Bill Text: HI SB1249 | 2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Teachers; Omnibus; Appropriations
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-05-11 - Carried over to 2010 Regular Session. [SB1249 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2010-SB1249-Amended.html
Report Title:
Teachers; Omnibus; Appropriations
Description:
Provides incentives for the recruitment and retention of public school teachers. (SD1)
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1249 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO TEACHERS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that retaining highly qualified teachers in the public schools is critical to achieving the State's educational goals. To this end, the legislature supports initiatives and programs that combat the high teacher attrition rates within the department of education and endeavor to develop and retain quality teachers.
The purpose of this Act is to provide incentives for the recruitment and retention of public school teachers.
PART I
SECTION 2. The legislature finds that the cost and availability of housing can greatly impact the recruitment and retention of teachers, especially in geographically isolated communities and in schools plagued with hard-to-fill vacancies. In addition, the high cost of housing in Hawaii creates added economic stress on younger teachers who are among those most likely to leave the profession.
The legislature further finds that the current condition of state-owned teacher housing mandates that units undergo extensive repair and renovation, which will require a consistent maintenance program and dedicated oversight and support personnel when the program is transferred from the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation to the department of education.
The purpose of this part is to address shortages in teacher housing by:
(1) Establishing a teacher housing allowance program;
(2) Establishing a homeownership for educators program and a second mortgage revolving trust fund; and
(3) Appropriating funds for the repair and maintenance of existing teacher housing.
SECTION 3. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding four new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§302A-A Teacher housing allowance program. (a) The department shall establish a teacher housing allowance program to provide housing allowances to teachers employed to teach at public schools in the State. The amount of the housing allowance shall be a maximum of $300 per month for the first three years of employment with the department.
(b) The department shall establish priorities for and administer the teacher housing allowance program and shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary for the program's implementation.
§302A-B Homeownership for educators program. (a) There is established a homeownership for educators program for qualified teachers and other employees of the department to be administered by the department.
(b) The department shall offer a deferred-interest second mortgage to qualified educators, and their spouses if the property will be owned jointly, at the time they purchase a residential dwelling unit. The deferred-interest second mortgage shall be due, together with deferred interest, at the earlier of:
(1) The sale of the property;
(2) Other conveyance of the property;
(3) Six months after the purchaser ceases to be qualified;
(4) The refinancing of any mortgage on the dwelling unit that increases the principal;
(5) Six months after the purchaser ceases to occupy the unit full-time; or
(6) Fifteen years from the date of the purchase.
(c) The deferred-interest second mortgage shall not exceed the lesser of one-half of the purchase price or $125,000. The interest on the second mortgage shall be equal to a percentage of the increase between:
(1) The purchase price and the gross sale price on an arms-length sale to an unrelated third party; or
(2) The fair market value of the property as determined by an appraiser selected by the department.
The State's percentage shall be the principal amount of the second mortgage divided by the purchase price.
(d) The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to carry out this section.
§302A-C Qualifications for homeownership for educators program. A qualified educator of the department shall be eligible to participate in the program if the educator:
(1) Is an active, full-time educator in the Hawaii public school system;
(2) Resides on the property purchased under this subpart as the educator's permanent and primary residence for at least nine months during a twelve-month period; and
(3) Together with a spouse, if any, or the spouse individually, does not own other real estate.
§302A-D Homeownership for educators second mortgage revolving trust fund. (a) There is established the homeownership for educators second mortgage revolving trust fund, into which shall be deposited:
(1) Appropriations made by the legislature to the fund;
(2) All contributions from public or private partners;
(3) All interest earned on or accrued to moneys deposited in the fund; and
(4) Any other moneys made available to the fund from other sources.
(b) Moneys in the fund shall be used:
(1) To provide deferred-interest second mortgages for Hawaii public school educators as provided in 302A‑B; or
(2) For any other purpose deemed necessary to carry out the homeownership for educators program."
SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for the teacher housing allowance program established under this part.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.
SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 to be deposited into the homeownership for educators second mortgage revolving trust fund established under section 302A-C, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
SECTION 6. There is appropriated out of the homeownership for educators second mortgage revolving trust fund the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for making second mortgage loans to be utilized for the homeownership for educators program pursuant to chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 7. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for management of the teacher housing program and for renovation, repair, and maintenance costs necessary to bring existing units to acceptable levels of habitation.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.
SECTION 8. The department of education shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2010 and 2011 on the status of the current teacher housing programs and on the costs, feasibility, and benefits of new initiatives to address shortages in teacher housing, including second mortgage loan programs or other home loan guarantee programs.
PART II
SECTION 9. The legislature finds that peer review programs offer an opportunity for new teachers to benefit from both the pedagogical skills and "in the classroom" observations of their more experience colleagues.
The purpose of this part is to require the department of education to expand its induction and mentoring program to all schools, complex areas, and districts and include a peer review program for new teachers.
SECTION 10. Chapter 302A, part III, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§302A- Teachers; peer review program. (a) All new teachers shall participate in a peer review program for the first five years of employment with the department; provided that the five-year period may be shortened or extended at the recommendation of the peer reviewer and with the concurrence of the teacher.
(b) The department of education shall expand its induction and mentoring program to all schools, complex areas, and districts and include a peer review program pursuant to subsection (a). The department shall develop and administer standards for the peer reviewers to follow and shall select the peer reviewers from retired department teachers who held a valid teaching certificate or license at the date of their retirement.
(c) New teachers who receive satisfactory peer reviews under the standards established pursuant to subsection (b) may receive step increases during their participation in the peer review program, subject to negotiations pursuant to section 89‑9."
SECTION 11. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for the peer review program established pursuant to section 302A- , Hawaii Revised Statutes.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.
PART III
SECTION 12. The legislature finds that attracting experienced out-of-state teachers is one means of addressing the teacher shortage in Hawaii. Under current department of education bargaining unit contract and school code provisions, a maximum of six years of prior teaching experience is allowable for salary replacement credit for full-time teaching experience in a recognized public or private school in the United States.
The purpose of this part is to provide an incentive for experienced teachers to relocate to Hawaii by extending the six‑year cap to a maximum of ten years.
SECTION 13. (a) The department of education shall review the procedures necessary and establish a timetable to amend the provisions of bargaining unit (6) contract, article XVII(F), and department of education school code 5200(A) compensation, to increase from six years to ten years the number of years of prior teaching experience allowable for salary placement credit for full-time experience in a recognized public or private school (K-12) in the United States (including territories, possessions or Department of Defense Schools overseas); provided that the ten-year cap shall apply to teachers:
(1) Entering the service of the department in hard-to-fill vacancies in geographically isolated schools; and
(2) Holding national board certification.
(b) The department shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010 on the procedures required and the timetable to implement the amendments in subsection (a).
PART IV
SECTION 14. The legislature further finds that teacher induction programs can cut teacher attrition in half and improve teacher effectiveness. Research indicates that among beginning teachers nationally, forty-one per cent who do not receive induction support change schools or leave the profession altogether after their first year, compared to only eighteen per cent of teachers who participate in effective induction programs.
The purpose of this part is to require the department of education to report on its teacher induction and mentoring program.
SECTION 15. The department of education shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010 on teacher retention rates for the most recent five-year period, the current status of its teacher induction and mentoring program, and its progress in:
(1) Providing an effective transition into the teaching career for first-year and second-year teachers;
(2) Ensuring that mentors provide intensive individualized support and assistance to each of the participating beginning teachers;
(3) Providing continuous program improvement through ongoing research, development, and evaluation; and
(4) Ensuring professional success and retention of new teachers.
PART V
SECTION 16. The legislature finds that to fully address the teacher shortage in public schools, the State must take a comprehensive approach to ensure that an adequate supply of new teachers are being trained, and once trained and hired, efforts are made to retain these teachers.
The purpose of this part is to require the department of education to report on statewide efforts to reduce teacher shortages.
SECTION 17. The department of education shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010 on statewide efforts to reduce teacher shortages, which shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) A review of any previous plans developed within the past six years to address the teacher shortage in Hawaii, and the success or failure of the plans to achieve reductions in teacher shortages;
(2) A review of current teacher shortages and projections for teacher shortages statewide in the next five years;
(3) Strategies for increasing the numbers of students completing teacher education programs in the State;
(4) Incentives for staffing hard-to-fill vacancies; and
(5) Recommendations and incentives for increasing retention rates of teachers in all content areas.
PART VI
SECTION 18. In codifying the new sections added by section 3 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
SECTION 19. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 20. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2009.
