COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 626
(By Senator Plymale)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported February 26, 2010.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-3-1 and §18A-3-2a of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to providing
eligibility for a license to teach in the public schools for
candidates who are not United States citizens under certain
conditions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-3-1 and §18A-3-2a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-1. Teacher preparation programs; program approval and
standards; authority to issue teaching certificates.
(a) The education of professional educators in the state is
under the general direction and control of the state board after consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Arts and the
Chancellor for Higher Education who shall represent the interests
of educator preparation programs within the institutions of higher
education in this state as those institutions are defined in
section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this code.
The education of professional educators in the state includes
all programs leading to certification to teach or serve in the
public schools including:
(1) Those programs in all institutions of higher education,
including student teaching as provided in this section;
(2) Beginning teacher internship programs;
(3) The granting of West Virginia certification to persons who
received their preparation to teach outside the boundaries of this
state, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section;
(4) Any alternative preparation programs in this state leading
to certification, including programs established pursuant to the
provisions of section one-a of this article and programs which are
in effect on the effective date of this section; and
(5) Any continuing professional education, professional
development and in-service training programs for professional
educators employed in the public schools in the state.
(b) The state board, after consultation with the Secretary of
Education and the Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education,
shall adopt standards for the education of professional educators in the state and for awarding certificates valid in the public
schools of this state. The standards shall include, but not be
limited to the following:
(1) A provision for the study of multicultural education. As
used in this section, multicultural education means the study of
the pluralistic nature of American society including its values,
institutions, organizations, groups, status positions and social
roles;
(2) A provision for the study of classroom management
techniques, including methods of effective management of disruptive
behavior which shall include societal factors and their impact on
student behavior; and
(3) Subject to the provisions of section ten of this article,
a teacher from another state shall be awarded a teaching
certificate for a comparable grade level and subject area valid in
the public schools of this state, if he or she:
(A) Holds a valid teaching certificate or a certificate of
eligibility issued by another state;
(B) Has graduated from an educator preparation program at a
regionally accredited institution of higher education;
(C) Possesses the minimum of a bachelor's degree; and
(D) Meets all of the requirements of the state for full
certification except employment.
(c) To give prospective teachers the teaching experience needed to demonstrate competence as a prerequisite to certification
to teach in the West Virginia public schools, the state board may
enter into an agreement with county boards for the use of the
public schools.
(d) An agreement established pursuant to subsection (c) of
this section shall recognize student teaching as a joint
responsibility of the educator preparation institution and the
cooperating public schools and shall include:
(1) The minimum qualifications for the employment of public
school teachers selected as supervising teachers, including the
requirement that field-based and clinical experiences be supervised
by a teacher fully certified in the state in which that teacher is
supervising;
(2) The remuneration to be paid public school teachers by the
state board, in addition to their contractual salaries, for
supervising student teachers;
(3) Minimum standards to guarantee the adequacy of the
facilities and program of the public school selected for student
teaching;
(4) That the student teacher, under the direction and
supervision of the supervising teacher, shall exercise the
authority of a substitute teacher; and
(5) A provision requiring any higher education institution
with an educator preparation program to document that the student teacher's field-based and clinical experiences include
participation and instruction with multicultural, at-risk and
exceptional children at each programmatic level for which the
student teacher seeks certification.
(e) Beginning the fall, two thousand six - two thousand seven
academic term, in lieu of the student teaching experience in a
public school setting required by this section, an institution of
higher education may provide an alternate student teaching
experience in a nonpublic school setting if the institution of
higher education:
(1) Complies with the provisions of this section;
(2) Has a state board approved educator preparation program;
and
(3) Enters into an agreement pursuant to subdivisions (f) and
(g) of this section.
(f) At the discretion of the higher education institution, an
agreement for an alternate student teaching experience between an
institution of higher education and a nonpublic school shall
require that either:
(1) The student teacher complete at least one half of the
clinical experience in a public school; or
(2) The educator preparation program include a requirement
that any student performing student teaching in a nonpublic school
complete at least:
(A) Two hundred clock hours of field-based training in a
public school; and
(B) A course, which is a component of the institution's state
board approved educator preparation program, that provides to
prospective teachers information that is equivalent to the teaching
experience needed to demonstrate competence as a prerequisite to
certification to teach in the public schools in West Virginia. The
course shall include instruction on at least the following
elements:
(i) State board policy and provisions of this code governing
public education;
(ii) Requirements for federal and state accountability,
including the mandatory reporting of child abuse;
(iii) Federal and state mandated curriculum and assessment
requirements, including multicultural education, safe schools and
student code of conduct;
(iv) Federal and state regulations for the instruction of
exceptional students as defined by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400
et seq.;
(v) Varied approaches for effective instruction for students
who are at-risk;
(g) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection
(f) of this section, an agreement for an alternate student teaching
experience between an institution of higher education and a nonpublic school shall:
(1) Require that the higher education institution with an
educator preparation program document that the student teacher's
field-based and clinical experiences include participation and
instruction with multicultural, at-risk and exceptional children at
each programmatic level for which the student teacher seeks
certification; and
(2) Include the minimum qualifications for the employment of
school teachers selected as supervising teachers, including the
requirement that field-based and clinical experiences be supervised
by a teacher fully certified in the state in which that teacher is
supervising.
(h) The state superintendent may issue certificates to
graduates of educator preparation programs and alternative educator
preparation programs approved by the state board. The certificates
are issued in accordance with this section and rules adopted by the
state board after consultation with the Secretary of Education and
the Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education.
(1) A certificate to teach may be granted only to any person
who is:
(A) A citizen of the United States, except as provided in
subdivision (2) of this subsection;
(B) Is of good moral character;
(C) Physically, mentally and emotionally qualified to perform the duties of a teacher; and
(D) At least eighteen years on or before the first day of
October of the year in which his or her certificate is issued.
(2)
A permit to teach in the public schools of this state may
be granted to a person who is an exchange teacher from a foreign
country, or an alien person who meets the requirements to teach.
A candidate from a foreign country may be eligible for a license to
teach in the public schools of the state by:
(A) Obtaining a satisfactory score on a test of English
language proficiency;
(B) Providing evidence of a teaching exchange visa, a resident
alien visa or declaration of intent to become a United States
citizen; and
(C) Meeting other requirements established by the state board.
(i) In consultation with the Secretary of Education and the
Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education, institutions of
higher education approved for educator preparation may cooperate
with each other, with the center for professional development and
with one or more county boards to organize and operate centers to
provide selected phases of the educator preparation program. The
phases include, but are not limited to:
(1) Student teaching;
(2) Beginning teacher internship programs;
(3) Instruction in methodology; and
(4) Seminar programs for college students, teachers with
provisional certification, professional support team members and
supervising teachers.
The institutions of higher education, the center for
professional development and county boards may by mutual agreement
budget and expend funds to operate the centers through payments to
the appropriate fiscal office of the participating institutions,
the center for professional development and the county boards.
(j) The provisions of this section do not require
discontinuation of an existing student teacher training center or
school which meets the standards of the state board.
(k) All institutions of higher education approved for educator
preparation in the one thousand nine hundred sixty-two--sixty-three
school year shall continue to hold that distinction so long as they
meet the minimum standards for educator preparation. Nothing in
this section infringes upon the rights granted to any institution
by charter given according to law previous to the adoption of this
code.
(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, nor
any other provision of rule, law or this code to the contrary, an
institution of higher education may enter into an agreement with a
nonpublic school:
(1) For the purposes of this section regarding student
teaching;
(2) For the spring, two thousand six academic term only;
(3) If the institution is approved for educator preparation by
the state board; and
(4) If the institution had entered into the agreement for that
academic term prior to the effective date of this section.
(m) As used in this section:
(1) "Nonpublic school" means a private school, parochial
school, church school, school operated by a religious order or
other nonpublic school that elects to:
(A) Comply with the provisions of article twenty-eight,
chapter eighteen of this code;
(B) Participate on a voluntary basis in a state operated or
state sponsored program provided to such schools pursuant to this
section; and
(C) Comply with the provisions of this section;
(2) "At-risk" means having the potential for academic failure,
including, but not limited to, the risk of dropping out of school,
involvement in delinquent activity or poverty as indicated by free
or reduced lunch status; and
(3) "Exceptional children" has the meaning ascribed pursuant
to section one, article twenty, chapter eighteen of this code, but
does not include gifted students.
§18A-3-2a. Authority of State Superintendent to issue
certificates; kinds of certificates.
(a) In accordance with state board
of Education rules for the
education of professional educators adopted after consultation with
the Secretary of Education and the Arts, the state superintendent
of Schools may issue certificates valid in the public schools of
the state:
Provided, That a certificate
shall may not be issued to
any person who is not a citizen of the United States, is not of
good moral character,
and is not physically, mentally and
emotionally qualified to perform the duties for which the
certification would be granted and who has not attained the age of
eighteen years on or before October 1, of the year in which the
certificate is issued:
Provided, however, That
an exchange teacher
from a foreign country or an alien person who meets the
requirements to teach may be granted a permit to teach within the
public schools of the state a candidate from a foreign country may
be eligible for a license to teach in the public schools of the
state by:
(A) Obtaining a satisfactory score on a test of English
language proficiency;
(B) Providing evidence of a teaching exchange visa, a resident
alien visa or declaration of intent to become a United States
citizen; and
(C) Meeting other requirements established by the state board.
(b) Certificates authorized to be issued include:
(1)
Professional teaching certificates. -- A professional teaching certificate for teaching in the public schools may be
issued to a person who:
(A) Has at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited
institution of higher education in this state, has completed a
program for the education of teachers which meets the requirements
approved by the state board
of Education or has met equivalent
standards at institutions in other states and has passed
appropriate state board approved basic skills and subject matter
tests or has completed three years of successful experience within
the last seven years in the area for which licensure is being
sought; or
(B) Has at least a bachelor's degree in a discipline taught in
the public schools from an accredited institution of higher
education, has passed appropriate state board approved basic skills
and subject matter tests or has completed three years of successful
experience within the last seven years in the area for which
licensure is being sought, has completed an alternative program for
teacher education approved by the state board and is recommended
for a certificate by the chairperson of the professional support
team of the person's alternative program or the state
superintendent based on documentation submitted.
The certificate shall be endorsed to indicate the grade level
or levels or areas of specialization in which the person is
certified to teach or to serve in the public schools. The initial professional certificate shall be issued provisionally for a period
of three years from the date of issuance and may be converted to a
professional certificate valid for five years subject to successful
completion of a beginning teacher internship, if applicable, or
renewed subject to rules adopted by the state board.
(2)
Professional administrative certificate. -- A professional
administrative certificate, endorsed for serving in the public
schools, with specific endorsement as a principal, vocational
administrator, supervisor of instructions or superintendent, may be
issued to a person who has completed requirements all to be
approved by the state board as follows: For a master's degree from
an institution of higher education accredited to offer a master's
degree, has successfully completed an approved program for
administrative certification, developed by the state board
of
Education in cooperation with the
governing boards of the
University of West Virginia system and the state college system
Higher Education Policy Commission, has successfully completed
education and training in evaluation skills through the Center for
Professional Development, or equivalent education and training in
evaluation skills, and three years of management level experience:
Provided, That
anyone having received a certificate during the
period from August 30, 1990, until the effective date of this bill
without having met the above requirements shall complete those
requirements within five years after the effective date of this bill: Provided, however, That any person serving in the position
of dean of students on
the effective date of this section shall not
be June 4, 1992, is not required to hold a professional
administrative certificate. Beginning September 1, 1992, the
initial professional administrative certificate shall be issued
provisionally for a period of five years. This certificate may be
converted to a professional administrative certificate valid for
five years or renewed, subject to the
regulations rules of the
state board.
(3)
Paraprofessional certificate. -- A paraprofessional
certificate may be issued to a person who has completed thirty-six
semester hours of post-secondary education or its equivalent in
subjects directly related to performance of the job, all approved
by the state board, and can demonstrate the proficiencies to
perform duties as required of a paraprofessional as defined in
section eight, article four of this chapter.
(4)
Other certificates; permits. -- Other certificates and
permits may be issued, subject to the approval of the state board,
to persons who do not qualify for the professional or
paraprofessional certificate.
Such The certificates or permits
shall may not be given permanent status and persons holding
such
them shall meet renewal requirements provided by law and by
regulation rule, unless the state board declares certain of these
certificates to be the equivalent of the professional certificate.
Within the category of other certificates and permits, the
State Superintendent may issue certificates for persons to serve in
the public schools as athletic coaches or other extracurricular
activities coaches whose duties may include the supervision of
students, subject to the following limitations: (A)
Such The
person shall be employed under a contract with the county board
of
education which specifies the duties to be performed, which
specifies a rate of pay equivalent to the rate of pay for
professional educators in the district who accept similar duties as
extra duty assignments and which provides for liability insurance
associated with the activity:
Provided, That
such the persons
shall may not be considered employees of the board for salary and
benefit purposes other than as specified in the contract; (B) a
currently employed certified professional educator has not applied
for the position; and (C)
such the person completes an orientation
program designed and approved in accordance with state board rules.
which shall be adopted no later than January 1, 1991.