s. 1012.34 and shall provide differentiated 534 pay for both instructional personnel and school administrators 535 based upon district-determined factors, including, but not 536 limited to, additional responsibilities, school demographics, 537 critical shortage areas, and level of job-performance 538 difficulties. Instructional personnel hired before July 1, 2014, 539 shall remain on the grandfathered salary schedule for as long as 540 the employee remains employed by the school district. However, 541 such instructional personnel may choose, at any time, to opt 542 into the performance salary schedule adopted under subparagraph 543 3. Once an individual has chosen to opt into the performance 544 salary schedule, he or she may not return to the grandfathered 545 salary schedule. 546 3. Performance salary schedule.—By July 1, 2014, the 547 district school board shall adopt a performance salary schedule 548 that provides annual salary adjustments for instructional 549 personnel and school administrators based upon performance 550 determined under s. 1012.34. Employees hired on or after July 1, 551 2014, or employees who choose to move from the grandfathered 552 salary schedule to the performance salary schedule shall be 553 compensated pursuant to the performance salary schedule once 554 they have received appropriate evaluation for this purpose, 555 except that an instructional employee whose evaluation uses 556 solely student growth measures established under s. 557 1012.34(8)(e) shall remain under the grandfathered salary 558 schedule until his or her teaching assignment changes or the 559 district establishes comparable measures of student learning 560 growth, as defined under that section and rules of the State 561 Board of Education. 562 a. Base salary.—The base salary shall be established as 563 follows: 564 (I) The base salary for instructional personnel or school 565 administrators who opt into the performance salary schedule 566 shall be the salary paid in the prior year, including 567 adjustments only, in accordance with the collective bargaining 568 contract, if such contract exists. 569 (II) Instructional personnel or school administrators new 570 to the district, returning to the district after a break in 571 service without an authorized leave of absence, or appointed for 572 the first time to a position in the district in the capacity of 573 instructional personnel or school administrators shall be placed 574 on the performance salary schedule in accordance with the 575 collective bargaining contract, if such contract exists. 576 b. Salary adjustments.—Salary adjustments for highly 577 effective or effective performance shall be established as 578 follows: 579 (I) The annual salary adjustment under the performance 580 salary schedule for an employee rated as highly effective must 581 be greater than the highest annual salary adjustment available 582 to an employee of the same classification through any other 583 salary schedule adopted by the district. 584 (II) The annual salary adjustment under the performance 585 salary schedule for an employee rated as effective must be equal 586 to at least 50 percent and no more than 75 percent of the annual 587 adjustment provided for a highly effective employee of the same 588 classification. 589 (III) The performance salary schedule shall not provide an 590 annual salary adjustment for employees who receive a rating 591 other than highly effective or effective for the year. 592 c. Salary supplements.—In addition to the schedules for 593 salary adjustments, each school district shall provide a 594 schedule for salary supplements that include, but are not 595 limited to, the following: 596 (I) Assignment to a Title-I-eligible school; 597 (II) Assignment to a school in the bottom two categories of 598 the school improvement system under s. 1008.33 such that the 599 supplement remains in force for at least 1 year following 600 improved performance in that school; 601 (III) Certification and teaching in critical teacher 602 shortage areas. Statewide critical teacher shortage areas shall 603 be identified by the State Board of Education. However, the 604 district school board may define additional areas of critical 605 shortage within the school district and may remove areas 606 identified by the State Board of Education that do not apply 607 within the school district; and 608 (IV) Assignment of additional academic responsibilities. 609 d. Cost-of-living adjustments.—A district school board may 610 provide a cost-of-living salary adjustment if: 611 (I) The adjustment does not discriminate among comparable 612 classes of employees based upon the salary schedule under which 613 they are compensated. 614 (II) Does not exceed 50 percent of the annual adjustment 615 provided to instructional personnel rated as effective. 616 e. Advanced degrees.—A district school board may not use 617 advanced degrees in setting a salary schedule for instructional 618 personnel or school administrators hired on or after July 1, 619 2011, unless the advanced degree is held in the individual’s 620 area of certification and is only a salary supplement. 621 622 If budget constraints in any given year limit a district school 623 board’s ability to fully fund all adopted salary schedules, the 624 performance salary schedule shall not be reduced, either on the 625 basis of total cost or the value of individual awards, in a 626 manner that is proportionally greater than reductions to any 627 other salary schedules adopted by the district.The district628school board shall adopt a salary schedule or salary schedules629designed to furnish incentives for improvement in training and630for continued efficient service to be used as a basis for paying631all school employees and fix and authorize the compensation of632school employees on the basis thereof.6332. A district school board, in determining the salary634schedule for instructional personnel, must base a portion of635each employee’s compensation on performance demonstrated under636s.1012.34, must consider the prior teaching experience of a637person who has been designated state teacher of the year by any638state in the United States, and must consider prior professional639experience in the field of education gained in positions in640addition to district level instructional and administrative641positions.6423. In developing the salary schedule, the district school643board shall seek input from parents, teachers, and644representatives of the business community.6454. Beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year, each646district school board shall adopt a salary schedule with647differentiated pay for both instructional personnel and school648based administrators. The salary schedule is subject to649negotiation as provided in chapter 447 and must allow650differentiated pay based on district-determined factors,651including, but not limited to, additional responsibilities,652school demographics, critical shortage areas, and level of job653performance difficulties.654 (e) Transfer and promotion.—The district school board shall 655 act on recommendations of the district school superintendent 656 regarding transfer and promotion of any employee. The district 657 school superintendent’s primary consideration in recommending an 658 individual for a promotion must be the individual’s demonstrated 659 effectiveness under s. 1012.34. 660 Section 5. Section 1012.335, Florida Statutes, is created 661 to read: 662 1012.335 Contracts with instructional personnel hired on or 663 after July 1, 2011.— 664 (1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term: 665 (a) “Instructional personnel” means those personnel defined 666 in s. 1012.01(2)(a)-(d), excluding substitute teachers. 667 (b) “Probationary contract” means an employment contract 668 for a period of 1 school year awarded to instructional personnel 669 upon initial employment in a school district. Probationary 670 contract employees may be dismissed without cause or may resign 671 without breach of contract. 672 (c) “Annual contract” means an employment contract for a 673 period of no longer than 1 school year which the district school 674 board may choose to award or not award without cause. 675 (2) EMPLOYMENT.— 676 (a) Beginning July 1, 2011, each individual newly hired as 677 instructional personnel by a Florida school district shall be 678 employed based upon the requirements of this section. 679 (b) The district school board may issue an annual contract 680 to instructional personnel who have successfully completed the 681 probationary contract or may award an additional annual contract 682 if the individual: 683 1. Holds a professional certificate or temporary 684 certificate issued pursuant to s. 1012.56 and rules of the State 685 Board of Education. 686 2. Has been recommended by the district school 687 superintendent for the annual contract based upon the 688 individual’s evaluation, as determined under s. 1012.34, and 689 approved by the district school board. 690 3. Has not received two consecutive unsatisfactory 691 evaluations under s. 1012.34, two unsatisfactory evaluations 692 within a 3-year period under s. 1012.34, or three evaluations of 693 needs improvement within any 5-year period under s. 1012.34. 694 (3) VIOLATION OF ANNUAL CONTRACT.—Instructional personnel 695 who accept an offer in writing from the district school board 696 and who leave their position without prior release from the 697 district school board are subject to the jurisdiction of the 698 Education Practices Commission. 699 (4) SUSPENSION OR DISMISSAL OF CLASSROOM TEACHERS ON ANNUAL 700 CONTRACT.—Instructional personnel who have an annual contract 701 may be suspended or dismissed at any time during the term of the 702 contract for just cause as provided in subsection (5). The 703 district school board must notify the instructional personnel in 704 writing whenever charges are made against the instructional 705 personnel, and the district school board may suspend him or her 706 without pay. However, if the charges are not sustained, the 707 instructional personnel shall be immediately reinstated and his 708 or her back pay shall be paid. In order to contest the charges, 709 the instructional personnel must, within 15 days after receipt 710 of the written notice, submit a written request for a hearing to 711 the district school board. The district school board or a 712 subcommittee thereof shall conduct a direct hearing within 60 713 days after receipt of the written appeal. The hearing shall be 714 conducted in accordance with ss. 120.569 and 120.57. A majority 715 vote of the membership of the district school board is required 716 to sustain the superintendent’s recommendation. The district 717 school board’s determination is final as to the sufficiency or 718 insufficiency of the grounds for suspension without pay or 719 dismissal. Any decision that is adverse to the instructional 720 personnel may be appealed by the instructional personnel 721 pursuant to s. 120.68 if the appeal is filed within 30 days 722 after the decision of the district school board. 723 (5) JUST CAUSE.—The State Board of Education shall adopt 724 rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to define the term 725 “just cause.” Just cause includes, but is not limited to: 726 (a) Immorality. 727 (b) Misconduct in office. 728 (c) Incompetency. 729 (d) Gross insubordination. 730 (e) Willful neglect of duty. 731 (f) Being convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea 732 of guilty to, regardless of adjudication of guilt, any crime 733 involving moral turpitude. 734 (6) LIMITATION.—An individual newly hired by a school 735 district under this section as instructional personnel is 736 ineligible for any contract issued under s. 1012.33. 737 Section 6. Paragraph (b) of subsection (16) of section 738 1002.33, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 739 1002.33 Charter schools.— 740 (16) EXEMPTION FROM STATUTES.— 741 (b) Additionally, a charter school shall be in compliance 742 with the following statutes: 743 1. Section 286.011, relating to public meetings and 744 records, public inspection, and criminal and civil penalties. 745 2. Chapter 119, relating to public records. 746 3. Section 1003.03, relating to the maximum class size, 747 except that the calculation for compliance pursuant to s. 748 1003.03 shall be the average at the school level. 749 4. Section 1012.22(1)(c), relating to compensation and 750 salary schedules. 751 5. Section 1012.33(5), relating to workforce reductions. 752 6. Section 1012.335, relating to contracts with 753 instructional personnel hired on or after July 1, 2011. 754 7. Section 1012.34, relating to performance evaluations for 755 instructional personnel and school administrators. 756 Section 7. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2) of section 757 1003.621, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 758 1003.621 Academically high-performing school districts.—It 759 is the intent of the Legislature to recognize and reward school 760 districts that demonstrate the ability to consistently maintain 761 or improve their high-performing status. The purpose of this 762 section is to provide high-performing school districts with 763 flexibility in meeting the specific requirements in statute and 764 rules of the State Board of Education. 765 (2) COMPLIANCE WITH STATUTES AND RULES.—Each academically 766 high-performing school district shall comply with all of the 767 provisions in chapters 1000-1013, and rules of the State Board 768 of Education which implement these provisions, pertaining to the 769 following: 770 (h) Sections 1012.22(1)(c) and 1012.27(2), relating to 771 differentiated compensation and salary schedules and public 772 school personnel, respectively; s. 1012.34, relating to 773 personnel evaluation procedures and criteria; and ss. 1012.33 774 and 1012.335, relating to contracts with instructional 775 personnel, staff, supervisors, and school administratorspay and776performance-pay policies for school administrators and777instructional personnel.Professional service contracts are778subject to the provisions of ss.1012.33and1012.34.779 Section 8. Section 1012.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to 780 read: 781 1012.07 Identification of critical teacher shortage areas.— 782(1)As used in ss.1009.57,1009.58, and1009.59,The term 783 “critical teacher shortage area” means high-need content areas 784applies to mathematics, science, career education,and high 785 priorityhigh prioritylocation areas identified by.the State 786 Board of Educationmay identify career education programs having787critical teacher shortages. The State Board of Education shall 788 adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 necessary to 789 annually identifyothercritical teacher shortage areasand high790priority location areas. The state board mustshall also791 consider current and emerging educational requirements and 792 workforce demandsteacher characteristics such as ethnic793background, race, and sexin determining critical teacher 794 shortage areas. School grade levels may also be designated 795 critical teacher shortage areas. Individual district school 796 boards may identify and submit other critical teacher shortage 797 areas. Such submissionsshortagesmust be aligned to current and 798 emerging educational requirements and workforce demands in order 799 to becertified to andapproved by the State Board of Education. 800 High priority location areas shall be in high-density, low 801 economic urban schools,andlow-density, low-economic rural 802 schools, and schools identified as lowest performing under s. 803 1008.33(4)(b)shall include schools which meet criteria which804include, but are not limited to, the percentage of free lunches,805the percentage of students under Chapter I of the Education806Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981, and the faculty807attrition rate. 808(2) This section shall be implemented only to the extent as809specifically funded and authorized by law.810 Section 9. Subsection (5) of section 1012.2315, Florida 811 Statutes, is amended to read: 812 1012.2315 Assignment of teachers.— 813 (5) REPORTSREPORT.— 814 (a) The Department of Education shall annually report the 815 percentage of classroom teachers and school administrators by 816 district and by school based on performance ratings reported by 817 each school district under s. 1012.34. The data must be reported 818 via the department’s website in a manner that is accessible by 819 the public. 820 (b) Each school district shall annually report to the 821 parent of any student who is assigned to a classroom teacher or 822 school administrator having a performance rating of 823 “unsatisfactory,” “needs improvement,” or a combination of 824 “unsatisfactory” or “needs improvement” for 3 consecutive years 825 or more.Schools graded “D” or “F” shall annually report their826teacher-retention rate. Included in this report shall be reasons827listed for leaving by each teacher who left the school for any828reason.829 Section 10. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 1012.27, 830 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 831 1012.27 Public school personnel; powers and duties of 832 district school superintendent.—The district school 833 superintendent is responsible for directing the work of the 834 personnel, subject to the requirements of this chapter, and in 835 addition the district school superintendent shall perform the 836 following: 837 (1) POSITIONS, QUALIFICATIONS, AND NOMINATIONS.— 838 (a) Recommend to the district school board duties and 839 responsibilities which need to be performed and positions which 840 need to be filled to make possible the development of an 841 adequate school program in the district. 842 (b) Recommend minimum qualifications of personnel for these 843 various positions, and nominate in writing persons to fill such 844 positions. 845 846 The district school superintendent’s recommendations for filling 847 instructional positions at the school level must consider 848 nominations received from school principals of the respective 849 schools. Before transferring a teacher who holds a professional 850 teaching certificate from one school to another, including a 851 transfer requested under s. 1012.33, the district school 852 superintendent shall consult with the principal of the receiving 853 school and allow the principal to review the teacher’s records, 854 including student performance demonstrated under s. 1012.34, and 855 interview the teacher. If, in the judgment of the principal, 856 students would not benefit from the placement, an alternative 857 placement may be sought. A principal may refuse the placement in 858 accordance with s. 1012.28(6). 859 (2) COMPENSATION AND SALARY SCHEDULES.—Prepare and 860 recommend to the district school board for adoption a salary 861 schedule or salary schedules in accordance with s. 1012.22.The862district school superintendent must recommend a salary schedule863for instructional personnel which bases a portion of each864employee’s compensation on performance demonstrated under s.8651012.34.In developing the recommended salary schedule,the866district school superintendent shall include input from parents,867teachers, and representatives of the business community.868Beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year, the recommended869salary schedule for classroom teachers shall be consistent with870the district’s differentiated-pay policy based upon s.1012.22.871 Section 11. Present subsection (6) of section 1012.28, 872 Florida Statutes, is renumbered as subsection (7), and a new 873 subsection (6) is added to that section, to read: 874 1012.28 Public school personnel; duties of school 875 principals.— 876 (6) A principal may refuse to accept the placement or 877 transfer of instructional personnel by the district school 878 superintendent to his or her school unless the instructional 879 personnel has a performance rating of “effective” or “highly 880 effective” under s. 1012.34. 881 Section 12. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1), paragraph (a) 882 of subsection (3), and subsection (5) of section 1012.33, 883 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 884 1012.33 Contracts with instructional staff, supervisors, 885 and school principals.— 886 (1)(a) Each person employed as a member of the 887 instructional staff in any district school system shall be 888 properly certified pursuant to s. 1012.56 or s. 1012.57 or 889 employed pursuant to s. 1012.39 and shall be entitled to and 890 shall receive a written contract as specified in this section. 891 All such contracts, except continuing contracts as specified in 892 subsection (4), shall contain provisions for dismissal during 893 the term of the contract only for just cause. Just cause 894 includes, but is not limited to, the following instances, as 895 defined by rule of the State Board of Education: immorality, 896 misconduct in office, incompetency, two consecutive annual 897 performance ratings of “unsatisfactory” under s. 1012.34, two 898 annual performance ratings of “unsatisfactory” within a 3-year 899 period under s. 1012.34, three annual performance ratings of 900 “needs improvement” within any 5-year period under s. 1012.34, 901 gross insubordination, willful neglect of duty, or being 902 convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea of guilty to, 903 regardless of adjudication of guilt, any crime involving moral 904 turpitude. 905 (3)(a) Each district school board shall provide a 906 professional service contract as prescribed herein. Each member 907 of the instructional staff who completed the following 908 requirements prior to July 1, 1984, shall be entitled to and 909 shall be issued a continuing contract in the form prescribed by 910 rules of the state board pursuant to s. 231.36, Florida Statutes 911 (1981). Each member of the instructional staff who completes the 912 following requirements on or after July 1, 1984, shall be 913 entitled to and shall be issued a professional service contract 914 in the form prescribed by rules of the state board as provided 915 herein: 916 1. The member must hold a professional certificate as 917 prescribed by s. 1012.56 and rules of the State Board of 918 Education. 919 2. The member must have completed 3 years of probationary 920 service in the district during a period not in excess of 5 921 successive years, except for leave duly authorized and granted. 922 3. The member must have been recommended by the district 923 school superintendent for such contract and reappointed by the 924 district school board based on effective or highly effective 925successfulperformance demonstrated under s. 1012.34of duties926and demonstration of professional competence. 927 4. For any person newly employed as a member of the 928 instructional staff after June 30, 1997, the initial annual 929 contract shall include a 97-day probationary period during which 930 time the employee’s contract may be terminated without cause or 931 the employee may resign without breach of contract. 932 (5) IfShoulda district school board hashaveto choose 933 from among its personnelwho are on continuing contracts or934professional service contractsas to which should be retained at 935 a school or in the school district, such decisions shall be 936 based upon the performance evaluation under s. 1012.34, with 937 primary consideration given to those personnel within the 938 affected area whose students’ growth in learning is greatermade939pursuant to the terms of a collectively bargained agreement,940when one exists.If no such agreement exists, the district941school board shall prescribe rules to handle reductions in942workforce.943 Section 13. Section 1012.52, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 944 Section 14. Paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of section 945 1012.795, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 946 1012.795 Education Practices Commission; authority to 947 discipline.— 948 (1) The Education Practices Commission may suspend the 949 educator certificate of any person as defined in s. 1012.01(2) 950 or (3) for up to 5 years, thereby denying that person the right 951 to teach or otherwise be employed by a district school board or 952 public school in any capacity requiring direct contact with 953 students for that period of time, after which the holder may 954 return to teaching as provided in subsection (4); may revoke the 955 educator certificate of any person, thereby denying that person 956 the right to teach or otherwise be employed by a district school 957 board or public school in any capacity requiring direct contact 958 with students for up to 10 years, with reinstatement subject to 959 the provisions of subsection (4); may revoke permanently the 960 educator certificate of any person thereby denying that person 961 the right to teach or otherwise be employed by a district school 962 board or public school in any capacity requiring direct contact 963 with students; may suspend the educator certificate, upon an 964 order of the court or notice by the Department of Revenue 965 relating to the payment of child support; or may impose any 966 other penalty provided by law, if the person: 967 (h) Has breached a contract, as provided in s. 1012.33(2) 968 or s. 1012.335. 969 Section 15. (1) Any school district that receives a grant 970 of at least $75 million from a private foundation for the 971 purpose of improving the effectiveness of teachers within the 972 school district may seek an annual exemption from the State 973 Board of Education from requirements of the amendments made by 974 this act to ss. 1012.22 and 1012.34, Florida Statutes. 975 (2) In order to receive approval from the State Board of 976 Education for an exemption under this section, a school district 977 must demonstrate to the State Board of Education that it is 978 implementing the following: 979 (a) A teacher evaluation system that uses student 980 performance as the single greatest component of the teacher’s 981 evaluation. 982 (b) A teacher compensation system that awards salary 983 increases based on sustained student performance. 984 (c) A teacher contract system that awards contracts based 985 on student performance. 986 (3) The State Board of Education shall annually renew a 987 school district’s exemption if the school district provides a 988 progress report that demonstrates that the school district 989 continues to meet the requirements of subsection (2). 990 (4) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules pursuant 991 to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida Statutes, to establish the 992 procedures for applying for an exemption under this section. 993 Section 16. Chapter 2010-279, Laws of Florida, does not 994 apply to any rulemaking required to administer this act. 995 Section 17. The provisions of any special act or general 996 law of local application relating to contracts for instructional 997 personnel in public schools or school districts in effect on or 998 before the effective date of this act are repealed, with the 999 exception of chapter 75-384, Laws of Florida. 1000 Section 18. If any provision of this act or its application 1001 to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity 1002 does not affect other provisions or applications of the act 1003 which can be given effect without the invalid provision or 1004 application, and to this end the provisions of this act are 1005 severable. 1006 Section 19. The amendments made by this act to s. 1012.33, 1007 Florida Statutes, apply to contracts newly entered into, 1008 extended, or readopted on or after July 1, 2011, and to all 1009 contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2014. 1010 Section 20. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 1011 act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon 1012 this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect July 1, 1013 2011.