SF 3357

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education; eliminating staff development program; modifying
revenue for staff development; making conforming cross-reference changes;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 122A.40, subdivision 7a; 122A.41,
subdivision 4a; 122A.61, subdivision 1; 126C.15, subdivision 1; Minnesota
Statutes 2005 Supplement, sections 120B.11, subdivision 5; 122A.413,
subdivision 2; 122A.414, subdivisions 1a, 2; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2004,
sections 122A.60, subdivisions 2, 3; 122A.61, subdivision 2; Minnesota Statutes
2005 Supplement, section 122A.60, subdivisions 1, 1a, 4.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2005 Supplement, section 120B.11, subdivision 5, is
amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Report.

(a) By October 1 of each year, the school board shall use standard
statewide reporting procedures the commissioner develops and adopt a report that includes
the following:

(1) student achievement goals for meeting state academic standards;

(2) results of local assessment data, and any additional test data;

(3) the annual school district improvement plans including staff development goals
deleted text begin under section 122A.60 deleted text end ;

(4) information about district and learning site progress in realizing previously
adopted improvement plans; and

(5) the amount and type of revenue attributed to each education site as defined
in section 123B.04.

(b) The school board shall publish the report in the local newspaper with the largest
circulation in the district, by mail, or by electronic means such as the district Web site. If
electronic means are used, school districts must publish notice of the report in a periodical
of general circulation in the district. School districts must make copies of the report
available to the public on request. The board shall make a copy of the report available to
the public for inspection. The board shall send a copy of the report to the commissioner
of education by October 15 of each year.

(c) The title of the report shall contain the name and number of the school district and
read "Annual Report on Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Achievement." The report
must include at least the following information about advisory committee membership:

(1) the name of each committee member and the date when that member's term
expires;

(2) the method and criteria the school board uses to select committee members; and

(3) the date by which a community resident must apply to next serve on the
committee.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.40, subdivision 7a, is amended to read:

Subd. 7a.

Additional staff development and salary.

(a) A teacher electing to have
a continuing contract based on the extended school calendar under section 120A.415
must participate in a total number of staff development days where the total number of
such days equals the difference between the total number of days of student instruction
and 240 days. Staff development includes peer mentoring, peer gathering, continuing
education, professional development, or other training. A school board may schedule
such days throughout the calendar year. deleted text begin Staff development programs provided during
such days shall enable teachers to achieve the staff development outcomes under section
122A.60, subdivision 3. deleted text end

(b) A public employer and the exclusive representative of the teachers must include
terms in the collective bargaining agreement for all teachers who participate in additional
staff development days under paragraph (a) that increase base salaries.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.41, subdivision 4a, is amended to read:

Subd. 4a.

Additional staff development and salary.

(a) A teacher electing to have
a continuing contract based on the extended school calendar under section 120A.415
must participate in a total number of staff development days where the total number of
such days equals the difference between the total number of days of student instruction
and 240 days. Staff development includes peer mentoring, peer gathering, continuing
education, professional development, or other training. A school board may schedule
such days throughout the calendar year. deleted text begin Staff development programs provided during
such days shall enable teachers to achieve the staff development outcomes under section
122A.60, subdivision 3.
deleted text end

(b) A public employer and the exclusive representative of the teachers must include
terms in the collective bargaining agreement for all teachers who participate in additional
staff development days under paragraph (a) that increase base salaries.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2005 Supplement, section 122A.413, subdivision 2, is
amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Plan components.

The educational improvement plan must be approved
by the school board and have at least these elements:

(1) assessment and evaluation tools to measure student performance and progress;

(2) performance goals and benchmarks for improvement;

(3) measures of student attendance and completion rates;

(4) a rigorous professional development system deleted text begin , consistent with section 122A.60, deleted text end
that is aligned with educational improvement, designed to achieve teaching quality
improvement, and consistent with clearly defined research-based standards;

(5) measures of student, family, and community involvement and satisfaction;

(6) a data system about students and their academic progress that provides parents
and the public with understandable information;

(7) a teacher induction and mentoring program for probationary teachers that
provides continuous learning and sustained teacher support; and

(8) substantial participation by the exclusive representative of the teachers in
developing the plan.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2005 Supplement, section 122A.414, subdivision 1a,
is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Transitional planning year.

(a) To be eligible to participate in an
alternative teacher professional pay system, a school district, intermediate school district,
or site, at least one school year before it expects to fully implement an alternative pay
system, must:

(1) submit to the department a letter of intent executed by the school district or
intermediate school district and the exclusive representative of the teachers to complete a
plan preparing for full implementation, consistent with subdivision 2, that may include,
among other activities, training to evaluate teacher performance, a restructured school
day to develop integrated ongoing site-based professional development activities, release
time to develop an alternative pay system agreement, and teacher and staff training on
using multiple data sources; and

(2) agree to use up to two percent of basic revenue for staff development purposes,
consistent with deleted text begin sections 122A.60 and deleted text end new text begin section new text end 122A.61, to develop the alternative teacher
professional pay system agreement under this section.

(b) To be eligible to participate in an alternative teacher professional pay system, a
charter school, at least one school year before it expects to fully implement an alternative
pay system, must:

(1) submit to the department a letter of intent executed by the charter school and the
charter school board of directors;

(2) submit the record of a formal vote by the teachers employed at the charter
school indicating at least 70 percent of all teachers agree to implement the alternative
pay system; and

(3) agree to use up to two percent of basic revenue for staff development purposes,
consistent with deleted text begin sections 122A.60 and deleted text end new text begin section new text end 122A.61, to develop the alternative teacher
professional pay system.

(c) The commissioner may waive the planning year if the commissioner determines,
based on the criteria under subdivision 2, that the school district, intermediate school
district, site or charter school is ready to fully implement an alternative pay system.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2005 Supplement, section 122A.414, subdivision 2, is
amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Alternative teacher professional pay system.

(a) To participate in this
program, a school district, intermediate school district, school site, or charter school must
have an educational improvement plan under section 122A.413 and an alternative teacher
professional pay system agreement under paragraph (b). A charter school participant also
must comply with subdivision 2a.

(b) The alternative teacher professional pay system agreement must:

(1) describe how teachers can achieve career advancement and additional
compensation;

(2) describe how the school district, intermediate school district, school site, or
charter school will provide teachers with career advancement options that allow teachers
to retain primary roles in student instruction and facilitate site-focused professional
development that helps other teachers improve their skills;

(3) reform the "steps and lanes" salary schedule, prevent any teacher's compensation
paid before implementing the pay system from being reduced as a result of participating
in this system, and base at least 60 percent of any compensation increase on teacher
performance using:

(i) schoolwide student achievement gains under section 120B.35 or locally selected
standardized assessment outcomes, or both;

(ii) measures of student achievement; and

(iii) an objective evaluation program that includes:

(A) individual teacher evaluations aligned with the educational improvement plan
under section 122A.413 deleted text begin and the staff development plan under section 122A.60 deleted text end ; and

(B) objective evaluations using multiple criteria conducted by a locally selected and
periodically trained evaluation team that understands teaching and learning;

(4) provide integrated ongoing site-based professional development activities to
improve instructional skills and learning that are aligned with student needs under section
122A.413, consistent with the staff development plan under section 122A.60 and led
during the school day by trained teacher leaders such as master or mentor teachers;

(5) allow any teacher in a participating school district, intermediate school district,
school site, or charter school that implements an alternative pay system to participate in
that system without any quota or other limit; and

(6) encourage collaboration rather than competition among teachers.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.61, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Staff development revenue.

A district is required to reserve
an amount equal to at least two percent of the basic revenue under section 126C.10,
subdivision 2, deleted text begin for in-service education for programs under section 120B.22, subdivision
2, deleted text end for staff development deleted text begin plans, including plans for challenging instructional activities
and experiences under section 122A.60, and for curriculum development and programs,
other in-service education, teachers' workshops, teacher conferences, the cost of
substitute teachers staff development purposes, preservice and in-service education for
special education professionals and paraprofessionals, deleted text end and other related costs deleted text begin for staff
development efforts deleted text end . A district may annually waive the requirement to reserve their basic
revenue under this section if a majority vote of the licensed teachers in the district and
a majority vote of the school board agree to a resolution to waive the requirement. A
district in statutory operating debt is exempt from reserving basic revenue according to
this section. Districts may expend an additional amount of unreserved revenue for staff
development based on their needs. deleted text begin With the exception of amounts reserved for staff
development from revenues allocated directly to school sites, the board must initially
allocate 50 percent of the reserved revenue to each school site in the district on a per
teacher basis, which must be retained by the school site until used. The board may
retain 25 percent to be used for district wide staff development efforts. The remaining
25 percent of the revenue must be used to make grants to school sites for best practices
methods. A grant may be used for any purpose authorized under section 120B.22,
subdivision 2, 122A.60, or for the costs of curriculum development and programs, other
in-service education, teachers' workshops, teacher conferences, substitute teachers for
staff development purposes, and other staff development efforts, and determined by
the site professional development team. The site professional development team must
demonstrate to the school board the extent to which staff at the site have met the outcomes
of the program. The board may withhold a portion of initial allocation of revenue if the
staff development outcomes are not being met. deleted text end

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 126C.15, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Use of the revenue.

The basic skills revenue under section 126C.10,
subdivision 4, must be reserved and used to meet the educational needs of pupils who
enroll under-prepared to learn and whose progress toward meeting state or local content or
performance standards is below the level that is appropriate for learners of their age. Any
of the following may be provided to meet these learners' needs:

(1) direct instructional services under the assurance of mastery program according
to section 124D.66;

(2) remedial instruction in reading, language arts, mathematics, other content areas,
or study skills to improve the achievement level of these learners;

(3) additional teachers and teacher aides to provide more individualized instruction
to these learners through individual tutoring, lower instructor-to-learner ratios, or team
teaching;

(4) a longer school day or week during the regular school year or through a summer
program that may be offered directly by the site or under a performance-based contract
with a community-based organization;

(5) comprehensive and ongoing staff development deleted text begin consistent with district and site
plans according to section 122A.60, deleted text end for teachers, teacher aides, principals, and other
personnel to improve their ability to identify the needs of these learners and provide
appropriate remediation, intervention, accommodations, or modifications;

(6) instructional materials and technology appropriate for meeting the individual
needs of these learners;

(7) programs to reduce truancy, encourage completion of high school, enhance
self-concept, provide health services, provide nutrition services, provide a safe and secure
learning environment, provide coordination for pupils receiving services from other
governmental agencies, provide psychological services to determine the level of social,
emotional, cognitive, and intellectual development, and provide counseling services,
guidance services, and social work services;

(8) bilingual programs, bicultural programs, and programs for learners of limited
English proficiency;

(9) all day kindergarten;

(10) extended school day and extended school year programs; and

(11) substantial parent involvement in developing and implementing remedial
education or intervention plans for a learner, including learning contracts between the
school, the learner, and the parent that establish achievement goals and responsibilities of
the learner and the learner's parent or guardian.

Sec. 9. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2004, sections 122A.60, subdivisions 2 and 3; and 122A.61,
subdivision 2; new text end new text begin and new text end new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2005 Supplement, section 122A.60, subdivisions 1,
1a, and 4, new text end new text begin are repealed.
new text end