H. B. 2465
(By Delegates Williams, Beach, Wells, Eldridge,
Perry and Paxton)
[Introduced
February 17, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §18A-4-2
b, relating
to education; high quality educational programs; professional
personnel; national certification and comparable credential;
standards; salary supplement; expense reimbursement;
limitations; rules; and report.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §18A-4-2
b
, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 4. SALARIES, WAGES AND OTHER BENEFITS.
§18A-4-2b. State minimum salary supplement for nationally
certified professional personnel.
(a) The Legislature finds that professional personnel who meet
the requirements for national certification are highly trained and
capable employees who provide needed services to the students of this state. The purpose of this section is to create an incentive
for all professional personnel to increase their professional
knowledge and skills by providing an additional statewide
supplement to professional personnel who hold national
certification by the national board for professional teaching
standards, or a comparable credential as determined by rule of the
state board of education.
(b) For any category of professional personnel for which
national certification is not provided through the national board
for professional teaching standards, the state department of
education shall examine the standards and requirements to attain
national certification in that profession. The department shall
determine the quality of standards for that national certification.
If the standards and requirements are not equivalent to the
standards of the national board for professional teaching
standards, the department shall develop standards that are
equivalent to those of the national board for which a comparable
credential may be attained through the state department.
Achievement of the comparable credential qualifies the professional
personnel for the annual salary supplement and reimbursement as
provided in this section.
(c) In addition to any amounts prescribed in the applicable
state minimum salary schedule, each employee included in
professional personnel who holds national certification or other credential as provided in this section, must be paid an annual
salary supplement of two thousand five hundred dollars. The
payment is:
(1) In addition to any amounts prescribed in the applicable
state minimum salary schedule;
(2) To be made in equal monthly installments;
(3) To be considered a part of the state minimum salaries for
teachers; and
(4) To continue for the life of the certification, or for ten
years for any one certification, whichever first expires.
(d) Professional personnel who attain national certification
or comparable credential under the provisions of this section are
eligible for reimbursement of expenses actually incurred in
attaining the certification or credential. Reimbursement is
obtained through application to the state department, and is
limited to one half of the certification fee paid by the applicant,
and an additional six hundred dollars in incurred expense as
approved by the state department.
(e) The state board shall establish by rule, in accordance
with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code, the process and standards for achieving a comparable
credential as provided in this section. The board shall report the
rule to the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability by the January, two thousand six, legislative interim meeting period, and shall report on its progress in
developing the rule to the commission during each prior interim
meeting period.
(f) Payment of the supplement and reimbursement provided in
this section is subject to legislative appropriation therefore, and
is limited to one hundred professionals per year in any one
category of professional personnel. Nothing in this section
requires any appropriation, or any specific level of appropriation,
by the Legislature.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide salary
supplements of $2,500 and expense reimbursements to professional
personnel who meet certain professional national certification
standards, and to require the state board of education to develop
equivalent qualifying standards for professional fields where none
currently exist.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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