Senate Bill No. 59
(By Senator Deem)
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[Introduced February 11, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Education.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-9 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18A-3A-2b of said
code, all relating to requiring principals to take on greater
authority and control over teachers' classroom teaching
performance; and requiring the state board to propose rules
for legislative approval designed to develop and implement a
program to train principals to act with greater control and
authority over the teachers in their schools in a manner
similar to corporate chief executive officers in order to
maintain higher standards in the classroom and promote
constant professional improvement of teachers.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §18A-3A-2b of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-9. Duties and responsibilities of school principals;
assistant principals.
Upon the recommendation of the county superintendent of
schools, the county board of education shall employ and assign,
through written contract, public school principals who shall
supervise the management and
the operation of the school or schools
to which they are assigned. Such principals shall hold valid
administrative certificates appropriate for their assignments.
Beginning on July 1, 1994, the prerequisites for issuance of
an administrative certificate for principals shall include that the
person has successfully completed at least six credit hours of
approved course work in public school management techniques at an
accredited institution of higher education and
has successfully
completed education and training in evaluation skills through the
center for professional development, or equivalent education and
training in evaluation skills approved by the state board.
Under the supervision of the superintendent and in accordance
with the rules
and regulations of the county board of education,
the principal shall assume administrative and instructional
supervisory responsibility for the planning, management, operation
and evaluation of the total educational program of the school or
schools to which he
or she is assigned.
The principal may submit recommendations to the superintendent regarding the appointment, assignment, promotion, transfer and
dismissal of all personnel assigned to the school or schools under
said principal's control. Such recommendation shall be submitted
in writing as prescribed by the superintendent.
Upon completion of training required under subsection (e),
section two-b, article three-a, chapter eighteen of the Code of
West Virginia, principals shall maintain minimum teaching
performance standards by teachers under their supervision and
authority within each classroom they are responsible for.
The principal shall perform such other duties as may be
assigned by the superintendent pursuant to the rules
and
regulations of the county board of education.
Upon recommendation of the county superintendent of schools,
the county board of education shall, when needed, employ and
assign, through written contract, assistant principals who shall
work under the direction of the school principal. Such assistant
principals shall hold valid administrative certificates appropriate
for their assignments.
On or before July 1, 1989, and continuing thereafter, each
county board of education shall assign a certificated principal to
each school and no principal may be assigned more than two schools.
Provided, That However, where enrollment exceeds four hundred
students there will be no additional schools assigned to that
principal.
No principal assigned to more than one school may be assigned
any teaching duties except on a temporary emergency basis. No
county shall have more teaching principalships or multi-school
principalships than was present on January 1, 1988.
On or before July 1, 1993, and continuing thereafter, each
county board of education shall employ a full-time supervising
principal at each school whose net enrollment equals or exceeds one
hundred seventy students. A principal assigned to a school with a
net enrollment equal to or greater than one hundred seventy
students may not be assigned any teaching duties except on a
temporary emergency basis. When a principal is assigned on a
full-time basis to a school whose net enrollment is more than
seventy students but less than one hundred seventy students, such
principal shall have a minimum of twenty hours per week for
nonteaching duties. A principal assigned on a full-time basis to
a school with seventy-five students or less shall have a minimum of
ten hours per week for nonteaching duties.
Provided, That However,
nothing in this section prohibits a county board of education from
assigning a full-time supervising principal to a school with a net
enrollment of less than one hundred seventy students.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to reduce
or limit the rights and privileges of principals and assistant
principals as teachers under
the provisions of section one, article
one, chapter eighteen of the Code of West Virginia as amended; section one, article one, chapter eighteen of this code; and other
provisions of this code.
Provided, That However, on or before July
1, 1993, the State Board of Education shall not deny a county board
of education the right to place a principal in a school with less
than one hundred seventy students.
ARTICLE 3A. CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3A-2b. The Principals Academy; CEO training of principals.
(a) There is hereby established within the Center for
Professional Development the "Principals Academy". Training
through the Principals Academy shall include at least the
following:
(1) Training designed to build within principals the minimum
qualities, proficiencies and skills
that will be required of all
principals pursuant to the rules of the state board;
(2) Specialized training and professional development programs
for all principals; and
(3) Specialized training and professional development programs
for the following principals:
(A) Newly appointed principals;
(B) Principals whose schools have been designated as seriously
impaired, which programs shall commence as soon as practicable
following the designation;
(C) Principals subject to improvement plans; and
(D) Principals of schools with significantly different grade level configurations.
(b) The Legislature finds that the quality of the principal of
a school is one of the most important factors in determining the
academic achievement of students and that well-trained, highly
qualified principals should be a priority for the state.
(c) The Legislature further finds that while the Principals
Academy has been effective in training quality leaders for the
state's public schools, the training provided is such a significant
factor in determining their success that a new position is needed
to coordinate and focus primarily on the Principals Academy to
increase further the quality of the training.
(d) Therefore, from appropriations to the Center for
Professional Development, the center board shall
employ and fix
determine the compensation of the coordinator of the Principals
Academy. The coordinator serves at the will and pleasure of the
center board. It is the duty of the coordinator, subject to
direction and oversight by the center and the chief executive
officer, to lead the Principals Academy, to focus primarily on the
Principals Academy and to make a continuous effort to enhance
further the quality of the training and professional development
programs of the academy. The center board, the chief executive
officer, or both, may assign duties to the coordinator other than
those that relate to the Principals Academy so long as the
coordinator is able to focus primarily on the Principals Academy.
(e) The Legislature finds that in order to foster and develop
higher standards of teaching performance within the classroom of
this state that principles need greater control and authority to
hold teachers accountable for classroom performance in a similar
manner in which a chief executive officer is responsible for
corporate performance. The state board is therefore directed to
propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the
provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
designed to develop and implement an intensive program of training,
with the intended goal to train principals to act with greater
control and authority, in similar fashion and with similar
methodology as corporate chief executive officers, charged with
meeting operational goals in the management of the schools for
which they are individually responsible, and to develop and enforce
minimum standards of classroom performance by classroom teachers
while striving for continued professional development and
improvement of teachers in the classroom. The proposed rules for
legislative approval shall also include the requirement that
principals, upon being trained to act with greater control and
authority, shall enter into performance contracts with the state
board requiring principals to uphold minimum/mandatory standards
within the classrooms and that each principal's performance in this
regard shall be commensurately tied to employment-related
incentives and disincentives.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require principals to
take on greater authority and control over teachers' classroom
teaching performance. Toward this goal the bill requires the State
Board of Education to propose rules for legislative approval
designed to develop and implement a program to train principals to
act with greater control and authority over the teachers in their
schools in a manner similar to corporate CEOs in order to maintain
higher standards in the classroom and promote constant professional
improvement of teachers.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.