COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 56
(By Senators Edgell, Foster, Unger, Wells and Plymale)
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[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported March 25, 2009.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-4-2a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the salary bonus for National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification;
providing an exception if the certification is renewed to the
ten-year limit for receiving the bonus; and providing that a
classroom teacher holding the certification who subsequently
becomes employed as a school principal, assistant school
principal or in another position in an instructional
leadership capacity receives the salary bonus.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-4-2a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-2a. State minimum salary bonus for classroom teachers with
national board certification.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
rigorous standards and processes for certification by the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) helps to promote
the quality of teaching and learning. Therefore, classroom teachers
in the public schools of West Virginia should be encouraged to
achieve national board certification through a reimbursement of
expenses and an additional salary bonus which reflects their
additional certification, to be paid in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
(b)
A salary bonus of $3,500 shall be paid annually to each
classroom teacher who holds a valid certificate issued by the
National Board
of for Professional Teaching Standards for the life
of the certification, but in no event more than ten years for any
one certification
unless the certification is renewed.
(c) The payments:
(1) Shall be in addition to any amounts prescribed in the
applicable state minimum salary schedule;
(2) Shall be paid in equal monthly installments; and
(3) Shall be considered a part of the state minimum salaries
for teachers.
(d) One-half the certification fee shall be paid for
reimbursement once to each teacher who enrolls in the program for
the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
certification and one-half the certification fee shall be paid for reimbursement once to each teacher who completes the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards certification. Completion shall
be defined as the completion of ten scorable entries, as verified
by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Teachers
who achieve National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
certification may be reimbursed a maximum of $600 for expenses
actually incurred while obtaining the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards certification.
(e) The state board shall limit the number of teachers who
receive the initial reimbursements of the certification fees set
forth in subsection (d)
of this section to two hundred teachers
annually. The state board shall establish selection criteria for
the teachers by the legislative rule required pursuant to
subsection
(g) (h) of this section.
(f) Subject to the provisions of subsection (e) of this
section, funding for reimbursement of the certification fee and
expenses actually incurred while obtaining the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards certifications shall be
administered by the State Department of Education from an
appropriation established for that purpose by the Legislature. If
funds appropriated by the Legislature to accomplish the purposes of
this subsection are insufficient, the state department shall
prorate the reimbursements for expenses and shall request of the
Legislature, at its next regular session, funds sufficient to accomplish the purposes of this subsection, including needed
retroactive payments.
(g) The holder of a valid National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards certificate awarded to him or her during his or
her employment as a classroom teacher who is subsequently employed
as a school principal, or assistant school principal, or in another
position in an instructional leadership capacity, shall be paid the
additional salary bonus as provided in this section.
(g) (h) The state board shall promulgate legislative rules
pursuant to article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to
implement the provisions of this section.