1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; establishing annual evaluations for principals; convening a 
1.3 	group of experts and stakeholders to recommend a performance-based system 
1.4 	model for these evaluations;amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 
1.5 	123B.143, subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
1.6 	chapter 122A.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. [122A.73] SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR DEVELOPMENT.
1.9 	A school board and the school administrators in a district must collaboratively 
1.10 	establish a professional development model for school administrators that uses the 
1.11 	district's professional development resources and plans. The model must be designed 
1.12 	to improve teaching and learning by supporting administrators in shaping the school's 
1.13 	professional environment and developing teacher quality, performance, and effectiveness. 
1.14 	The model must, at a minimum:
1.15 	(1) support and improve administrators' instructional leadership and organizational, 
1.16 	management, and professional development; and strengthen their capacity in instruction 
1.17 	and supervision and in teacher evaluation and development;
1.18 	(2) provide professional development that emphasizes improved teaching and 
1.19 	learning, curriculum and instruction, student learning, and a collaborative professional 
1.20 	culture;
1.21 	(3) make appropriate recommendations for administrators to participate in 
1.22 	development opportunities, including the Principals' Leadership Institute under section 
1.23 	122A.74 and other statewide development programs that support administrators' 
1.24 	leadership behaviors and practices, rigorous curriculum, school performance, and high 
1.25 	quality instruction; and
2.1 	(4) use formative and summative assessments, on-the-job evaluations, surveys, and 
2.2 	longitudinal data on student academic growth as evaluation components; and provide 
2.3 	professional development opportunities targeted at identifying systemic strengths and 
2.4 	weaknesses and administrators' strengths and weaknesses in exercising leadership in 
2.5 	pursuit of school success.
2.6 	The provisions of this section are intended to provide districts with sufficient 
2.7 	flexibility to accommodate district needs and goals for teacher evaluation and development.

2.8 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2012.

2.9 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 123B.143, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
2.10 		Subdivision 1.Contract; duties. All districts maintaining a classified secondary 
2.11 	school must employ a superintendent who shall be an ex officio nonvoting member of the 
2.12 	school board. The authority for selection and employment of a superintendent must be 
2.13 	vested in the board in all cases. An individual employed by a board as a superintendent 
2.14 	shall have an initial employment contract for a period of time no longer than three years 
2.15 	from the date of employment. Any subsequent employment contract must not exceed a 
2.16 	period of three years. A board, at its discretion, may or may not renew an employment 
2.17 	contract. A board must not, by action or inaction, extend the duration of an existing 
2.18 	employment contract. Beginning 365 days prior to the expiration date of an existing 
2.19 	employment contract, a board may negotiate and enter into a subsequent employment 
2.20 	contract to take effect upon the expiration of the existing contract. A subsequent contract 
2.21 	must be contingent upon the employee completing the terms of an existing contract. If a 
2.22 	contract between a board and a superintendent is terminated prior to the date specified in 
2.23 	the contract, the board may not enter into another superintendent contract with that same 
2.24 	individual that has a term that extends beyond the date specified in the terminated contract. 
2.25 	A board may terminate a superintendent during the term of an employment contract for any 
2.26 	of the grounds specified in section 122A.40, subdivision 9 or 13. A superintendent shall 
2.27 	not rely upon an employment contract with a board to assert any other continuing contract 
2.28 	rights in the position of superintendent under section 122A.40. Notwithstanding the 
2.29 	provisions of sections 122A.40, subdivision 10 or 11, 123A.32, 123A.75, or any other law 
2.30 	to the contrary, no individual shall have a right to employment as a superintendent based 
2.31 	on order of employment in any district. If two or more districts enter into an agreement for 
2.32 	the purchase or sharing of the services of a superintendent, the contracting districts have 
2.33 	the absolute right to select one of the individuals employed to serve as superintendent 
2.34 	in one of the contracting districts and no individual has a right to employment as the 
3.1 	superintendent to provide all or part of the services based on order of employment in a 
3.2 	contracting district. The superintendent of a district shall perform the following:
3.3 	(1) visit and supervise the schools in the district, report and make recommendations 
3.4 	about their condition when advisable or on request by the board;
3.5 	(2) recommend to the board employment and dismissal of teachers;
3.6 	(3) annually evaluate each school principal assigned responsibility for supervising a 
3.7 	school building within the district, consistent with section 122A.73;
3.8 	(4) superintend school grading practices and examinations for promotions;
3.9 	(4) (5) make reports required by the commissioner; and
3.10 	(5) (6) perform other duties prescribed by the board.

3.11 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective July 1, 2012.

3.12 	Sec. 3. IMPLEMENTING A PERFORMANCE-BASED EVALUATION 
3.13 	SYSTEM FOR PRINCIPALS.
 3.14 	(a) To implement the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, sections 122A.73 and 
3.15 	123B.143, subdivision 1, clause (3), the commissioner of education, the Minnesota 
3.16 	Association of Secondary School Principals, and the Minnesota Association of Elementary 
3.17 	School Principals must convene a group of recognized and qualified experts and interested 
3.18 	stakeholders, including principals, superintendents, teachers, school board members, and 
3.19 	parents, among other stakeholders, to develop a performance-based system model for 
3.20 	annually evaluating school principals. In developing the system model, the group must at 
3.21 	least consider how principals develop and maintain:
3.22 	(1) high standards for student performance;
3.23 	(2) rigorous curriculum;
3.24 	(3) quality instruction;
3.25 	(4) a culture of learning and professional behavior;
3.26 	(5) connections to external communities;
3.27 	(6) systemic performance accountability; and 
3.28 	(7) leadership behaviors that create effective schools and improve school 
3.29 	performance, including how to plan for, implement, support, advocate for, communicate 
3.30 	about, and monitor continuous and improved learning.
3.31 	The group also may consider whether to establish a multitiered evaluation system 
3.32 	that supports newly licensed principals in becoming highly skilled school leaders and 
3.33 	provides opportunities for advanced learning for more experienced school leaders.
3.34 	(b) The commissioner, the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals, 
3.35 	and the Minnesota Association of Elementary School Principals must submit a 
4.1 	written report and all the group's working papers to the education committees of the 
4.2 	legislature by February 1, 2012, discussing the group's responses to paragraph (a) and its 
4.3 	recommendations for a performance-based system model for annually evaluating school 
4.4 	principals. The group convened under this section expires June 1, 2012.

4.5 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
4.6 	and applies to principal evaluations beginning in the 2012-2013 school year and later.