44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2000

RELATING TO TEACHER COMPENSATION; CREATING A PILOT PROJECT TO ASSESS A TEACHER MERIT PAY PLAN; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. TEACHER MERIT PAY PILOT PROJECT--COMPONENTS--BOARD DUTIES--REPORTING--DEFINITIONS.--

A. The state board of education shall establish a "teacher merit pay pilot project" that shall operate for the 2000-2001 through 2003-2004 school years. The state board shall create an ad hoc committee to design the pilot project in accordance with the provisions of this section and may promulgate rules to implement the pilot project.

B. Fifty percent of the ad hoc committee shall be composed of the following:

(1) business community members who are not employed in education services;

(2) school parents who are not employed in education services; and

(3) students.

C. An elementary, middle or junior high school may apply for the teacher merit pay pilot project if at least seventy-five percent of its teachers agree to participate. The ad hoc committee shall select through a lottery process no more than thirty schools from those schools that have applied for the pilot project.

D. The ad hoc committee shall structure the teacher merit pay pilot project in order to evaluate the following merit pay programs:

(1) all certified school instructors at participating schools receive a five hundred dollar ($500) merit pay award as a result of reaching a participating school's benchmarks and outcomes in overall school achievement;

(2) participating schools receive a merit pay award of three thousand dollars ($3,000) to be distributed to certified school instructors who participate as members on educational committees or educational programs in addition to their teaching responsibilities;

(3) individual certified school instructors at participating schools who improve the test scores of their students during the course of the school year in accordance with benchmarks and outcomes receive a merit pay award in the amount of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500); and

(4) certified school instructors statewide who earn national board for professional teaching standards certification shall receive a one-time merit pay award of one thousand dollars ($1,000).

E. The pilot project shall require participating schools to annually use terra nova pre- and post-testing results to measure student progress. The ad hoc committee shall also create a value-added assessment tool to be used in addition to test results to determine teaching effectiveness compared to student achievement.

F. The ad hoc committee and each participating

school shall establish the school's benchmarks and determine outcomes to be achieved by the teacher merit pay pilot project at that school. Benchmarks and outcomes shall include increases in school achievement and exemplary academic performance.

G. The ad hoc committee and the participating school shall develop assessment and accountability measures and evaluate the teacher merit pay pilot project.

H. The state department of public education shall provide specialized training to participating schools for the conduct of the teacher merit pay pilot project.

I. The ad hoc committee shall report annually to the legislature and the governor on the teacher merit pay pilot project, including evaluations and recommendations. The final report of the pilot project shall be provided to the legislature and the governor by November 2004, including any proposed legislation.

J. For purposes of this section "value-added assessment tool" means a statistical method of determining the effectiveness of school systems, schools and teachers using the Tennessee value-added assessment system methodology.

Section 2. APPROPRIATION.--Three million dollars ($3,000,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the state department of public education for expenditure in fiscal years 2000 through 2004 for the teacher merit pay pilot project.

Section 3. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.