Bill Text: MS HB1246 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mississippi Teacher Leadership Program; establish to provide stipend to teacher assuming leadership positions while remaining in the classroom.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2019-02-14 - Died On Calendar [HB1246 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2019-HB1246-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2019 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Bennett
House Bill 1246
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 37-9-201, 37-9-203, 37-9-205, 37-9-207, 37-9-209, 37-9-211 AND 37-9-213, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ARE PROVISIONS OF THE BEGINNING TEACHER SUPPORT PROGRAM, TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI TEACHER LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AS A PILOT PROGRAM WITHIN THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES TO TEACHER LEADERS TO PROMOTE THE SUPPORT AND RETENTION OF EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM TEACHERS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-19-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF THE COMPENSATION TO TEACHER LEADERS IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,000.00 FOR EACH BEGINNING TEACHER MENTORED UNDER THE BEGINNING TEACHER SUPPORT PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 37-9-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-201. As used in Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213:
(a) "Beginning teacher" means a teacher who:
(i) Possesses a teaching license issued by the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development;
(ii) Is employed at least half time, primarily as a classroom teacher, by a school district; and
(iii) Has taught fewer than ninety (90) consecutive days, or one hundred eighty (180) days total, as a licensed teacher in any public school.
(b) "District" means any local school district.
(c) "Formal assistance" means a program provided by a mentor teacher to a beginning teacher that includes, but is not limited to, direct classroom observation and consultation; assistance in instructional planning and preparation; support in implementation and delivery of classroom instruction; and other assistance intended to enhance the professional performance and development of the beginning teacher.
(d) " * * * Teacher leader" means a
teacher who:
(i) Possesses a standard teaching personnel service or administrative license issued by the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development;
(ii) At the time of selection, is employed under contract primarily as a classroom teacher by a public school district or is retired from a public school district;
(iii) Has successfully taught for three (3) or more years as a licensed teacher in any public school;
(iv) Has been selected and trained as described in Section 37-9-211; and
(v) Has demonstrated mastery of teaching skills and subject matter knowledge.
(e) "Teacher" means a licensed employee of a local school district who has direct responsibility for instruction, coordination of educational programs or supervision of teachers and who is compensated for services from public funds.
SECTION 2. Section 37-9-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-203. The Legislature finds that:
(a) The quality of teaching in the public schools is of vital importance to the future of this state;
(b) This state has a special interest in insuring that the induction of beginning teachers into their profession is conducive to their professional growth and development; and
(c) The formal
assignment of * * * teacher leaders who have demonstrated mastery of
teaching skills and subject matter knowledge should substantially improve the
induction and professional growth of beginning teachers in this state, as well
as provide * * * teacher leaders with additional and valuable
opportunities to enhance their own professional growth.
SECTION 3. Section 37-9-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-205. (1) The
Mississippi Teacher Center of the State Department of Education shall establish
a beginning teacher support program to provide eligible beginning teachers in
this state with continued and sustained support from a formally assigned * * * teacher leader during the first
full year of teaching.
(2) After the 1992-1993 school year, any district is eligible to participate in the beginning teacher support program.
(3) Two (2) or more districts may operate jointly a beginning teacher support program if they meet all the requirements of Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-213.
(4) Educational consortia established for approved teacher education programs pursuant to rules of the Mississippi Teacher Center are eligible to operate a beginning teacher support program to serve beginning teachers in a participating school district.
(5) To the extent
practicable, school districts may coordinate with institutions of higher
education in the design, implementation and evaluation of * * * teacher leadership programs.
SECTION 4. Section 37-9-207, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-207. Each district that wishes to participate in the beginning teacher support program shall submit a formal application to the Mississippi Teacher Center no later than September 15 of each school year, according to rules of the Mississippi Teacher Center. By that date, districts shall inform the department of:
(a) The names of all eligible beginning teachers employed by the district and a description of their teaching assignments and extracurricular duties;
(b) The names of * * * teacher leaders selected
by a district and a description of their teaching assignments and the
endorsement area in which they are certified to teach;
(c) A description of
the content and calendar of the proposed beginning teacher support program.
The program must provide a minimum of ninety (90) hours of direct contact
between * * * teacher leaders and beginning teachers, including
observation of or assistance with classroom teaching, or both, during the
school day;
(d) A description of the amount and nature of each eligible beginning teacher's classroom and extracurricular duties and assurance that these duties are not unreasonable for a beginning teacher; and
(e) A certification that no eligible beginning teacher is or may be misassigned outside the teacher's endorsement area, except as provided for by rules of the Mississippi Teacher Center.
SECTION 5. Section 37-9-209, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-209. After consulting
with representatives of teachers, administrators, school boards, schools of
education, the institutions of higher learning and such others as it considers
appropriate, the Mississippi Teacher Center shall develop or approve workshops
to provide training for * * *mentor teachers teacher leaders and beginning teachers.
SECTION 6. Section 37-9-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-211. (1) There is established the Mississippi Teacher Leadership Program, as a four-year pilot program within the State Department of Education. The purpose of the program shall be to support and retain effective classroom teachers through teacher leadership opportunities by making stipends available to teachers who desire to lead while remaining in the classroom.
( * * *2) The selection, nature and extent of
duties of * * * teacher leaders shall be determined by the school
district. The following guidelines shall apply:
(a) No teacher shall
be designated as a * * *
teacher leader unless willing to perform in that role;
(b) No * * * teacher leader shall participate
in the evaluation of beginning teachers;
(c) Each * * * teacher leader shall complete
successfully a training workshop provided or approved by the Mississippi
Teacher Center * * * before participating in the beginning teacher support
program; and
(d) If a * * * teacher leader receives
additional release time to support a beginning teacher, it is expected that the
total workload of other teachers regularly employed by the school district
should not increase in any substantial manner.
(2) A district may: (a)
compensate * * * teacher leaders from any available funds for
additional duties to support a beginning teacher which are performed after
regular school hours; (b) grant additional release time to * * * teacher leaders for
additional duties to support a beginning teacher which are performed after
regular school hours; and (c) employ and compensate substitute teachers from
any available funds for assuming the regular teaching duties of * * * teacher leaders who are
participating in the beginning teacher program.
SECTION 7. Section 37-9-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-213. The Mississippi Teacher Center shall be responsible for the regular and ongoing evaluation of the beginning teacher support program and may contract for such evaluation. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, assessments of the following:
(a) A survey and
follow-up of all eligible * * *mentor teachers teacher leaders and beginning teachers
and appropriate district officials, to assess satisfaction with and the
effectiveness of the beginning teacher support program;
(b) The amount and
quality of the contact time between * * * teacher leaders and
beginning teachers;
(c) The effectiveness of workshops and other training required under Sections 37-9-201 through 37-9-211;
(d) The effectiveness
of the * * *
teacher leadership program in enhancing the professional development and
retention of new teachers in the district;
(e) The desirability of extending this assistance program to students participating in graduate level teacher preparation programs similar to those which have been proposed by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning; and
(f) The desirability of extending this assistance program to all probationary teachers.
SECTION 8. Section 37-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-19-7. (1) The allowance in the Mississippi Adequate Education Program for teachers' salaries in each county and separate school district shall be determined and paid in accordance with the scale for teachers' salaries as provided in this subsection. For teachers holding the following types of licenses or the equivalent as determined by the State Board of Education, and the following number of years of teaching experience, the scale shall be as follows:
2014-2015 MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE
Years
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A
0 38,108.00 36,944.00 35,780.00 33,390.00
1 38,108.00 36,944.00 35,780.00 33,390.00
2 38,108.00 36,944.00 35,780.00 33,390.00
3 38,902.00 37,671.00 36,440.00 33,885.00
4 39,696.00 38,398.00 37,100.00 34,380.00
5 40,490.00 39,125.00 37,760.00 34,875.00
6 41,284.00 39,852.00 38,420.00 35,370.00
7 42,078.00 40,579.00 39,080.00 35,865.00
8 42,872.00 41,306.00 39,740.00 36,360.00
9 43,666.00 42,033.00 40,400.00 36,855.00
10 44,460.00 42,760.00 41,060.00 37,350.00
11 45,254.00 43,487.00 41,720.00 37,845.00
12 46,048.00 44,214.00 42,380.00 38,340.00
13 46,842.00 44,941.00 43,040.00 38,835.00
14 47,636.00 45,668.00 43,700.00 39,330.00
15 48,430.00 46,395.00 44,360.00 39,825.00
16 49,224.00 47,122.00 45,020.00 40,320.00
17 50,018.00 47,849.00 45,680.00 40,815.00
18 50,812.00 48,576.00 46,340.00 41,310.00
19 51,606.00 49,303.00 47,000.00 41,805.00
20 52,400.00 50,030.00 47,660.00 42,300.00
21 53,194.00 50,757.00 48,320.00 42,795.00
22 53,988.00 51,484.00 48,980.00 43,290.00
23 54,782.00 52,211.00 49,640.00 43,785.00
24 55,576.00 52,938.00 50,300.00 44,280.00
25 58,430.00 55,725.00 53,020.00 46,835.00
26 59,224.00 56,452.00 53,680.00 47,330.00
27 60,018.00 57,179.00 54,340.00 47,825.00
28 60,812.00 57,906.00 55,000.00 48,320.00
29 61,606.00 58,633.00 55,660.00 48,815.00
30 62,400.00 59,360.00 56,320.00 49,310.00
31 63,194.00 60,087.00 56,980.00 49,805.00
32 63,988.00 60,814.00 57,640.00 50,300.00
33 64,782.00 61,541.00 58,300.00 50,795.00
34 65,576.00 62,268.00 58,960.00 51,290.00
35
& above 66,370.00 62,995.00 59,620.00 51,785.00
2015-2016 MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE
Years
Exp. AAAA AAA AA A
0 39,108.00 37,944.00 36,780.00 34,390.00
1 39,108.00 37,944.00 36,780.00 34,390.00
2 39,108.00 37,944.00 36,780.00 34,390.00
3 39,902.00 38,671.00 37,440.00 34,885.00
4 40,696.00 39,398.00 38,100.00 35,380.00
5 41,490.00 40,125.00 38,760.00 35,875.00
6 42,284.00 40,852.00 39,420.00 36,370.00
7 43,078.00 41,579.00 40,080.00 36,865.00
8 43,872.00 42,306.00 40,740.00 37,360.00
9 44,666.00 43,033.00 41,400.00 37,855.00
10 45,460.00 43,760.00 42,060.00 38,350.00
11 46,254.00 44,487.00 42,720.00 38,845.00
12 47,048.00 45,214.00 43,380.00 39,340.00
13 47,842.00 45,941.00 44,040.00 39,835.00
14 48,636.00 46,668.00 44,700.00 40,330.00
15 49,430.00 47,395.00 45,360.00 40,825.00
16 50,224.00 48,122.00 46,020.00 41,320.00
17 51,018.00 48,849.00 46,680.00 41,815.00
18 51,812.00 49,576.00 47,340.00 42,310.00
19 52,606.00 50,303.00 48,000.00 42,805.00
20 53,400.00 51,030.00 48,660.00 43,300.00
21 54,194.00 51,757.00 49,320.00 43,795.00
22 54,988.00 52,484.00 49,980.00 44,290.00
23 55,782.00 53,211.00 50,640.00 44,785.00
24 56,576.00 53,938.00 51,300.00 45,280.00
25 59,430.00 56,725.00 54,020.00 47,835.00
26 60,224.00 57,452.00 54,680.00 48,330.00
27 61,018.00 58,179.00 55,340.00 48,825.00
28 61,812.00 58,906.00 56,000.00 49,320.00
29 62,606.00 59,633.00 56,660.00 49,815.00
30 63,400.00 60,360.00 57,320.00 50,310.00
31 64,194.00 61,087.00 57,980.00 50,805.00
32 64,988.00 61,814.00 58,640.00 51,300.00
33 65,782.00 62,541.00 59,300.00 51,795.00
34 66,576.00 63,268.00 59,960.00 52,290.00
35
& above 67,370.00 63,995.00 60,620.00 52,785.00
It is the intent of the Legislature that any state funds made available for salaries of licensed personnel in excess of the funds paid for such salaries for the 1986-1987 school year shall be paid to licensed personnel pursuant to a personnel appraisal and compensation system implemented by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall have the authority to adopt and amend rules and regulations as are necessary to establish, administer and maintain the system.
All teachers employed on a full-time basis shall be paid a minimum salary in accordance with the above scale. However, no school district shall receive any funds under this section for any school year during which the local supplement paid to any individual teacher shall have been reduced to a sum less than that paid to that individual teacher for performing the same duties from local supplement during the immediately preceding school year. The amount actually spent for the purposes of group health and/or life insurance shall be considered as a part of the aggregate amount of local supplement but shall not be considered a part of the amount of individual local supplement.
The level of professional training of each teacher to be used in establishing the salary allotment for the teachers for each year shall be determined by the type of valid teacher's license issued to those teachers on or before October 1 of the current school year. Provided, however, that school districts are authorized, in their discretion, to negotiate the salary levels applicable to certificated employees who are receiving retirement benefits from the retirement system of another state, and the annual experience increment provided above in Section 37-19-7 shall not be applicable to any such retired certificated employee.
(2) (a) The following employees shall receive an annual salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to which the employee may be entitled:
(i) Any licensed teacher who has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and who is employed by a local school board or the State Board of Education as a teacher and not as an administrator. Such teacher shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate was received prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the teacher shall submit such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year.
(ii) A licensed nurse who has met the requirements and acquired a certificate from the National Board for Certification of School Nurses, Inc., and who is employed by a local school board or the State Board of Education as a school nurse and not as an administrator. The licensed school nurse shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate was received before October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed school nurse shall submit the documentation to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. Provided, however, that the total number of licensed school nurses eligible for a salary supplement under this subparagraph (ii) shall not exceed thirty-five (35).
(iii) Any licensed school counselor who has met the requirements and acquired a National Certified School Counselor (NCSC) endorsement from the National Board of Certified Counselors and who is employed by a local school board or the State Board of Education as a counselor and not as an administrator. Such licensed school counselor shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the endorsement was received prior to October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed school counselor shall submit such documentation to the State Department of Education prior to February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. However, any school counselor who started the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards process for school counselors between June 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004, and completes the requirements and acquires the Master Teacher certificate shall be entitled to the master teacher supplement, and those counselors who complete the process shall be entitled to a one-time reimbursement for the actual cost of the process as outlined in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(iv) Any licensed speech-language pathologist and audiologist who has met the requirements and acquired a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and any certified academic language therapist (CALT) who has met the certification requirements of the Academic Language Therapy Association and who is employed by a local school board or is employed by a state agency under the State Personnel Board. The licensed speech-language pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language therapist shall submit documentation to the State Department of Education that the certificate or endorsement was received before October 15 in order to be eligible for the full salary supplement in the current school year, or the licensed speech-language pathologist and audiologist and certified academic language therapist shall submit the documentation to the State Department of Education before February 15 in order to be eligible for a prorated salary supplement beginning with the second term of the school year. However, the total number of certified academic language therapists eligible for a salary supplement under this paragraph (iv) shall not exceed twenty (20).
(b) An employee shall be reimbursed for the actual cost of completing each component of acquiring the certificate or endorsement, excluding any costs incurred for postgraduate courses, not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each component, not to exceed four (4) components, for a teacher, school counselor or speech-language pathologist and audiologist, regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement. A local school district or any private individual or entity may pay the cost of completing the process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for any employee of the school district described under paragraph (a), and the State Department of Education shall reimburse the school district for such cost, regardless of whether or not the process resulted in the award of the certificate or endorsement. If a private individual or entity has paid the cost of completing the process of acquiring the certificate or endorsement for an employee, the local school district may agree to directly reimburse the individual or entity for such cost on behalf of the employee.
(c) All salary supplements, fringe benefits and process reimbursement authorized under this subsection shall be paid directly by the State Department of Education to the local school district and shall be in addition to its minimum education program allotments and not a part thereof in accordance with regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education. Local school districts shall not reduce the local supplement paid to any employee receiving such salary supplement, and the employee shall receive any local supplement to which employees with similar training and experience otherwise are entitled. However, an educational employee shall receive the salary supplement in the amount of Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00) for only one (1) of the qualifying certifications authorized under paragraph (a) of this subsection. No school district shall provide more than one (1) annual salary supplement under the provisions of this subsection to any one individual employee holding multiple qualifying national certifications.
(d) If an employee for whom such cost has been paid, in full or in part, by a local school district or private individual or entity fails to complete the certification or endorsement process, the employee shall be liable to the school district or individual or entity for all amounts paid by the school district or individual or entity on behalf of that employee toward his or her certificate or endorsement.
(3) The following employees shall receive an annual salary supplement in the amount of Four Thousand Dollars ($4,000.00), plus fringe benefits, in addition to any other compensation to which the employee may be entitled:
Effective July 1, 2016, if funds are available for that purpose, any licensed teacher who has met the requirements and acquired a Master Teacher Certificate from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and who is employed in a public school district located in one (1) of the following counties: Claiborne, Adams, Jefferson, Wilkinson, Amite, Bolivar, Coahoma, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Issaquena, Sunflower and Washington. The salary supplement awarded under the provisions of this subsection (3) shall be in addition to the salary supplement awarded under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section.
Teachers who meet the qualifications for a salary supplement under this subsection (3) who are assigned for less than one (1) full year or less than full time for the school year shall receive the salary supplement in a prorated manner, with the portion of the teacher's assignment to the critical geographic area to be determined as of June 15th of the school year.
(4) (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Performance-Based Pay (MPBP)" plan. In addition to the minimum base pay described in this section, only after full funding of MAEP and if funds are available for that purpose, the State of Mississippi may provide monies from state funds to school districts for the purposes of rewarding certified teachers, administrators and nonlicensed personnel at individual schools showing improvement in student test scores. The MPBP plan shall be developed by the State Department of Education based on the following criteria:
(i) It is the express intent of this legislation that the MPBP plan shall utilize only existing standards of accreditation and assessment as established by the State Board of Education.
(ii) To ensure that all of Mississippi's teachers, administrators and nonlicensed personnel at all schools have equal access to the monies set aside in this section, the MPBP program shall be designed to calculate each school's performance as determined by the school's increase in scores from the prior school year. The MPBP program shall be based on a standardized scores rating where all levels of schools can be judged in a statistically fair and reasonable way upon implementation. At the end of each year, after all student achievement scores have been standardized, the State Department of Education shall implement the MPBP plan.
(iii) To ensure all teachers cooperate in the spirit of teamwork, individual schools shall submit a plan to the local school district to be approved before the beginning of each school year beginning July 1, 2008. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, how all teachers, regardless of subject area, and administrators will be responsible for improving student achievement for their individual school.
(b) The State Board of Education shall develop the processes and procedures for designating schools eligible to participate in the MPBP. State assessment results, growth in student achievement at individual schools and other measures deemed appropriate in designating successful student achievement shall be used in establishing MPBP criteria. The State Board of Education shall develop the MPBP policies and procedures and report to the Legislature and Governor by December 1, 2006.
(5) (a) Beginning * * * with the * * * 2019-2020 school year through
the 2022-2023 school years, if funds are available for * * * the purpose of the * * * Mississippi * * * Teacher
Leadership Program pilot, as * * * established under Sections 37-9-201
through 37-9-213, * * *
teachers who assume a teacher leadership role while remaining in the
classroom shall receive additional base compensation provided for by the
State Legislature in the amount of * * * Two
Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) per each beginning teacher that is being
mentored. The additional state compensation shall be limited to those * * * teacher leaders that
provide mentoring services to beginning teachers. For the purposes of such
funding, a beginning teacher shall be defined as any teacher in any school in
Mississippi that has less than one (1) year of classroom experience teaching in
a public school. For the purposes of such funding, no full-time academic
teacher shall mentor more than two (2) beginning teachers.
(b) To be eligible for
this * * *
consideration, teachers serving in teacher leader capacities * * * must be employed in
schools that have a classroom management program approved by the local
school board.
(6) Effective with the 2014-2015 school year, the school districts participating in the Pilot Performance-Based Compensation System pursuant to Section 37-19-9 may award additional teacher and administrator pay based thereon.
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.
