Senate Bill No. 168
(By Senators Bowman, Edgell, McKenzie, Prezioso, Kessler and
Rowe)
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[Introduced January 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
two-b, relating to creating the equitable compensation act;
and establishing a state minimum salary supplement for
professional personnel holding a nationally recognized
professional certification.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article four, chapter eighteen-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-b,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-2b. State minimum salary supplement for professional personnel with recognized national certification.
(a) The Legislature finds that achieving nationally recognized
professional certification involves a rigorous process and results
in highly trained and capable employees to provide needed services
to the school students of this state. The Legislature further
finds that the national certification is a valuable professional
credential for both public and private employment. The purpose of
this section is to provide an additional statewide supplement to
professional personnel employed in the public schools who hold a
nationally recognized professional certification to encourage
others to attain such a certification and to help school systems to
employ and retain professional personnel with these certifications.
(b) This section shall be known as "the equitable compensation
act."
(c) In addition to any amounts prescribed in the applicable
state minimum salary schedule, each professional educator employed
as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist who holds a
certification by the American speech-language-hearing association
shall, subject to appropriation by the Legislature in a line item
established for the department of education, be paid annually a
supplement in such amount as is paid to other teachers who have
qualified for national certifications and as shall be established
by the pro rata distribution to each qualified person of the
legislative appropriation. The payments shall be paid in equal monthly installments and shall be considered a part of the state
minimum salaries for teachers.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
establish a state
minimum salary supplement for certain professional personnel
holding a nationally recognized professional certification.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.