HOUSE BILL 62
54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2020
INTRODUCED BY
Sheryl Williams Stapleton and G. Andrés Romero and
Willie D. Madrid and Debra M. Sariñana and Joy Garratt
FOR THE LEGISLATIVE EDUCATION STUDY COMMITTEE
AN ACT
RELATING TO SCHOOL PERSONNEL; REQUIRING SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS TO HAVE FORMAL TEACHER MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS THAT ARE APPROVED ANNUALLY BY THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT; CREATING THE BEGINNING TEACHER MENTORSHIP FUND; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. A new section of the Public School Finance Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] BEGINNING TEACHER MENTORSHIP FUND-- CREATED.--The "beginning teacher mentorship fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. The fund consists of appropriations, gifts, grants and donations. Money in the fund is subject to appropriation by the legislature to provide funding to school districts and charter schools for their beginning teacher mentorship programs. Expenditures from the fund shall be by warrant of the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of public education or the secretary's authorized representative."
SECTION 2. Section 22-10A-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2003, Chapter 153, Section 40, as amended) is amended to read:
"22-10A-9. TEACHER MENTORSHIP PROGRAM FOR BEGINNING TEACHERS--PURPOSE--DEPARTMENT DUTIES.--
A. The purpose of the teacher mentorship program is to provide beginning teachers with an effective transition into the teaching field, to build on their initial preparation and to ensure their success in teaching; to improve the achievement of students; and to retain capable teachers in the classroom and to remove teachers who show little promise of success.
B. The department shall develop a framework for a teacher mentorship program for all [first-year] beginning teachers. The program shall provide mentorship services by level two or level three mentors to the [first-year] beginning teacher for the full school year. [If sufficient mentorship funds are available, the department may provide funding for mentorship services that extend beyond the first year if the local superintendent or charter school administrator certifies to the secretary that further formal mentorship of a beginning teacher will accomplish the purposes of Subsection A of this section; provided that the state shall not pay for more than three years' mentorship for any beginning teacher.]
C. The department shall work with licensed school employees, representatives from teacher preparation programs and the higher education department to establish the framework.
D. The framework shall include:
(1) individual support and assistance for each beginning teacher from a designated mentor;
(2) structured training for mentors;
(3) an ongoing, formative evaluation that is used for the improvement of teaching practice;
(4) procedures for a summative evaluation of beginning teachers' performance during at least the first three years of teaching, including annual assessment of suitability for license renewal, and for final assessment of beginning teachers seeking level two licensure;
(5) support from local school boards or governing bodies of charter schools, school administrators and other school district or charter school personnel; and
(6) regular review and evaluation of the teacher mentorship program.
E. The department shall:
(1) require annual submission and approval of each school district's and charter school's teacher mentorship program;
(2) provide technical assistance to school districts and charter schools that do not have a well-developed teacher mentorship program in place;
(3) encourage school districts and charter schools to collaborate with teacher preparation program administrators at institutions of higher education, career educators, educational organizations, regional [service centers] educational cooperatives and other state and community leaders in the teacher mentorship program; and
(4) distribute [no less than fifty percent of available funds] up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per year per beginning teacher from the beginning teacher mentorship fund for mentorship programs to school districts and charter schools; provided that no less than fifty percent of available funds shall be distributed on or before September 15 of each fiscal year according to the estimated number of teachers eligible to participate in [a] their mentorship [program on the fortieth day of the school year] programs and, on or before January 15 of each fiscal year, distribute [the balance of the available funds] funding based on the actual number of eligible teachers participating in a mentorship program on the [fortieth day] first reporting date of the school year, adjusted for any over- or under-estimation made in the first allocation.
[F. The department shall require that teacher preparation programs collaborate with colleges of arts and sciences and high schools to develop a model to provide mentorship services with structured supervision and feedback to each of their graduates who have obtained a teaching position in a public high school, including charter schools; develop cost estimates; and provide recommendations to the legislative education study committee by November 1, 2007. The model shall provide for the following:
(1) mentorship services for the first year as a level one teacher to each of their graduates who has obtained a teaching position in any New Mexico public high school, including charter schools; provided that teacher preparation programs may enter into contracts or memoranda of agreement with each other or with level three teachers in providing services to their students;
(2) an annual report to the department of]
F. Each school district and charter school shall submit as part of its teacher mentorship program submission:
(1) the number of teachers that have completed each of their mentorship programs the previous spring or summer and have been hired by [public high schools, including charter schools] the school district or charter school for the following school year; and
[(3) an annual report providing] (2) a description of the mentorship services that will be provided to each of [their] its teachers, including the name of the teacher, the grade level the teacher has been hired to teach and the name of the public school and, if applicable, school district where the teacher has been hired."
SECTION 3. APPROPRIATION.--Six million two hundred thousand dollars ($6,200,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the beginning teacher mentorship fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2021. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.
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