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Introduced Version Senate Bill 15 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 15

(By Senator Deem)

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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee on Education.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18A-3A-2b of said code, all relating to requiring principals to take on greater authority and control over teachers' classroom teaching performance; and requiring the state board to propose rules for legislative approval designed to develop and implement a program to train principals to act with greater control and authority over the teachers in their schools in a manner similar to corporate chief executive officers in order to maintain higher standards in the classroom and promote constant professional improvement of teachers.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §18A-3A-2b of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-9. Duties and responsibilities of school principals; assistant principals.

Upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of schools, the county board of education shall employ and assign, through written contract, public school principals who shall supervise the management and the operation of the school or schools to which they are assigned. Such principals shall hold valid administrative certificates appropriate for their assignments.
Beginning on July 1, 1994, The prerequisites for issuance of an administrative certificate for principals shall include that the person has successfully completed at least six credit hours of approved course work in public school management techniques at an accredited institution of higher education and has successfully completed education and training in evaluation skills through the center for professional development, or equivalent education and training in evaluation skills approved by the state board.
Under the supervision of the superintendent and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the county board of education, the principal shall assume administrative and instructional supervisory responsibility for the planning, management, operation and evaluation of the total educational program of the school or schools to which he or she is assigned.
The principal may submit recommendations to the superintendent regarding the appointment, assignment, promotion, transfer and dismissal of all personnel assigned to the school or schools under said principal's control. Such recommendation shall be submitted in writing as prescribed by the superintendent.
Upon completion of training required under subsection (e), section two-b, article three-a, chapter eighteen of the Code of West Virginia, principals shall maintain minimum teaching performance standards by teachers under their supervision and authority within each classroom for which they are responsible.
The principal shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by the superintendent pursuant to the rules and regulations of the county board of education.
Upon recommendation of the county superintendent of schools, the county board of education shall, when needed, employ and assign, through written contract, assistant principals who shall work under the direction of the school principal. Such assistant principals shall hold valid administrative certificates appropriate for their assignments.
On or before July 1, 1989, and continuing thereafter, each county board of education shall assign a certificated principal to each school and no principal may be assigned more than two schools. Provided, That However, where enrollment exceeds four hundred students there will be no additional schools assigned to that principal.
No principal assigned to more than one school may be assigned any teaching duties except on a temporary emergency basis. No county shall have more teaching principalships or multischool principalships than was present on January 1, 1988.
On or before July 1, 1993, and continuing thereafter, each county board of education shall employ a full-time supervising principal at each school whose net enrollment equals or exceeds one hundred seventy students. A principal assigned to a school with a net enrollment equal to or greater than one hundred seventy students may not be assigned any teaching duties except on a temporary emergency basis. When a principal is assigned on a full- time basis to a school whose net enrollment is more than seventy- five students but less than one hundred seventy students, such principal shall have a minimum of twenty hours per week for nonteaching duties. A principal assigned on a full-time basis to a school with seventy-five students or less shall have a minimum of ten hours per week for nonteaching duties. Provided, That However, nothing in this section prohibits a county board of education from assigning a full-time supervising principal to a school with a net enrollment of less than one hundred seventy students.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to reduce or limit the rights and privileges of principals and assistant principals as teachers under the provisions of section one, article one, chapter eighteen of the Code of West Virginia as amended; section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code; and other provisions of this code. Provided, That However, on or before July 1, 1993, the State Board of Education shall not deny a county board of education the right to place a principal in a school with less than one hundred seventy students.

ARTICLE 3A. CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

§18A-3A-2b. The Principals Academy; CEO training of principals.

(a) There is hereby established within the Center for Professional Development the "Principals Academy". Training through the Principals Academy shall include at least the following:
(1) Training designed to build within principals the minimum qualities, proficiencies and skills that will be required of all principals pursuant to the rules of the state board;
(2) Specialized training and professional development programs for all principals; and
(3) Specialized training and professional development programs for the following principals:
(A) Newly appointed principals;
(B) Principals whose schools have been designated as seriously impaired, which programs shall commence as soon as practicable following the designation;
(C) Principals subject to improvement plans; and
(D) Principals of schools with significantly different grade level configurations.
(b) The Legislature finds that the quality of the principal of a school is one of the most important factors in determining the academic achievement of students and that well-trained, highly qualified principals should be a priority for the state.
(c) The Legislature further finds that while the Principals Academy has been effective in training quality leaders for the state's public schools, the training provided is such a significant factor in determining their success that a new position is needed to coordinate and focus primarily on the Principals Academy to increase further the quality of the training.
(d) Therefore, from appropriations to the Center for Professional Development, the center board shall employ and fix determine the compensation of the coordinator of the Principals Academy. The coordinator serves at the will and pleasure of the center board. It is the duty of the coordinator, subject to direction and oversight by the center and the chief executive officer, to lead the Principals Academy, to focus primarily on the Principals Academy and to make a continuous effort to enhance further the quality of the training and professional development programs of the academy. The center board, the chief executive officer, or both, may assign duties to the coordinator other than those that relate to the Principals Academy so long as the coordinator is able to focus primarily on the Principals Academy.
(e) The Legislature finds that in order to foster and develop higher standards of teaching performance within the classrooms of this state that principles need greater control and authority to hold teachers accountable for classroom performance in a similar manner in which a chief executive officer is responsible for corporate performance. The state board is therefore directed to propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code designed to develop and implement an intensive program of training, with the intended goal to train principals to act with greater control and authority, in similar fashion and with similar methodology as corporate chief executive officers, charged with meeting operational goals in the management of the schools for which they are individually responsible, and to develop and enforce minimum standards of classroom performance by classroom teachers while striving for continued professional development and improvement of teachers in the classroom. The proposed rules for legislative approval shall also include the requirement that principals, upon being trained to act with greater control and authority, shall enter into performance contracts with the state board requiring principals to uphold minimum/mandatory standards within the classrooms and that each principal's performance in this regard shall be commensurately tied to employment-related incentives and disincentives.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require principals to take on greater authority and control over teachers' classroom teaching performance. Toward this goal the bill requires the State Board of Education to propose rules for legislative approval designed to develop and implement a program to train principals to act with greater control and authority over the teachers in their schools in a manner similar to corporate CEOs in order to maintain higher standards in the classroom and promote constant professional improvement of teachers.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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