H. B. 4543
(By Delegate Michael)
[Introduced
February 18, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-4-2a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to reimbursing teachers for
recertification fees.
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
and reimbursement for
recertification.
(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
and
recertification 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) $3,500 shall be paid annually to each classroom teacher
who holds a valid certificate issued by the National Board of
Professional Teaching Standards for the life of the certification,
but in no event more than ten years for any one certification.
(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) to two hundred teachers annually. The
state board shall establish selection criteria for the teachers by
the legislative rule required pursuant to subsection (g) 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 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.
(h) The amount paid by teachers to apply for recertification
with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards shall be reimbursed once the teacher has been recertified by the board.
NOTE: The purpose of the bill is to reimburse teachers for
recertification with the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.