Senate Bill No. 498
(By Senators Edgell, Kessler, Prezioso, Rowe, Caldwell and
Bowman)
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[Introduced February 12, 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 a 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 national professional 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 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 personnel 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 the same amount as is paid to other teachers who have
qualified for national certifications an as is 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 teacher.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
create the Equitable
Compensation Act. It establishes a state minimum salary supplement
for professional personnel holding a nationally recognized
professional certification.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.