HF 2

4th Engrossment - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/20/2015 09:19am

A bill for an act
relating to education; clarifying conditions for teacher licensure and employment;
amending alternative teacher licensure; providing for teacher licensure
reciprocity with adjoining states; clarifying the license via portfolio option;
clarifying the exemption for technical education instructors; clarifying decisions
affecting teachers' unrequested leaves of absence and teaching assignments;
prohibiting school administrators from placing students with ineffective teachers;
clarifying teacher skills examination requirements; amending Minnesota Statutes
2014, sections 122A.09, subdivision 4; 122A.18, subdivision 2; 122A.20,
subdivision 1; 122A.21, subdivision 2; 122A.23; 122A.245, subdivisions 1, 3, 7;
122A.25; 122A.30; 122A.40, subdivisions 5, 8, 10, 11; 122A.41, subdivisions
2, 5, 14; 123A.75, subdivision 1; 179A.20, by adding a subdivision; repealing
Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 11.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

License and rules.

(a) The board must adopt rules to license public school
teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.

(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to pass a college-level skills
examination in reading, writing, and mathematics or attain either a composite score
composed of the average of the essentially equivalent passing scores in English and
writing, reading, and mathematics on the ACT Plus Writing recommended by the board,
or an equivalent composite score composed of the average of the essentially equivalent
passing scores in critical reading, mathematics, and writing on the SAT recommended
by the board, as a requirement for initial teacher licensure, except that the board may
issue up to two temporary, one-year teaching licenses to an otherwise qualified candidate
who has not yet passed the college-level skills exam or attained the requisite composite
score essentially equivalent passing scores on the ACT Plus Writing or SAT. Such rules
must require college and universities offering a board-approved teacher preparation
program to provide remedial assistance to persons who did not achieve a qualifying
score on the college-level skills examination or attain the requisite composite score
essentially equivalent passing scores on the ACT Plus Writing or SAT, including those
for whom English is a second language. The requirement to pass a reading, writing,
and mathematics college-level skills examination or attain the requisite composite score
essentially equivalent passing scores on the ACT Plus Writing or SAT does not apply to
nonnative English speakers, as verified by qualified Minnesota school district personnel
or Minnesota higher education faculty, who, after meeting the content and pedagogy
requirements under this subdivision, apply for a teaching license to provide direct
instruction in their native language or world language instruction under section 120B.022,
subdivision 1. A teacher candidate's official ACT Plus Writing or SAT composite score
report to the board must not be more than ten years old at the time of licensure.

(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board,
upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed
graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the
person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the
dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the
person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application
of chapter 14.

(d) The board must provide the leadership and adopt rules for the redesign of teacher
education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum that
focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement new
systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness based
on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes. Teacher
preparation programs including alternative teacher preparation programs under section
122A.245, among other programs, must include a content-specific, board-approved,
performance-based assessment that measures teacher candidates in three areas: planning
for instruction and assessment; engaging students and supporting learning; and assessing
student learning. The board's redesign rules must include creating flexible, specialized
teaching licenses, credentials, and other endorsement forms to increase students'
participation in language immersion programs, world language instruction, career
development opportunities, work-based learning, early college courses and careers, career
and technical programs, Montessori schools, and project and place-based learning, among
other career and college ready learning offerings.

(e) The board must adopt rules requiring candidates for initial licenses to pass an
examination of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of licensure-specific
teaching skills. The rules shall be effective by September 1, 2001. The rules under this
paragraph also must require candidates for initial licenses to teach prekindergarten or
elementary students to pass, as part of the examination of licensure-specific teaching
skills, test items assessing the candidates' knowledge, skill, and ability in comprehensive,
scientifically based reading instruction under section 122A.06, subdivision 4, and their
knowledge and understanding of the foundations of reading development, the development
of reading comprehension, and reading assessment and instruction, and their ability to
integrate that knowledge and understanding.

(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with
elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain
periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.

(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses
based on appropriate professional competencies that are aligned with the board's licensing
system and students' diverse learning needs. All teacher candidates must have preparation
in English language development and content instruction for English learners in order to be
able to effectively instruct the English learners in their classrooms. The board must include
these licenses in a statewide differentiated licensing system that creates new leadership
roles for successful experienced teachers premised on a collaborative professional culture
dedicated to meeting students' diverse learning needs in the 21st century, recognizes the
importance of cultural and linguistic competencies, including the ability to teach and
communicate in culturally competent and aware ways, and formalizes mentoring and
induction for newly licensed teachers provided through a teacher support framework.

(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a
candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities
necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.

(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established
by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses. The board must require licensed teachers
who are renewing a continuing license to include in the renewal requirements further
preparation in English language development and specially designed content instruction
in English for English learners.

(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements
established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections 122A.20 and
214.10. The board must not establish any expiration date for application for life licenses.

(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in
the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and
adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual
students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.

(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related
services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or
registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who
license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.

(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading
preparation, consistent with section 122A.06, subdivision 4. The rules do not take effect
until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at
least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual
directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section.

(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation,
first, in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children
and adolescents and then, during subsequent licensure renewal periods, preparation may
include providing a more in-depth understanding of students' mental illness trauma,
accommodations for students' mental illness, parents' role in addressing students' mental
illness, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, autism, the requirements of section 125A.0942
governing restrictive procedures, and de-escalation methods, among other similar topics.

(o) The board must adopt rules by January 1, 2016, to license applicants under
sections 122A.23 and 122A.245. The rules must permit applicants to demonstrate their
qualifications through the board's recognition of a teaching license from another state
in a similar content field, completion of a state-approved teacher preparation program,
teaching experience as the teacher of record in a similar licensure field, depth of content
knowledge, depth of content methods or general pedagogy, subject-specific professional
development and contribution to the field, or classroom performance as determined by
documented student growth on normed assessments or documented effectiveness on
evaluations. The rules must adopt criteria for determining a "similar content field" and
"similar licensure area."

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment
and applies to all candidates seeking initial teacher licensure, including those holding a
temporary, one-year teaching license.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.18, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Teacher and support personnel qualifications.

(a) The Board of
Teaching must issue licenses under its jurisdiction to persons the board finds to be
qualified and competent for their respective positions, including those who meet the
standards adopted under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (o).

(b) The board must require a person to pass an examination of college-level skills
in reading, writing, and mathematics or attain either a composite score composed of the
average of the passing scores in English and writing, reading, and mathematics on the ACT
Plus Writing recommended by the board, or an equivalent composite score composed of
the average of the passing scores in critical reading, mathematics, and writing on the SAT
recommended by the board, before being granted an initial teaching license to provide
direct instruction to pupils in prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, or special education
programs, except that the board may issue up to two temporary, one-year teaching licenses
to an otherwise qualified candidate who has not yet passed the college-level skills exam or
attained the requisite composite score essentially equivalent passing scores on the ACT
Plus Writing or SAT. The board must require colleges and universities offering a board
approved teacher preparation program to make available upon request remedial assistance
that includes a formal diagnostic component to persons enrolled in their institution who
did not achieve a qualifying score on the college-level skills examination or attain the
requisite composite ACT Plus Writing or SAT score essentially equivalent passing scores,
including those for whom English is a second language. The colleges and universities
must make available assistance in the specific academic areas of candidates' deficiency.
School districts may make available upon request similar, appropriate, and timely remedial
assistance that includes a formal diagnostic component to those persons employed by the
district who completed their teacher education program, who did not achieve a qualifying
score on the college-level skills examination, or attain the requisite composite ACT Plus
Writing or SAT score essentially equivalent passing scores, and who received a temporary
license to teach in Minnesota. The Board of Teaching shall report annually to the education
committees of the legislature on the total number of teacher candidates during the most
recent school year taking the college-level skills examination, the number who achieve a
qualifying score on the examination, the number who do not achieve a qualifying score
on the examination, the distribution of all candidates' scores, the number of candidates
who have taken the examination at least once before, and the number of candidates who
have taken the examination at least once before and achieve a qualifying score, and the
candidates who have not attained the requisite composite ACT Plus Writing or SAT score
essentially equivalent passing scores or have not passed a content or pedagogy exam,
disaggregated by categories of race, ethnicity, and eligibility for financial aid.

(c) The Board of Teaching must grant continuing licenses only to those persons
who have met meet board criteria for granting a continuing license, which includes
passing the college-level skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics or
attaining the requisite composite ACT Plus Writing or SAT score essentially equivalent
passing scores consistent with paragraph (b), and the exceptions in section 122A.09,
subdivision 4, paragraph (b), that are consistent with this paragraph. The requirement to
pass a reading, writing, and mathematics college-level skills examination, or attain the
requisite composite score essentially equivalent passing scores on the ACT Plus Writing
or SAT does not apply to nonnative English speakers, as verified by qualified Minnesota
school district personnel or Minnesota higher education faculty, who, after meeting the
content and pedagogy requirements under this subdivision, apply for a teaching license to
provide direct instruction in their native language or world language instruction under
section 120B.022, subdivision 1. A teacher candidate's official ACT Plus Writing or SAT
composite score passing scores report to the board must not be more than ten years old
at the time of licensure.

(d) All colleges and universities approved by the board of teaching to prepare persons
for teacher licensure must include in their teacher preparation programs a common core
of teaching knowledge and skills to be acquired by all persons recommended for teacher
licensure. Among other requirements, teacher candidates must demonstrate the knowledge
and skills needed to provide appropriate instruction to English learners to support and
accelerate their academic literacy, including oral academic language, and achievement in
content areas in a regular classroom setting. This common core shall meet the standards
developed by the interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium in its 1992
"model standards for beginning teacher licensing and development." Amendments to
standards adopted under this paragraph are covered by chapter 14. The board of teaching
shall report annually to the education committees of the legislature on the performance
of teacher candidates on common core assessments of knowledge and skills under this
paragraph during the most recent school year.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment
and applies to all candidates seeking initial teacher licensure, including those holding a
temporary, one-year teaching license.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.20, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Grounds for revocation, suspension, or denial.

(a) The Board of
Teaching or Board of School Administrators, whichever has jurisdiction over a teacher's
licensure, may, on the written complaint of the school board employing a teacher, a teacher
organization, or any other interested person, refuse to issue, refuse to renew, suspend, or
revoke a teacher's license to teach for any of the following causes:

(1) immoral character or conduct;

(2) failure, without justifiable cause, to teach for the term of the teacher's contract;

(3) gross inefficiency or willful neglect of duty;

(4) failure to meet licensure requirements; or

(5) fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining a license.

The written complaint must specify the nature and character of the charges.

(b) The Board of Teaching or Board of School Administrators, whichever
has jurisdiction over a teacher's licensure, shall refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or
automatically revoke a teacher's license to teach without the right to a hearing upon
receiving a certified copy of a conviction showing that the teacher has been convicted
of child abuse, as defined in section 609.185, sex trafficking in the first degree under
section 609.322, subdivision 1, sex trafficking in the second degree under section 609.322,
subdivision 1a, engaging in hiring or agreeing to hire a minor to engage in prostitution
under section 609.324, subdivision 1, sexual abuse under section 609.342, 609.343,
609.344, 609.345, 609.3451, subdivision 3, or 617.23, subdivision 3, solicitation of
children to engage in sexual conduct or communication of sexually explicit materials
to children under section 609.352, interference with privacy under section 609.746 or
stalking under section 609.749 and the victim was a minor, using minors in a sexual
performance under section 617.246, or possessing pornographic works involving a minor
under section 617.247, or any other offense not listed in this paragraph that requires the
person to register as a predatory offender under section 243.166, or a crime under a similar
law of another state or the United States. The board shall send notice of this licensing
action to the district in which the teacher is currently employed.

(c) A person whose license to teach has been revoked, not issued, or not renewed
under paragraph (b), may petition the board to reconsider the licensing action if the
person's conviction for child abuse or sexual abuse is reversed by a final decision of the
Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court or if the person has received a pardon for the
offense. The petitioner shall attach a certified copy of the appellate court's final decision or
the pardon to the petition. Upon receiving the petition and its attachment, the board shall
schedule and hold a disciplinary hearing on the matter under section 214.10, subdivision 2,
unless the petitioner waives the right to a hearing. If the board finds that, notwithstanding
the reversal of the petitioner's criminal conviction or the issuance of a pardon, the
petitioner is disqualified from teaching under paragraph (a), clause (1), the board shall
affirm its previous licensing action. If the board finds that the petitioner is not disqualified
from teaching under paragraph (a), clause (1), it shall reverse its previous licensing action.

(d) For purposes of this subdivision, the Board of Teaching is delegated the authority
to suspend or revoke coaching licenses.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.21, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Licensure via portfolio.

(a) An eligible candidate may use licensure
via portfolio to obtain an initial licensure or to add a licensure field, consistent with the
applicable Board of Teaching licensure rules.

(b) A candidate for initial licensure must submit to the Educator Licensing Division
at the department one portfolio demonstrating pedagogical competence and one portfolio
demonstrating content competence.

(c) A candidate seeking to add a licensure field must submit to the Educator
Licensing Division at the department one portfolio demonstrating content competence.

(d) The Board of Teaching must notify a candidate who submits a portfolio under
paragraph (b) or (c) within 90 calendar days after the portfolio is received whether or not
the portfolio was approved. If the portfolio was not approved, the board must immediately
inform the candidate how to revise the portfolio to successfully demonstrate the requisite
competence. The candidate may resubmit a revised portfolio at any time and the Educator
Licensing Division at the department must approve or disapprove the portfolio within
60 calendar days of receiving it.

(e) A candidate must pay to the executive secretary of the Board of Teaching a
$300 fee for the first portfolio submitted for review and a $200 fee for any portfolio
submitted subsequently. The fees must be paid to the executive secretary of the Board of
Teaching. The revenue generated from the fee must be deposited in an education licensure
portfolio account in the special revenue fund. The fees set by the Board of Teaching are
nonrefundable for applicants not qualifying for a license. The Board of Teaching may
waive or reduce fees for candidates based on financial need.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment and
applies to all portfolios submitted to the Educator Licensing Division at the department
after that date.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.23, is amended to read:

122A.23 APPLICANTS TRAINED IN OTHER STATES.

Subdivision 1.

Preparation equivalency.

When a license to teach is authorized to
be issued to any holder of a diploma or a degree of a Minnesota state university, or of the
University of Minnesota, or of a liberal arts university, or a technical training institution,
such license may also, in the discretion of the Board of Teaching or the commissioner of
education, whichever has jurisdiction, be issued to any holder of a diploma or a degree
of a teacher training institution of equivalent rank and standing of any other state. The
diploma or degree must be granted by virtue of completing a course coursework in teacher
preparation essentially equivalent in content to that required by such Minnesota state
university or the University of Minnesota or a liberal arts university in Minnesota or a
technical training institution as preliminary to the granting of a diploma or a degree of the
same rank and class. For purposes of granting a Minnesota teaching license to a person
who receives a diploma or degree from a state-accredited, out-of-state teacher training
program leading to licensure, the Board of Teaching must establish criteria and streamlined
procedures by January 1, 2016, to recognize the experience and professional credentials of
the person holding the out-of-state diploma or degree and allow that person to demonstrate
to the board the person's qualifications for receiving a Minnesota teaching license based
on performance measures the board adopts by January 1, 2016, under this section.

Subd. 2.

Applicants licensed in other states.

(a) Subject to the requirements
of sections 122A.18, subdivision 8, and 123B.03, the Board of Teaching must issue a
teaching license or a temporary teaching license under paragraphs (b) (c) to (e) (f) to an
applicant who holds at least a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college
or university and holds or held a similar an out-of-state teaching license that requires the
applicant to successfully complete a teacher preparation program approved by the issuing
state, which includes either (1) field-specific teaching methods and, student teaching, or
essentially equivalent experience, or (2) at least two years of teaching experience as the
teacher of record in a similar licensure field.

(b) The Board of Teaching may issue a standard license on the basis of teaching
experience and examination requirements only.

(c) The Board of Teaching must issue a teaching license to an applicant who:

(1) successfully completed all exams and human relations preparation components
required by the Board of Teaching; and

(2) holds or held an out-of-state teaching license to teach the same a similar content
field and grade levels if the scope of the out-of-state license is no more than two grade
levels less than a similar Minnesota license, and either (i) has completed field-specific
teaching methods, student teaching, or equivalent experience, or (ii) has at least two years
of teaching experience as the teacher of record in a similar licensure field.

(c) (d) The Board of Teaching, consistent with board rules and paragraph (h) (i),
must issue up to three one-year temporary teaching licenses to an applicant who holds or
held an out-of-state teaching license to teach the same a similar content field and grade
levels, where the scope of the out-of-state license is no more than two grade levels less
than a similar Minnesota license, but has not successfully completed all exams and human
relations preparation components required by the Board of Teaching.

(d) (e) The Board of Teaching, consistent with board rules, must issue up to three
one-year temporary teaching licenses to an applicant who:

(1) successfully completed all exams and human relations preparation components
required by the Board of Teaching; and

(2) holds or held an out-of-state teaching license to teach the same a similar content
field and grade levels, where the scope of the out-of-state license is no more than two
grade levels less than a similar Minnesota license, but has not completed field-specific
teaching methods or student teaching or equivalent experience.

The applicant may complete field-specific teaching methods and student teaching
or equivalent experience by successfully participating in a one-year school district
mentorship program consistent with board-adopted standards of effective practice and
Minnesota graduation requirements.

(e) (f) The Board of Teaching must issue a temporary teaching license for a term
of up to three years only in the content field or grade levels specified in the out-of-state
license to an applicant who:

(1) successfully completed all exams and human relations preparation components
required by the Board of Teaching; and

(2) holds or held an out-of-state teaching license where the out-of-state license is
more limited in the content field or grade levels than a similar Minnesota license.

(f) (g) The Board of Teaching must not issue to an applicant more than three
one-year temporary teaching licenses under this subdivision.

(g) (h) The Board of Teaching must not may issue a license under this subdivision if
the applicant has not attained the additional degrees, credentials, or licenses required in
a particular licensure field and the applicant can demonstrate competency by obtaining
qualifying scores on the college-level skills examination in reading, writing, and
mathematics or demonstrating attainment of essentially equivalent passing scores on the
ACT Plus Writing or SAT, and on applicable board-approved rigorous content area and
pedagogy examinations under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraphs (a) and (e).

(h) (i) The Board of Teaching must require an applicant for a teaching license or a
temporary teaching license under this subdivision to pass a college-level skills examination
in reading, writing, and mathematics or, if the applicant does not pass the college-level skills
examination, demonstrate, consistent with section 122A.09, subdivision 4, the applicant's
attainment of either the requisite composite ACT Plus Writing or SAT score essentially
equivalent passing scores before the board issues the license unless, notwithstanding other
provisions of this subdivision, an applicable board-approved National Association of State
Directors of Teacher Education interstate reciprocity agreement exists to allow fully
certified teachers from other states to transfer their certification to Minnesota.

Subd. 3.

Teacher licensure agreements with adjoining states.

(a) Notwithstanding
other law to the contrary, the Board of Teaching must enter into interstate agreements for
teacher licensure to allow fully certified teachers from adjoining states to transfer their
certification to Minnesota and receive a full, five-year continuing teaching license without
having to complete any additional exams or other preparation requirements. The board
must enter into these interstate agreements only after determining that the rigor of the
teacher licensure or certification requirements in the adjoining state is commensurate with
the rigor of Minnesota's teacher licensure requirements. The board may limit an interstate
agreement to particular content fields or grade levels based on established priorities or
identified shortages. This subdivision does not apply to out-of-state applicants holding
only a provisional teaching license.

(b) The Board of Teaching is strongly encouraged to work with designated
authorities in adjoining states to establish reciprocal interstate teacher licensure
agreements under this section.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective August 1, 2015.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.245, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Requirements.

(a) To improve academic excellence, improve ethnic
and cultural diversity in the classroom, and close the academic achievement gap, the
Board of Teaching must approve qualified teacher preparation programs under this section
that are a means to acquire a two-year limited-term license, which the board may renew
one time for an additional one-year term, and to prepare for acquiring a standard license.
The following entities are eligible to participate under this section:

(1) a school district or, charter school, or nonprofit corporation organized under
chapter 317A for an education-related purpose that forms a partnership with a college or
university that has a board-approved alternative teacher preparation program; or

(2) a school district or, charter school, or nonprofit corporation organized under
chapter 317A for an education-related purpose after consulting with a college or university
with a board-approved teacher preparation program, that forms a partnership with a
nonprofit corporation organized under chapter 317A for an education-related purpose that
has a board-approved teacher preparation program.

(b) Before participating in this program becoming a teacher of record, a candidate
must:

(1) have a bachelor's degree with a 3.0 or higher grade point average unless the
board waives the grade point average requirement based on board-adopted criteria adopted
by January 1, 2016;

(2) pass the reading, writing, and mathematics college-level skills examination under
section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), or demonstrate attainment of either ACT
Plus Writing or SAT essentially equivalent passing scores; and

(3) obtain qualifying scores on applicable board-approved rigorous content area and
pedagogy examinations under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (e).

(c) The Board of Teaching must issue a two-year limited-term license to a person
who enrolls in an alternative teacher preparation program. This limited term license is not
a provisional license under section 122A.40 or 122A.41.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.245, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Program approval; disapproval.

(a) The Board of Teaching must approve
alternative teacher preparation programs under this section based on board-adopted
criteria that reflect best practices for alternative teacher preparation programs, consistent
with this section.

(b) The board must permit teacher candidates to demonstrate mastery of pedagogy
and content standards in school-based settings and through other nontraditional means.
"Nontraditional means" must include a portfolio of previous experiences, teaching
experience, educator evaluations, certifications marking the completion of education
training programs, and essentially equivalent demonstrations.

(c) The board must use nontraditional criteria to determine the qualifications of
program instructors.

(d) The board may permit instructors to hold a baccalaureate degree only.

(b) (e) If the Board of Teaching determines that a teacher preparation program under
this section does not meet the requirements of this section, it may revoke its approval
of the program after it notifies the program provider of any deficiencies and gives the
program provider an opportunity to remedy the deficiencies.

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.245, subdivision 7, is amended to read:

Subd. 7.

Standard license.

The Board of Teaching must issue a standard license
to an otherwise qualified teacher candidate under this section who successfully performs
throughout a program under this section, successfully completes all required obtains
qualifying scores on applicable board-approved rigorous college-level skills, pedagogy,
and content area examinations under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraphs (a) and
(e), and is recommended for licensure under subdivision 5 or successfully demonstrates to
the board qualifications for licensure under subdivision 6.

Sec. 9.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.25, is amended to read:

122A.25 NONLICENSED COMMUNITY EXPERTS; VARIANCE.

Subdivision 1.

Authorization.

Notwithstanding any law, Board of Teaching rule, or
commissioner of education rule to the contrary, the Board of Teaching may allow school
districts or charter schools to may hire nonlicensed community experts to teach in the
public schools or charter schools on a limited basis according to this section after making
efforts to obtain acceptable licensed teachers for the particular course or subject area,
consistent with subdivision 2, clause (3). A school district or charter school must notify a
student's parent or guardian before placing the student in the classroom of a nonlicensed
community expert hired by the district or school to provide instruction under this section.

Subd. 2.

Applications Reports; criteria.

The school district or charter school
shall apply report to the Board of Teaching for approval when it uses a variance to hire
nonlicensed teaching personnel from the community. In approving or disapproving the
application for each community expert, The board report shall consider include:

(1) the qualifications of the community person whom the district or charter school
proposes to employ employs;

(2) the unique and compelling reasons for the need for a variance from the teacher
licensure requirements;

(3) the district's efforts to obtain licensed teachers, who are acceptable to the school
board, for the particular course or subject area or the charter school's efforts to obtain
licensed teachers for the particular course or subject area;

(4) the amount of teaching time for which the community expert would be is hired;

(5) the extent to which the district or charter school is utilizing uses other
nonlicensed community experts under this section;

(6) the nature of the community expert's proposed teaching responsibility; and

(7) the proposed level of compensation to be paid to the community expert.

Subd. 3.

Approval of plan Comment on variance.

The Board of Teaching shall
approve or disapprove an application may comment on a district or charter school report
within 60 days of receiving it from a school and the district or charter school must post the
comment on its official Web site.

Subd. 4.

Background check.

A school district or charter school shall provide
confirm to the Board of Teaching with confirmation that criminal background checks have
been were completed for all nonlicensed community experts employed by the district or
charter school and approved by the Board of Teaching under this section.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment
and applies to all nonlicensed community experts hired after that date.

Sec. 10.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.30, is amended to read:

122A.30 EXEMPTION FOR TECHNICAL COLLEGE EDUCATION
INSTRUCTORS.

Notwithstanding section 122A.15, subdivision 1, and upon approval of the local
employer school board, a person who teaches in a part-time vocational or career and
technical education program not more than 61 hours per fiscal year is exempt from a
license requirement.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment
and applies to all technical education instructors hired after that date.

Sec. 11.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Probationary period.

(a) The first three consecutive years of a teacher's
first teaching experience in Minnesota in a single district is deemed to be a probationary
period of employment, and, the probationary period in each district in which the teacher is
thereafter employed shall be one year. The school board must adopt a plan for written
evaluation of teachers during the probationary period that is consistent with subdivision
8. Evaluation must occur at least three times periodically throughout each school year
for a teacher performing services during that school year; the first evaluation must occur
within the first 90 days of teaching service. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences,
teachers' workshops, and other staff development opportunities and days on which a
teacher is absent from school must not be included in determining the number of school
days on which a teacher performs services. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph
(b), during the probationary period any annual contract with any teacher may or may not
be renewed (1) as the school board shall see fit, or (2) consistent with the negotiated
unrequested leave of absence plan in effect under subdivision 10. However, the board
must give any such teacher whose contract it declines to renew for the following school
year written notice to that effect before July 1. If the teacher requests reasons for any
nonrenewal of a teaching contract, the board must give the teacher its reason in writing,
including a statement that appropriate supervision was furnished describing the nature and
the extent of such supervision furnished the teacher during the employment by the board,
within ten days after receiving such request. The school board may, after a hearing held
upon due notice, discharge a teacher during the probationary period for cause, effective
immediately, under section 122A.44.

(b) A board must discharge a probationary teacher, effective immediately, upon
receipt of notice under section 122A.20, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), that the teacher's
license has been revoked due to a conviction for child abuse or sexual abuse.

(c) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for active military service and who promptly resumes teaching consistent with
federal reemployment timelines for uniformed service personnel under United States
Code, title 38, section 4312(e), is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a).

(d) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for maternity, paternity, or medical leave and who resumes teaching within 12
months of when the leave began is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a) if the probationary teacher completes a combined total of
three years of teaching service immediately before and after the leave.

(e) A probationary teacher must complete at least 120 days of teaching service each
year during the probationary period. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers'
workshops, and other staff development opportunities and days on which a teacher is
absent from school do not count as days of teaching service under this paragraph.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 12.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 8, is amended to read:

Subd. 8.

Development, evaluation, and peer coaching for continuing contract
teachers.

(a) To improve student learning and success, a school board and an exclusive
representative of the teachers in the district, consistent with paragraph (b), may develop
a teacher evaluation and peer review process for probationary and continuing contract
teachers through joint agreement. If a school board and the exclusive representative of the
teachers do not agree to an annual teacher evaluation and peer review process, then the
school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers must implement the state
teacher evaluation plan under paragraph (c). The process must include having trained
observers serve as peer coaches or having teachers participate in professional learning
communities, consistent with paragraph (b).

(b) To develop, improve, and support qualified teachers and effective teaching
practices and improve student learning and success, the annual evaluation process for
teachers:

(1) must, for probationary teachers, provide for all evaluations required under
subdivision 5;

(2) must establish a three-year professional review cycle for each teacher that
includes an individual growth and development plan, a peer review process, and at least
one summative evaluation performed by a qualified and trained evaluator such as a school
administrator. For the years when a tenured teacher is not evaluated by a qualified and
trained evaluator, the teacher must be evaluated by a peer review;

(3) must be based on professional teaching standards established in rule;

(4) must coordinate staff development activities under sections 122A.60 and
122A.61 with this evaluation process and teachers' evaluation outcomes;

(5) may provide time during the school day and school year for peer coaching and
teacher collaboration;

(6) may include job-embedded learning opportunities such as professional learning
communities;

(7) may include mentoring and induction programs;

(8) must include an option for teachers to develop and present a portfolio
demonstrating evidence of reflection and professional growth, consistent with section
122A.18, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), and include teachers' own performance assessment
based on student work samples and examples of teachers' work, which may include video
among other activities for the summative evaluation;

(9) must use data from valid and reliable assessments aligned to state and local
academic standards and must use state and local measures of student growth and literacy
that may include value-added models or student learning goals to determine 35 percent of
teacher evaluation results;

(10) must use longitudinal data on student engagement and connection, and other
student outcome measures explicitly aligned with the elements of curriculum for which
teachers are responsible, including academic literacy, oral academic language, and
achievement of content areas of English learners;

(11) must require qualified and trained evaluators such as school administrators to
perform summative evaluations and ensure school districts and charter schools provide for
effective evaluator training specific to teacher development and evaluation;

(12) must give teachers not meeting professional teaching standards under clauses
(3) through (11) support to improve through a teacher improvement process that includes
established goals and timelines; and

(13) must discipline a teacher for not making adequate progress in the teacher
improvement process under clause (12) that may include a last chance warning,
termination, discharge, nonrenewal, transfer to a different position, a leave of absence, or
other discipline a school administrator determines is appropriate.

Data on individual teachers generated under this subdivision are personnel data
under section 13.43. The observation and interview notes of peer coaches may only be
disclosed to other school officials with the consent of the teacher being coached.

(c) The department, in consultation with parents who may represent parent
organizations and teacher and administrator representatives appointed by their respective
organizations, representing the Board of Teaching, the Minnesota Association of School
Administrators, the Minnesota School Boards Association, the Minnesota Elementary
and Secondary Principals Associations, Education Minnesota, and representatives of
the Minnesota Assessment Group, the Minnesota Business Partnership, the Minnesota
Chamber of Commerce, and Minnesota postsecondary institutions with research expertise
in teacher evaluation, must create and publish a teacher evaluation process that complies
with the requirements in paragraph (b) and applies to all teachers under this section and
section 122A.41 for whom no agreement exists under paragraph (a) for an annual teacher
evaluation and peer review process. The teacher evaluation process created under this
subdivision does not create additional due process rights for probationary teachers under
subdivision 5.

(d) Consistent with the measures of teacher effectiveness under this subdivision:

(1) for students in kindergarten through grade 4, a school administrator must not
place a student in consecutive school years in the classroom of a teacher with the lowest
evaluation rating in the previous school year unless no other teacher at the school teaches
that grade; and

(2) for students in grades 5 through 12, a school administrator must not place
students in consecutive school years in the classroom of a teacher with the lowest
evaluation rating in the previous school year unless no other teacher at the school teaches
that subject area and grade.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2017-2018 school year and
later.

Sec. 13.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 10, is amended to read:

Subd. 10.

Negotiated unrequested leave of absence.

(a) The school board
and the exclusive bargaining representative of the teachers may must negotiate a plan,
consistent with subdivision 8, providing for unrequested leave of absence without pay or
fringe benefits for as many teachers as may be necessary because of discontinuance of
position, lack of pupils, financial limitations, or merger of classes caused by consolidation
of districts. Failing to successfully negotiate such a plan, the provisions of subdivision
11 shall apply. The negotiated plan must not include provisions which would result in
the exercise of seniority by a teacher holding only a provisional license, other than a
vocational education license, contrary to the provisions of subdivision 11, paragraph (c)
if required for the position, or the reinstatement of a teacher holding only a provisional
license, other than a vocational education license, contrary to the provisions of subdivision
11, paragraph (e) required for the position. The provisions of section 179A.16 do not
apply for the purposes of this subdivision.

(b) Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year and later, and notwithstanding any law
to the contrary, a school board must place teachers on unrequested leave of absence based
on their subject matter licensure fields, most recent evaluation outcomes and effectiveness
category or rating under subdivision 8, and other, locally determined criteria such as
teacher seniority, and may include both probationary teachers and continuing contract
teachers within an effectiveness category or rating. For purposes of placing a teacher on
unrequested leave of absence or recalling a teacher from unrequested leave of absence, a
school board is not required to reassign a teacher with more seniority to accommodate the
seniority claims of a teacher who is similarly licensed and effective but with less seniority.
Nothing in this paragraph permits a school board to use a teacher's remuneration as a basis
for making unrequested leave of absence decisions. Any executed employment contract
between the school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers must contain the
negotiated unrequested leave of absence plan. The school board must publish in a readily
accessible format the unrequested leave of absence plan it negotiates under this paragraph.

(c) A teacher who receives notice of being placed on unrequested leave of absence
under paragraph (b) may submit to the board, within 14 days of receiving the notice, a
written request for a hearing before a neutral hearing officer to establish whether the
district met the following teacher evaluation requirements under subdivision 8: if the
teacher is a probationary teacher, all evaluations required under subdivision 5 were
provided; a three-year professional review cycle was established for the teacher; any
summative evaluation of the teacher was performed by a qualified and trained evaluator;
a peer review evaluation occurred in any year when the teacher was not evaluated by a
qualified and trained evaluator; and if the teacher did not meet professional teaching
standards, a teacher improvement process with goals and timelines was established. The
school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers must agree on a panel of
people and a process to select the person to hear the matter. The hearing officer must issue
a decision within 14 days of the request for the hearing. Nothing in this subdivision
prevents a school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers from negotiating a
different process for determining whether the teacher evaluation requirements listed in
this subdivision were met.

(d) Evaluation outcomes and effectiveness categories under paragraph (b) must not
be used to place a teacher on unrequested leave of absence if the principal evaluating the
teacher is on an improvement plan under section 123B.147, subdivision 3, paragraph
(b), clause (8).

(e) For purposes of this subdivision, a provisional license is a license to teach issued
by the Board of Teaching under a waiver or variance.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment and
applies to negotiated plans for unrequested leave of absence agreed to on or after that date.

Sec. 14.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 11, is amended to read:

Subd. 11.

Unrequested leave of absence.

(a) The board may place on unrequested
leave of absence, without pay or fringe benefits, as many teachers as may be necessary
because of discontinuance of position, lack of pupils, financial limitations, or merger of
classes caused by consolidation or reorganization of districts under chapter 123A. The
unrequested leave is effective at the close of the school year.

(b) In placing teachers on unrequested leave in the 2014-2015 through 2016-2017
school years only, the board is governed by the following provisions: in this subdivision.

(a) (c) The board may place probationary teachers on unrequested leave first in the
inverse order of their employment. A teacher who has acquired continuing contract rights
must not be placed on unrequested leave of absence while probationary teachers are retained
in positions for which the teacher who has acquired continuing contract rights is licensed;.

(b) (d) Teachers who have acquired continuing contract rights shall be placed on
unrequested leave of absence in fields in which they are licensed in the inverse order
in which they were employed by the school district. In the case of equal seniority, the
order in which teachers who have acquired continuing contract rights shall be placed on
unrequested leave of absence in fields in which they are licensed is negotiable;.

(c) (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) (d), a teacher is not entitled
to exercise any seniority when that exercise results in that teacher being retained by the
district in a field for which the teacher holds only a provisional license, as defined by the
board of teaching, unless that exercise of seniority results in the placement on unrequested
leave of absence of another teacher who also holds a provisional license in the same field.
The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to vocational education licenses; required
for the available positions.

(d) (f) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), (d), and (e), if the placing of a
probationary teacher on unrequested leave before a teacher who has acquired continuing
rights, the placing of a teacher who has acquired continuing contract rights on unrequested
leave before another teacher who has acquired continuing contract rights but who has
greater seniority, or the restriction imposed by the provisions of paragraph (c) (e) would
place the district in violation of its affirmative action program, the district may retain the
probationary teacher, the teacher with less seniority, or the provisionally licensed teacher;.

(e) (g) For purposes of placing a teacher on unrequested leave of absence or
recalling a teacher from unrequested leave of absence, nothing in this subdivision requires
a school board to reassign a teacher to accommodate the seniority claims of a teacher who
is similarly licensed and effective but with less seniority.

(h) Teachers placed on unrequested leave of absence must be reinstated to the
positions from which they have been given leaves of absence or, if not available, to
other available positions in the school district in fields in which they are licensed.
Reinstatement must be in the inverse order of placement on leave of absence. A teacher
must not be reinstated to a position in a field in which the teacher holds only a provisional
license, other than a vocational education license, while another teacher who holds a
nonprovisional license in the same field remains on unrequested leave. The order of
reinstatement of teachers who have equal seniority and who are placed on unrequested
leave in the same school year is negotiable;.

(f) (i) Appointment of a new teacher must not be made while there is available, on
unrequested leave, a teacher who is properly licensed to fill such vacancy, unless the
teacher fails to advise the school board within 30 days of the date of notification that a
position is available to that teacher who may return to employment and assume the duties
of the position to which appointed on a future date determined by the board;.

(g) (j) A teacher placed on unrequested leave of absence may engage in teaching
or any other occupation during the period of this leave;.

(h) (k) The unrequested leave of absence must not impair the continuing contract
rights of a teacher or result in a loss of credit for previous years of service;.

(i) (l) Consistent with subdivision 10, the unrequested leave of absence of a teacher
who is categorized as effective or better under subdivision 8, who is placed on unrequested
leave of absence, and who is not reinstated shall continue for a period of five years,
after which the right to reinstatement shall terminate terminates. The teacher's right to
reinstatement shall also terminate terminates if the teacher fails to file with the board by
April 1 of any each year a written statement requesting reinstatement;.

(m) Consistent with subdivision 10, the unrequested leave of absence of a teacher
who is categorized as ineffective or less under subdivision 8, who is placed on unrequested
leave of absence, and who is not reinstated continues for the following school year
only, after which the teacher's right to reinstatement terminates. The teacher's right to
reinstatement also terminates if the teacher fails to file with the board by April 1 in that
following school year a written statement requesting reinstatement.

(j) (n) The same provisions applicable to terminations of probationary or continuing
contracts in subdivisions 5 and 7 must apply to placement on unrequested leave of absence;.

(k) (o) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impair the rights of teachers
placed on unrequested leave of absence to receive unemployment benefits if otherwise
eligible.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 15.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.41, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Probationary period; discharge or demotion.

(a) All teachers in
the public schools in cities of the first class during the first three years of consecutive
employment shall be deemed to be in a probationary period of employment during which
period any annual contract with any teacher may, or may not, be renewed (1) as the school
board, after consulting with the peer review committee charged with evaluating the
probationary teachers under subdivision 3, shall see fit, or (2) consistent with the negotiated
plan for discontinuing or terminating teachers in effect under subdivision 14. The school
site management team or the school board if there is no school site management team, shall
adopt a plan for a written evaluation of teachers during the probationary period according
to subdivisions 3 and 5. Evaluation by the peer review committee charged with evaluating
probationary teachers under subdivision 3 shall occur at least three times periodically
throughout each school year for a teacher performing services during that school year; the
first evaluation must occur within the first 90 days of teaching service. Days devoted to
parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops, and other staff development opportunities
and days on which a teacher is absent from school shall not be included in determining the
number of school days on which a teacher performs services. The school board may, during
such probationary period, discharge or demote a teacher for any of the causes as specified
in this code. A written statement of the cause of such discharge or demotion shall be given
to the teacher by the school board at least 30 days before such removal or demotion shall
become effective, and the teacher so notified shall have no right of appeal therefrom.

(b) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for active military service and who promptly resumes teaching consistent with
federal reemployment timelines for uniformed service personnel under United States
Code, title 38, section 4312(e), is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a).

(c) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for maternity, paternity, or medical leave and who resumes teaching within 12
months of when the leave began is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a) if the probationary teacher completes a combined total of
three years of teaching service immediately before and after the leave.

(d) A probationary teacher must complete at least 120 days of teaching service each
year during the probationary period. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers'
workshops, and other staff development opportunities and days on which a teacher is
absent from school do not count as days of teaching service under this paragraph.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 16.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.41, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Development, evaluation, and peer coaching for continuing contract
teachers.

(a) To improve student learning and success, a school board and an exclusive
representative of the teachers in the district, consistent with paragraph (b), may develop an
annual teacher evaluation and peer review process for probationary and nonprobationary
teachers through joint agreement. If a school board and the exclusive representative of
the teachers in the district do not agree to an annual teacher evaluation and peer review
process, then the school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers must
implement the state teacher evaluation plan developed under paragraph (c). The process
must include having trained observers serve as peer coaches or having teachers participate
in professional learning communities, consistent with paragraph (b).

(b) To develop, improve, and support qualified teachers and effective teaching
practices and improve student learning and success, the annual evaluation process for
teachers:

(1) must, for probationary teachers, provide for all evaluations required under
subdivision 2;

(2) must establish a three-year professional review cycle for each teacher that
includes an individual growth and development plan, a peer review process, and at least
one summative evaluation performed by a qualified and trained evaluator such as a school
administrator;

(3) must be based on professional teaching standards established in rule;

(4) must coordinate staff development activities under sections 122A.60 and
122A.61 with this evaluation process and teachers' evaluation outcomes;

(5) may provide time during the school day and school year for peer coaching and
teacher collaboration;

(6) may include job-embedded learning opportunities such as professional learning
communities;

(7) may include mentoring and induction programs;

(8) must include an option for teachers to develop and present a portfolio
demonstrating evidence of reflection and professional growth, consistent with section
122A.18, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), and include teachers' own performance assessment
based on student work samples and examples of teachers' work, which may include video
among other activities for the summative evaluation;

(9) must use data from valid and reliable assessments aligned to state and local
academic standards and must use state and local measures of student growth and literacy
that may include value-added models or student learning goals to determine 35 percent of
teacher evaluation results;

(10) must use longitudinal data on student engagement and connection and other
student outcome measures explicitly aligned with the elements of curriculum for which
teachers are responsible, including academic literacy, oral academic language, and
achievement of English learners;

(11) must require qualified and trained evaluators such as school administrators to
perform summative evaluations and ensure school districts and charter schools provide for
effective evaluator training specific to teacher development and evaluation;

(12) must give teachers not meeting professional teaching standards under clauses
(3) through (11) support to improve through a teacher improvement process that includes
established goals and timelines; and

(13) must discipline a teacher for not making adequate progress in the teacher
improvement process under clause (12) that may include a last chance warning,
termination, discharge, nonrenewal, transfer to a different position, a leave of absence, or
other discipline a school administrator determines is appropriate.

Data on individual teachers generated under this subdivision are personnel data
under section 13.43. The observation and interview notes of peer coaches may only be
disclosed to other school officials with the consent of the teacher being coached.

(c) The department, in consultation with parents who may represent parent
organizations and teacher and administrator representatives appointed by their respective
organizations, representing the Board of Teaching, the Minnesota Association of School
Administrators, the Minnesota School Boards Association, the Minnesota Elementary
and Secondary Principals Associations, Education Minnesota, and representatives of
the Minnesota Assessment Group, the Minnesota Business Partnership, the Minnesota
Chamber of Commerce, and Minnesota postsecondary institutions with research expertise
in teacher evaluation, must create and publish a teacher evaluation process that complies
with the requirements in paragraph (b) and applies to all teachers under this section and
section 122A.40 for whom no agreement exists under paragraph (a) for an annual teacher
evaluation and peer review process. The teacher evaluation process created under this
subdivision does not create additional due process rights for probationary teachers under
subdivision 2.

(d) Consistent with the measures of teacher effectiveness under this subdivision:

(1) for students in kindergarten through grade 4, a school administrator must not
place a student in consecutive school years in the classroom of a teacher with the lowest
evaluation rating in the previous school year unless no other teacher at the school teaches
that grade; and

(2) for students in grades 5 through 12, a school administrator must not place
students in consecutive school years in the classroom of a teacher with the lowest
evaluation rating in the previous school year unless no other teacher at the school teaches
that subject area and grade.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2017-2018 school year and
later.

Sec. 17.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.41, subdivision 14, is amended to read:

Subd. 14.

Services terminated by discontinuance or lack of pupils; preference
given.

(a) A teacher whose services are terminated on account of discontinuance of
position or lack of pupils must receive first consideration for other positions in the district
for which that teacher is qualified. In the event it becomes necessary to discontinue one
or more positions in the 2014-2015 through the 2016-2017 school years, in making such
discontinuance, teachers must receive first consideration for other positions in the district
for which that teacher is qualified and must be discontinued in any department in the
inverse order in which they were employed, unless.

(b) Beginning in the 2017-2018 school year and later, a board and the exclusive
representative of teachers in the district must negotiate a plan providing otherwise.,
consistent with subdivision 5, for discontinuing and terminating teachers under this
subdivision based on their subject matter licensure fields, most recent evaluation outcomes
and effectiveness category or rating under subdivision 5, and other, locally determined
criteria such as teacher seniority, and may include both probationary teachers and
continuing contract teachers within an effectiveness category or rating. For purposes
of discharging, demoting, or recalling a teacher whose services are discontinued or
terminated under this subdivision, a school board is not required to reassign a teacher with
more seniority to accommodate the seniority claims of a teacher who is similarly licensed
and effective but with less seniority. Nothing in this paragraph permits a school board to
use a teacher's remuneration as a basis for discontinuing or terminating a teacher. Any
executed employment contract between the school board and the exclusive representative
of the teachers must contain the negotiated plan for discontinuing or terminating teachers.
The school board must publish in a readily accessible format any plan it negotiates for
discontinuing or terminating teachers under this paragraph.

(c) A teacher who receives notice of discontinuance or termination under paragraph
(b) may submit to the board, within 14 days of receiving the notice, a written request
for a hearing before a neutral hearing officer to establish whether the district met the
following teacher evaluation requirements under subdivision 5: if the teacher is a
probationary teacher, all evaluations required under subdivision 2 were provided; a
three-year professional review cycle was established for the teacher; any summative
evaluation of the teacher was performed by a qualified and trained evaluator; a peer review
evaluation occurred in any year when the teacher was not evaluated by a qualified and
trained evaluator; and if the teacher did not meet professional teaching standards, a teacher
improvement process with goals and timelines was established. The school board and the
exclusive representative of the teachers must agree on a panel of people and a process to
select the person to hear the matter. The hearing officer must issue a decision within 14 days
of the request for the hearing. Nothing in this subdivision prevents a school board and the
exclusive representative of the teachers from negotiating a different process for determining
whether the teacher evaluation requirements listed in this subdivision were met.

(b) (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of clause paragraph (a), for the 2014-2015
through 2016-2017 school years, a teacher is not entitled to exercise any seniority when
that exercise results in that teacher being retained by the district in a field for which the
teacher holds only a provisional license, as defined by the Board of Teaching, unless that
exercise of seniority results in the termination of terminating the services, on account
of discontinuance of position or lack of pupils, of another teacher who also holds a
provisional license in the same field. The provisions of this clause paragraph do not apply
to vocational education licenses.

(c) (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of clause paragraph (a), for the 2014-2015
through 2016-2017 school years, a teacher must not be reinstated to a position in a field
in which the teacher holds only a provisional license, other than a vocational education
license, while another teacher who holds a nonprovisional license in the same field is
available for reinstatement.

(f) Evaluation outcomes and effectiveness categories under paragraph (b) must not
be used to place a teacher on unrequested leave of absence if the principal evaluating the
teacher is on an improvement plan under section 123B.147, subdivision 3, paragraph
(b), clause (8).

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment
and applies to negotiated plans for discontinuing or terminating teachers agreed to on or
after that date.

Sec. 18.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 123A.75, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Teacher assignment.

(a) As of the effective date of a consolidation
in which a district is divided or the dissolution of a district and its attachment to two or
more existing districts, each teacher employed by an affected district shall be assigned to
the newly created or enlarged district on the basis of a ratio of the pupils assigned to each
district according to the new district boundaries. The district receiving the greatest number
of pupils must be assigned the most effective teacher under section 122A.40, subdivision 8,
with the greatest seniority, and the remaining teachers must be alternately assigned to each
district from most to least effective and with most to least seniority within each category or
rating of effectiveness until the district receiving the fewest pupils has received its ratio of
teachers who will not be retiring before the effective date of the consolidation or dissolution.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the board and the exclusive representative of
teachers in each district involved in the consolidation or dissolution and attachment may
negotiate a plan for assigning teachers to each newly created or enlarged district.

(c) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the provisions of this section apply
only to the extent they are consistent with section 122A.40, subdivisions 8, 10, and 11.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 19.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 179A.20, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:

Subd. 4a.

Unrequested leave of absence for teachers.

A school board and the
exclusive representative of the teachers may not execute a contract effective for the
2017-2018 school year or later unless the contract contains a plan for unrequested leave of
absence under section 122A.40, subdivision 10, or a plan for discontinuing or terminating
teachers under section 122A.41, subdivision 14.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 20. TEACHER LICENSURE AGREEMENTS WITH ADJOINING STATES.

The Board of Teaching must prepare and submit a report to the K-12 education
committees of the legislature by February 15, 2016, indicating the number, contracting
states, and extent of the interstate agreements for teacher licensure under Minnesota
Statutes, section 122A.23, subdivision 3, reached between August 1 and December 31,
2015.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 21. REPEALER.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 11, is repealed.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective beginning in the 2017-2018 school
year and later.