House Bill 0519

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 519

        By Representative Reddick






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the Excellent Teaching

  3         Program; amending s. 236.08106, F.S.; revising

  4         the Excellent Teaching Program to include

  5         guidance counselors who participate in the

  6         National Board of Certified Counselors

  7         certification program; providing an effective

  8         date.

  9

10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

11

12         Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraph (a)

13  of subsection (3) of section 236.08106, Florida Statutes, are

14  amended to read:

15         236.08106  Excellent Teaching Program.--

16         (1)  The Legislature recognizes that teachers and

17  guidance counselors play a critical role in preparing students

18  to achieve the high levels of academic performance expected by

19  the Sunshine State Standards. The Legislature further

20  recognizes the importance of identifying and rewarding

21  professional teaching excellence and of encouraging good

22  teachers and guidance counselors to become excellent teachers

23  and guidance counselors. The Legislature finds that the

24  National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) has

25  established high and rigorous standards for accomplished

26  teaching and has developed a national voluntary system for

27  assessing and certifying teachers who demonstrate teaching

28  excellence by meeting those standards. The Legislature further

29  finds that the standards for guidance counselors established

30  by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) are

31  comparable to those established for teachers. It is therefore

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  1  the Legislature's intent to provide incentives for teachers

  2  and guidance counselors to seek NBPTS or NBCC certification

  3  and to reward teachers and guidance counselors who demonstrate

  4  teaching excellence in their respective field by attaining

  5  NBPTS or NBCC certification and sharing their expertise with

  6  their peers other teachers.

  7         (2)  The Excellent Teaching Program is created to

  8  provide categorical funding for monetary incentives and

  9  bonuses for teaching excellence. The Department of Education

10  shall distribute to each school district or to the NBPTS or

11  NBCC an amount as prescribed annually by the Legislature for

12  the Excellent Teaching Program. Unless otherwise provided in

13  the General Appropriations Act, each distribution shall be the

14  sum of the amounts earned for the following incentives and

15  bonuses:

16         (a)  A fee subsidy to be paid by the Department of

17  Education to the NBPTS or NBCC on behalf of each individual

18  who is an employee of a district school board or a public

19  school within the school district, who is certified by the

20  district to have demonstrated satisfactory teaching

21  performance pursuant to s. 231.29 and who satisfies the

22  prerequisites for participating in the NBPTS or NBCC

23  certification program, and who agrees, in writing, to pay 10

24  percent of the NBPTS or NBCC participation fee and to

25  participate in the NBPTS or NBCC certification program during

26  the school year for which the fee subsidy is provided. The fee

27  subsidy for each eligible participant shall be an amount equal

28  to 90 percent of the fee charged for participating in the

29  NBPTS or NBCC certification program, but not more than $1,800

30  per eligible participant. The fee subsidy is a one-time award

31  and may not be duplicated for any individual.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000                 HB 519

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  1         (b)  A portfolio-preparation incentive of $150 paid by

  2  the Department of Education to each teacher or guidance

  3  counselor employed by a district school board or a public

  4  school within a school district who is participating in the

  5  NBPTS or NBCC certification program. The portfolio-preparation

  6  incentive is a one-time award paid during the school year for

  7  which the NBPTS or NBCC fee subsidy is provided.

  8         (c)  An annual bonus equal to 10 percent of the prior

  9  fiscal year's statewide average salary for classroom teachers,

10  or for guidance counselors, 10 percent of the prior fiscal

11  year's statewide average salary for guidance counselors, to be

12  distributed to the school district to be paid to each

13  individual who holds NBPTS or NBCC certification and is

14  employed by the district school board or by a public school

15  within the school district. The district school board shall

16  distribute the annual bonus to each individual who meets the

17  requirements of this paragraph and who is certified annually

18  by the district to have demonstrated satisfactory teaching

19  performance pursuant to s. 231.29. The annual bonus may be

20  paid as a single payment or divided into not more than three

21  payments.

22         (d)  An annual bonus equal to 10 percent of the prior

23  fiscal year's statewide average salary for classroom teachers,

24  or for guidance counselors, 10 percent of the prior fiscal

25  year's statewide average salary for guidance counselors, to be

26  distributed to the school district to be paid to each

27  individual who meets the requirements of paragraph (c) and

28  agrees, in writing, to provide the equivalent of 12 workdays

29  of mentoring and related services to public school teachers or

30  guidance counselors within the district who do not hold NBPTS

31  or NBCC certification. The district school board shall

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  1  distribute the annual bonus in a single payment following the

  2  completion of all required mentoring and related services for

  3  the year. It is not the intent of the Legislature to remove

  4  excellent teachers from their assigned classrooms or guidance

  5  counselors from their assigned duties; therefore, credit may

  6  not be granted by a school district or public school for

  7  mentoring or related services provided during the regular

  8  school day or during the 196 days of required service for the

  9  school year.

10

11  A teacher or guidance counselor for whom the state pays the

12  certification fee and who does not complete the certification

13  program or who is not employed does not teach in a public

14  school of this state for a least 1 year after completing the

15  certification program must repay the amount of the

16  certification fee to the state. However, a teacher or guidance

17  counselor who completes the certification program but fails to

18  be awarded NBPTS or NBCC certification is not required to

19  repay the amount of the certification fee if he or she the

20  teacher meets the 1-year employment teaching requirement.

21  Repayment is not required of a teacher or guidance counselor

22  who does not complete the certification program or fails to

23  fulfill the employment teaching requirement because of the

24  teacher's or guidance counselor's death or disability or

25  because of other extenuating circumstances as determined by

26  the State Board of Education.

27         (3)(a)  In addition to any other remedy available under

28  the law, any person who is a recipient of a certification fee

29  subsidy paid to the NBPTS or NBCC and who is an employee of

30  the state or any of its political subdivisions is considered

31  to have consented, as a condition of employment, to the

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  1  voluntary or involuntary withholding of wages to repay to the

  2  state the amount of such a certification fee subsidy awarded

  3  under this section. Any such employee who defaults on the

  4  repayment of such a certification fee subsidy must, within 60

  5  days after service of a notice of default by the Department of

  6  Education to the employee, establish a repayment schedule

  7  which must be agreed to by the department and the employee,

  8  for repaying the defaulted sum through payroll deductions. The

  9  department may not require the employee to pay more than 10

10  percent of the employee's pay per pay period under such a

11  repayment schedule or plan. If the employee fails to establish

12  a repayment schedule within the specified period of time or

13  fails to meet the terms and conditions of the agreed upon or

14  approved repayment schedule as authorized by this subsection,

15  the employee has breached an essential condition of employment

16  and is considered to have consented to the involuntary

17  withholding of wages or salary for the repayment of the

18  certification fee subsidy.

19

20  For purposes of this section, the provision of guidance

21  counseling is to be considered teaching.

22         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.

23

24            *****************************************

25                          HOUSE SUMMARY

26
      Revises the Excellent Teaching Program to include
27    guidance counselors who participate in the National Board
      of Certified Counselors certification program.
28

29

30

31

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