SB1249.DOC

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that retaining highly qualified teachers in the public schools is critical to achieving the State's educational goals. To this end, the legislature supports initiatives and programs that combat the high teacher attrition rates within the department of education and endeavor to develop and retain quality teachers.

The purpose of this Act is to provide incentives for the recruitment and retention of public school teachers.

PART I

SECTION 2. The legislature finds that the cost and availability of housing can greatly impact the recruitment and retention of teachers, especially in geographically isolated communities and in schools plagued with hard-to-fill vacancies. In addition, the high cost of housing in Hawaii creates added economic stress on younger teachers who are among those most likely to leave the profession.

The legislature further finds that the current condition of state-owned teacher housing mandates that units undergo extensive repair and renovation, which will require a consistent maintenance program and dedicated oversight and support personnel when the program is transferred from the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation to the department of education.

The purpose of this part is to address shortages in teacher housing by:

(1) Establishing a teacher housing allowance program to provide housing assistance to teachers employed in public schools in geographically isolated communities and public schools plagued with hard-to-fill vacancies; and

(2) Appropriating funds for the repair and maintenance of existing teacher housing.

SECTION 3. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A- Teacher housing allowance program. (a) The department shall establish a teacher housing allowance program to provide housing allowances to teachers employed to teach at public schools in the State.

(b) The amount of the housing allowance shall be equal to the teacher's full-time equivalence multiplied by the difference between the statewide median cost of housing minus the lesser of either the cost of housing in the school district where the teacher is employed or the cost of housing in the school district in which the teacher resides. For purposes of this subsection, the difference between the school district's cost of housing and the statewide median cost of housing shall not exceed fifty per cent of the median.

(c) The cost of the housing for each school district and the statewide median cost of housing shall be determined every four years based on a standard set of housing specifications and on data reported for the most recent annual period for which data are available. A nationally recognized entity that collects statistically valid housing cost data for federal government agencies and businesses shall be selected by the superintendent, subject to approval by the board, to collect the data. The department shall contract with the entity selected under this subsection for this purpose.

(d) The department shall administer the teacher housing allowance program and shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary for the program's implementation.

(e) For the purposes of this section, the "statewide median cost of housing" means the cost at which there is an equal number of districts with higher housing costs and with lower housing costs."

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for the teacher housing allowance program established under this part.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.

SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for management of the teacher housing program and for renovation, repair, and maintenance costs necessary to bring existing units to acceptable levels of habitation.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.

SECTION 6. The department of education shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2010 and 2011 on the status of the current teacher housing programs and on the costs, feasibility, and benefits of new initiatives to address shortages in teacher housing, including second mortgage loan programs or other home loan guarantee programs.

PART II

SECTION 7. The legislature finds that peer review programs offer an opportunity for new teachers to benefit from both the pedagogical skills and "in the classroom" observations of their more experience colleagues.

The purpose of this part is to establish a teacher peer review program for new teachers.

SECTION 8. Chapter 302A, part III, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A- Teachers; peer review program. (a) All new teachers shall participate in a peer review program for the first five years of employment with the department; provided that the five-year period may be shortened or extended at the recommendation of the peer reviewer and with the concurrence of the teacher.

(b) The Hawaii state teachers association shall develop and administer standards for the peer reviewers to follow and shall select the peer reviewers from retired department teachers who held a valid teaching certificate or license at the date of their retirement.

(c) New teachers who receive satisfactory peer reviews under the standards established pursuant to subsection (b) may receive step increases during their participation in the peer review program, subject to negotiations pursuant to section 89‑9."

SECTION 9. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for the peer review program established pursuant to section 302A- , Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.

PART III

SECTION 10. The legislature finds that attracting experienced out-of-state teachers is one means of addressing the teacher shortage in Hawaii. Under current department of education bargaining unit contract and school code provisions, a maximum of six years of prior teaching experience is allowable for salary replacement credit for full-time teaching experience in a recognized public or private school in the United States.

The purpose of this part is to provide an incentive for experienced teachers to relocate to Hawaii by extending the six‑year cap to a maximum of ten years.

SECTION 11. (a) The department of education shall review the procedures necessary and establish a timetable to amend the provisions of bargaining unit 06 contract, article XVII(F), and department of education school code 5200(A) compensation, to increase from six years to ten years the number of years of prior teaching experience allowable for salary placement credit for full-time experience in a recognized public or private school (K-12) in the United States (including territories, possessions or Department of Defense Schools overseas); provided that the ten-year cap shall apply to teachers:

(1) Entering the service of the department in hard-to-fill vacancies in geographically isolated schools; and

(2) Holding national board certification.

(b) The department shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010 on the procedures required and the timetable to implement the amendments in subsection (a).

PART IV

SECTION 12. The legislature further finds that teacher induction programs can cut teacher attrition in half and improve teacher effectiveness. Research indicates that among beginning teachers nationally, forty-one per cent who do not receive induction support change schools or leave the profession altogether after their first year, compared to only eighteen per cent of teachers who participate in effective induction programs. Additionally, for every one dollar invested in a comprehensive teacher induction program, a return of $1.66 is realized after five years.

The purpose of this part is to establish and fund a Hawaii beginning teacher induction center pilot program to assist in the development and retention of highly-qualified teachers in the State.

SECTION 13. (a) There is established a Hawaii beginning teacher induction center pilot program within the department of education to improve the retention of new teachers through rigorous, in-depth assistance and support from highly-trained mentors. Beginning teacher induction centers shall be established in each school complex, beginning with those complexes that currently have established professional development schools. The department of education shall provide staff as needed for the implementation of the project.

(b) The goal of the Hawaii beginning teacher induction center pilot program shall be to:

(1) Provide an effective transition into the teaching career for first-year and second-year teachers;

(2) Ensure that mentors provide intensive individualized support and assistance to each of the participating beginning teachers;

(3) Provide continuous program improvement through ongoing research, development, and evaluation;

(4) Ensure professional success and retention of new teachers; and

(5) Increase teacher retention rates to at least ninety per cent.

(c) The Hawaii beginning teacher induction center pilot program shall use mentors, selected on the basis of understanding of standards, curriculum, assessment, and literacy/mathematics education. To the extent possible, mentor positions shall be filled by currently employed teachers and may include retired principals and teachers on a full- or part-time basis. Each mentor shall attend at least twelve full days of mentor training at a mentor academy, which shall include instruction on the assessment tools, coaching, observation strategies, and analysis of student work. The mentors shall be fully released from their classroom responsibilities during participation in the program. Mentors shall tailor support to the needs of each individual teacher, which may include:

(1) Classroom management;

(2) At least three formal classroom observations with feedback cycles;

(3) Informal observations;

(4) Collection of student data;

(5) Lesson design;

(6) Demonstration lessons;

(7) Resource identification; and

(8) Interaction with colleagues, parents, and administrators.

Each mentor shall conduct weekly one-on-one meetings with each teacher they are assigned to mentor and attend weekly half-day mentor forums providing continuing professional development for mentors.

(d) The Hawaii beginning teacher induction center pilot program may also include the following:

(1) A five-day summer institute for beginning teachers, which includes planning for the upcoming school year, familiarization with assessment tools, and a one-day visit to a school to observe exemplary teachers in the first days of school;

(2) Two days of release time for teachers to observe exemplary veteran teachers and debrief; and

(3) At least three half-day trainings for school administrators over the course of the school year to learn how to support the program.

(e) The department of education shall provide for program assessment that shall consist of the following:

(1) The new teacher center formative assessment system to assist teachers and mentors in collecting data that includes classroom profiles, assessment logs, individual learning plans, self-assessment summaries, and analysis of student work;

(2) The Hawaii continuum of teacher development to allow teachers to self-assess along four characteristics, that is, emerging, applying, integrating, and innovating, and to set goals at the beginning of the year to be evaluated at the year's end;

(3) Data collection, including:

(A) Weekly teacher performance measures;

(B) Teacher certification and retention tracking;

(D) Student achievement, including benchmark assessments in grades three to eight; and

(E) Teacher, mentor, and site administrator surveys; and

(4) A final evaluation and written report to assess the effectiveness of the program based on the teacher, mentor, and site administrator surveys, professional development attendance rates, student achievement benchmarks, and teacher retention tracking.

(f) The department of education shall submit interim reports on the Hawaii beginning teacher induction center pilot program, including its status, outcomes, findings, and recommendations to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session from 2010 to 2012, and a final report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2013.

SECTION 14. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009-2010 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2010-2011 for the Hawaii beginning teacher induction center pilot program established pursuant to this part.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this part.

PART V

SECTION 15. The legislature finds that to fully address the teacher shortage in public schools, the State must take a comprehensive approach to ensure that an adequate supply of new teachers are being trained, and once trained and hired, efforts are made to retain these teachers.

The purpose of this part is to require the dean of the college of education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa to develop a teacher shortage elimination plan.

SECTION 16. (a) The dean of the college of education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa shall develop a teacher shortage elimination plan, which shall include, but not be limited to:

(1) A review of any previous plans developed within the past six years to address the teacher shortage in Hawaii, and the success or failure of the plans to achieve reductions in teacher shortages;

(2) A review of current teacher shortages and projections for teacher shortages statewide in the next five years;

(3) Strategies for increasing the numbers of students completing teacher education programs in the State;

(4) Incentives for staffing hard-to-fill vacancies; and

(5) Recommendations and incentives for increasing retention rates of teachers in all content areas.

(b) The dean shall consult with the department of education, the Hawaii state teachers association, individual teachers and educational officers, and any others the dean may deem appropriate.

(c) The dean shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2010 on the status of the teacher shortage elimination plan.

PART VI

SECTION 17. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 18. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2009.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1249
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009
STATE OF HAWAII