Amendment
Bill No. HB 5083

Amendment No. 205143

CHAMBER ACTION
Senate		House
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1	Representatives Pickens, Vana, and Seiler offered the following:
2
3	Amendment
4	Remove lines 294-424 and insert:
5	Section 8.  Section 1012.72, Florida Statutes, as amended
6	by chapter 2007-328, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:
7	1012.72  Dale Hickam Excellent Teaching Program.--
8	(1)  The Legislature recognizes that teachers play a
9	critical role in preparing students to achieve the high levels
10	of academic performance expected by the Sunshine State
11	Standards. The Legislature further recognizes the importance of
12	identifying and rewarding teaching excellence and of encouraging
13	good teachers to become excellent teachers. The Legislature
14	finds that the National Board for of Professional Teaching
15	Standards (NBPTS) has established high and rigorous standards
16	for accomplished teaching and has developed a national voluntary
17	system for assessing and certifying teachers who demonstrate
18	teaching excellence by meeting those standards. It is therefore
19	the Legislature's intent to provide incentives for teachers to
20	seek NBPTS certification and to reward teachers who demonstrate
21	teaching excellence by attaining NBPTS certification and sharing
22	their expertise with other teachers.
23	(2)  The Dale Hickam Excellent Teaching Program is created
24	to provide categorical funding for monetary incentives and
25	bonuses for teaching excellence. The Department of Education
26	shall distribute to each school district or to the NBPTS an
27	amount as prescribed annually by the Legislature for the Dale
28	Hickam Excellent Teaching Program. For purposes of this section,
29	the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind shall be
30	considered a school district. Unless otherwise provided in the
31	General Appropriations Act, each distribution shall be the sum
32	of the amounts earned for the following incentives and bonuses:
33	(a)  A fee subsidy to be paid by the Department of
34	Education to the NBPTS on behalf of each individual who is an
35	employee of a district school board or a public school within
36	the school district, who is certified by the district to have
37	demonstrated satisfactory teaching performance pursuant to s.
38	1012.34 and who satisfies the prerequisites for participating in
39	the NBPTS certification program, and who agrees, in writing, to
40	pay 10 percent of the NBPTS participation fee and to participate
41	in the NBPTS certification program during the school year for
42	which the fee subsidy is provided. The fee subsidy for each
43	eligible participant shall be an amount equal to 90 percent of
44	the fee charged for participating in the NBPTS certification
45	program. The fee subsidy is a one-time award and may not be
46	duplicated for any individual.
47	(b)  A portfolio-preparation incentive of $150 paid by the
48	Department of Education to each teacher employed by a district
49	school board or a public school within a school district who is
50	participating in the NBPTS certification program. The portfolio-
51	preparation incentive is a one-time award paid during the school
52	year for which the NBPTS fee subsidy is provided.
53	(a)(c)  An annual bonus equal to 10 percent of the prior
54	fiscal year's statewide average salary for classroom teachers to
55	be distributed to the school district to be paid to each
56	individual who holds NBPTS certification and is employed by the
57	district school board or by a public school within the school
58	district. The district school board shall distribute the annual
59	bonus to each individual who meets the requirements of this
60	paragraph and who is certified annually by the district to have
61	demonstrated satisfactory teaching performance pursuant to s.
62	1012.225 or s. 1012.34. The annual bonus may be paid as a single
63	payment or divided into not more than three payments.
64	(d)  An annual bonus equal to 10 percent of the prior
65	fiscal year's statewide average salary for classroom teachers to
66	be distributed to the school district to be paid to each
67	individual who meets the requirements of paragraph (c) and
68	agrees, in writing, to provide the equivalent of 12 workdays of
69	mentoring and related services to public school teachers within
70	the state who do not hold NBPTS certification. Related services
71	must include instruction in helping teachers work more
72	effectively with the families of their students. The district
73	school board shall distribute the annual bonus in a single
74	payment following the completion of all required mentoring and
75	related services for the year. It is not the intent of the
76	Legislature to remove excellent teachers from their assigned
77	classrooms; therefore, credit may not be granted by a school
78	district or public school for mentoring or related services
79	provided during student contact time during the 196 days of
80	required service for the school year.
81	(b)(e)  The employer's share of social security and
82	Medicare taxes and Florida Retirement System contributions for
83	those teachers who qualify for NBPTS certification and receive
84	bonus amounts under paragraph (a).
85
86	A teacher for whom the state pays the certification fee and who
87	does not complete the certification program or does not teach in
88	a public school of this state for at least 1 year after
89	completing the certification program must repay the amount of
90	the certification fee to the state. However, a teacher who
91	completes the certification program but fails to be awarded
92	NBPTS certification is not required to repay the amount of the
93	certification fee if the teacher meets the 1-year teaching
94	requirement. Repayment is not required of a teacher who does not
95	complete the certification program or fails to fulfill the
96	teaching requirement because of the teacher's death or
97	disability or because of other extenuating circumstances as
98	determined by the State Board of Education.
99	(3)(a)  In addition to any other remedy available under the
100	law, any person who is a recipient of a certification fee
101	subsidy paid to the NBPTS and who is an employee of the state or
102	any of its political subdivisions is considered to have
103	consented, as a condition of employment, to the voluntary or
104	involuntary withholding of wages to repay to the state the
105	amount of such a certification fee subsidy awarded under this
106	section. Any such employee who defaults on the repayment of such
107	a certification fee subsidy must, within 60 days after service
108	of a notice of default by the Department of Education to the
109	employee, establish a repayment schedule which must be agreed to
110	by the department and the employee, for repaying the defaulted
111	sum through payroll deductions. The department may not require
112	the employee to pay more than 10 percent of the employee's pay
113	per pay period under such a repayment schedule or plan. If the
114	employee fails to establish a repayment schedule within the
115	specified period of time or fails to meet the terms and
116	conditions of the agreed upon or approved repayment schedule as
117	authorized by this subsection, the employee has breached an
118	essential condition of employment and is considered to have
119	consented to the involuntary withholding of wages or salary for
120	the repayment of the certification fee subsidy.
121	(b)  A person who is employed by the state, or any of its
122	political subdivisions, may not be dismissed for having
123	defaulted on the repayment of the certification fee subsidy to
124	the state.
125	(4)  The State Board of Education may adopt rules pursuant
126	to ss. 120.536 and 120.54 as necessary to administer the
127	provisions for payment of the fee subsidies, incentives, and
128	bonuses and for the repayment of defaulted certification fee
129	subsidies under this section.
130	(3)(5)  If the funds available in any fiscal year are
131	insufficient to pay in full the annual bonuses under subsection
132	(2) for certification and for providing mentoring and related
133	services, payments for providing mentoring and related services
134	shall be prorated among the eligible recipients.
135	shall be prorated among the eligible recipients.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.