ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2687
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegate Ashley)
[By Request of the Executive]
(Originating in the House Committee on Education)
[April 3, 1997]
A BILL to repeal section six, article three-a, chapter eighteen-a
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact sections
one, two and five of said article, all relating to public
school professional development; repealing obsolete
provisions relating to a task force on teacher preparation;
recognizing importance of principals and administrators
skilled in modern management principles; changing the
membership of the center for professional development board
and advisory council; requiring the center to assist in the
delivery of programs and activities to meet local needs;
focusing mission of professional development project of
center on identifying, coordinating, arranging and otherwise
assisting in the delivery of professional development for
teachers, principals and administrators based on laws,
policies and regulations adopted for public schools of West Virginia; authorizing center to permit classroom aides,
other school personnel and higher education faculty to
participate in appropriate professional development;
allowing secretary of education and the arts to negotiate
fees with state colleges and universities; requiring center
to advise teacher education programs of changes in law and
policy that affect professional educator job performance;
requiring center to assist in delivery of programs and
activities to meet expressed needs of school districts"; and
providing for the reassignment of the advanced placement
center to the office of the secretary of education and the
arts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article three-a, chapter eighteen-a of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be repealed; and that sections one, two and five of said
article be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3A. CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3A-1. Center for professional development continued;
intent; advisory board.
(a) Teaching is a profession that directly correlates to the
social and economic well-being of a society and its citizens.
Superior teaching is essential to a well educated and productive
populace. Strong academic leadership provided by principals and
administrators skilled in modern management principles is also
essential. The intent of this article is to recognize the value of professional involvement by experienced educators, principals
and administrators in building and maintaining a superior
teaching force of professional educators and to establish avenues
for applying such involvement.
In furtherance of this intent, the center for professional
development is continued and reestablished. The general mission
of the center is to study matters relating to the quality of
teaching and management in the schools of West Virginia and to
promote the implementation of programs and practices to assure
the highest quality in teaching and management. The center shall
also perform such duties as are assigned to it by law.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
specific level of funding by the Legislature.
The center shall consist of nine persons as members: The
secretary of education and the arts, ex officio, the state
superintendent of schools, ex officio, one member of the state
board of education, elected by the state board; two experienced
educators, of whom one shall be a working classroom teacher,
appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate; and four citizens of the state who are knowledgeable
in matters relevant to the issues addressed by the center,
appointed by the governor by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate. No two appointees shall be residents within the same
region. The state superintendent of schools shall convene the
first meeting of the center to elect a chair, vice chair and
secretary.
(b) The center for professional development shall be under
the control of the office of the secretary of education and the
arts. The secretary shall have an eleven-member advisory board
which shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and
consent of the West Virginia Senate. Not more than four
appointees shall be residents from within the same congressional
district. Members appointed to the advisory board may be
reappointed to successive terms but in no event shall they serve
more than four years in succession. The secretary of education
and the arts shall convene the first meeting of the center board
to elect a vice chair and secretary.
The election and appointment of members shall be made as
soon as possible after the effective date of this section. Of the
initial appointed members, three shall be appointed for two-year
terms and four three shall be appointed for four-year terms. All
successive appointments shall be for four-year two-year terms.
The governor shall appoint a new member to fill the unexpired
term of any vacancy in the appointed membership.
The center for professional development board shall meet at
least quarterly and the appointed members shall be reimbursed for
reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the
performance of their official duties from funds appropriated or
otherwise made available for such purposes upon submission of an
itemized statement therefor.
The center may employ and fix the compensation of an
executive director and such other persons as may be necessary to carry out the mission and duties of the center. When practical,
personnel employed by state higher education agencies and state,
regional and county public education agencies shall be made
available to the center to assist in the operation of projects of
limited duration.
The center shall assist in the delivery of programs and
activities pursuant to this article to meet the local
professional development needs of teachers, principals and
administrators and may contract with existing agencies or
agencies created after the effective date of this section or
others to provide training programs in the most efficient manner.
Existing programs currently based in agencies of the state shall
be continued in the agency of their origin unless the center
establishes a compelling need to transfer or cancel the existing
program. The center shall recommend to the governor the transfer
of funds to the providing agency, if needed, to provide programs
approved by the center.
(b) To assist the center for professional development in the
performance of its duties related to teacher education and
professional development, there is continued an advisory council
on professional development which shall consist of eleven persons
as follows: An employee of the center who shall chair the
advisory council; two shall be professors or associate or
assistant professors of teacher education, one from a public
institution and one from a private institution of higher
education in this state offering programs leading to certification to teach in the public schools of this state; two
county school superintendents, one of whom shall be from a
district with a student enrollment above the statewide average
and one of whom shall be from a district with a student
enrollment below such average; two school principals, one of whom
shall be from a school including grade levels and one of whom
shall be from a school including grade levels and four
professional instructional personnel, two of whom shall be from
a school including grade levels and two of whom shall be from a
school including grade levels To the extent possible, the
principals and instructional personnel shall be appointed from
the members of county staff development councils. Except for the
employee of the center, the members shall be appointed jointly by
the secretary of education and the arts and the state
superintendent for two-year terms which overlap so that one
member from each of the classes shall be appointed in each
successive year, except that two members from the professional
instructional personnel class shall be appointed in each
successive year. No two members of the council shall be from the
same college or university or school district. Members of the
council shall be granted release time from their employment for
attending meetings of the council.
Pursuant to the provisions of article ten, chapter four of
this code, the center for professional development and advisory
council board shall continue to exist until the first day of
July, two thousand one.
(c) On or before the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven ninety-eight, the center for professional
development shall develop and communicate to the state board of
education a curriculum for the principals academy. The
curriculum shall be based upon the minimum qualities,
proficiencies and skills necessary for principals and recommended
by the state board, pursuant to the terms of section two-c,
article three of this chapter.
(d) In accordance with section two-c, article three of this
chapter, the center shall be responsible for paying reasonable
and necessary expenses and any stipends for persons attending the
principals academy: Provided, That nothing in this section shall
be construed to require any specific level of funding by the
Legislature.
(e)Persons attending the professional development offerings
of the center, except the principals academy, and such other
courses as shall be offered by the center for professional
development shall be assessed fees which shall be less than the
full cost of attendance. Proceeds of these fees shall be
deposited into the state treasury to the credit of a special
revenue account known as the "center for professional development
fund". Expenditures from the fund shall not be authorized from
collections but shall only be expended upon appropriation by the
Legislature. When participants in the center for professional
development request or are granted college credit, the secretary
of education and the arts shall negotiate with public colleges and universities to assess charges and fees.
§18A-3A-2. Professional development project.
Through this project the center shall:
(1) Identify, coordinate, arrange, and otherwise assist in
the delivery of professional development programs and activities
that help professional educators acquire the knowledge, skills,
attitudes, practices and other such pertinent complements deemed
essential for an individual to demonstrate appropriate
performance as a professional personnel in the public schools of
West Virginia. The basis for such performance shall be the laws,
policies and regulations adopted for the public schools of West
Virginia, and amendments thereto. The center may also permit and
encourage school personnel such as classroom aides, higher
education teacher education faculty, and higher education faculty
in programs such as articulated tech prep associate degree and
other programs to participate in appropriate professional
development programs and activities with public school
professional educators; The center shall review the report of
the governor's committee on the preparation of teachers
established in section six of this article, shall participate in
the work of, and may contract with, the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards, Inc., to develop processes,
procedures and assessment measures for the certification of
teachers, and shall consult regularly with active members of the
teaching profession in the public schools and higher education
teacher preparation programs. The center may make recommendations to the state board of education and the higher
education governing boards regarding the adoption of such work
for application in the continuing professional development of
public school professional educators;
(2) Identify, coordinate, arrange and otherwise assist in
the delivery of professional development programs and activities
that help principals and administrators acquire knowledge,
skills, attitudes and practices in academic leadership and
management principles for principals and administrators and such
other pertinent complements deemed essential for principals and
administrators to demonstrate appropriate performance in the
public schools of West Virginia. The basis for such performance
shall be the laws, policies and regulations adopted for the
public schools of West Virginia, and amendments thereto;
(2) (3) Serve in a coordinating capacity to assure that the
knowledge, skills, attitude and other pertinent complements of
appropriate professional performance which evolve over time in
the public school environment are appropriately reflected in the
programs approved for the education of professional personnel,
including, but not limited to, advising the teacher education
programs of major statutory and policy changes in the public
schools which affect the job performance requirements of
professional educators, including principals and administrators;
(3) (4) Provide for the routine updating of professional
skills of professional educators, including principals and
administrators, through in-service and other programs. Such routine updating may be provided by the center through statewide
or regional institutes which may require a registration fee; and
(4) (5) Provide consultation and assistance to county staff
development councils established under the provisions of section
eight, article three of this chapter in planning, designing,
coordinating, arranging for and delivering staff professional
development programs to meet the staff development needs of
the professional educators of their county district. From
legislative appropriations to the center for professional
development, exclusive of such amounts required for the expenses
of the principals academy, the center shall, unless otherwise
directed by the Legislature, provide assistance in the delivery
of programs and activities to meet the expressed needs of the
school districts for professional development to help teachers,
principals and administrators demonstrate appropriate performance
based on the laws, policies and regulations adopted for the
public schools of West Virginia.
§18A-3A-5. West Virginia advanced placement center.
There is established within the office of the secretary of
education and the arts a the West Virginia advanced placement
center to provide statewide coordination for the continued growth
and development of the advanced placement programs in West
Virginia high schools. The center will assist the West Virginia
department of education, county boards of education, institutions
of higher education, the college board, inc., and the West
Virginia advanced placement advisory council in all matters relative to the advanced placement in this state.
The specific functions of the center include:
(1) Coordinating advanced placement teacher training
institutes;
(2) Establishing a cadre of instructors for the advanced
placement teacher training institutes;
(3) Providing follow-up teacher training for advanced
placement teachers;
(4) Identifying and obtaining external sources of funding;
(5) Networking advanced placement teachers through an
advanced placement newsletter;
(6) Serving as a liaison for the college board and the West
Virginia department of education, county boards of education,
institutions of higher education, the West Virginia advanced
placement advisory council, the Legislature and the governor;
(7) Conducting research and evaluating the state's advanced
placement program;
(8) Assisting county boards of education and local schools
in establishing, evaluating and maintaining advanced placement
programs;
(9) Serving as a clearinghouse for advanced placement
materials and correspondence; and
(10) Certify individual courses that meet the established
standards of advanced placement programs.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the code to the
contrary, the secretary of education and the arts shall assume all responsibilities for the West Virginia advanced placement
center that were formerly the responsibilities of the center for
professional development.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.