44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - 2nd special session, 2000

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

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

Section 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act".

Section 2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act:

A. "master teacher" means a certified school instructor, serving on the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee, who is certified by the national board for professional teaching standards or achieves high student performance in the classroom as measured by national test scores or is involved in education-related activities outside of teaching in the classroom;

B. "school academic achievement plan" means the assessment and accountability measures determined by the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee and the participating school to be achieved during the course of the teacher merit pay pilot project; and

C. "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 3. TEACHER MERIT PAY PILOT PROJECT--AD HOC COMMITTEE--MEMBERSHIP--DUTIES--TERMINATION.--

A. The "teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee" is created as an advisory committee within the state board of education. The ad hoc committee shall advise the state board of education on all policies, strategies, organizational structures and other matters necessary to establish and implement the Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act that shall operate for the 2000-2001 through 2004-2005 school years.

B. The teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall consist of ten members appointed as follows:

(1) two members of the state board of education standing committee on accountability, appointed by the president of the state board of education;

(2) one member who represents the business community who is not employed in education, appointed by the governor;

(3) one member who represents the business community who is not employed in education, appointed jointly by the president pro tempore of the senate and speaker of the house of representatives;

(4) one member who is a parent of a school-age child who is not employed in education, appointed by the governor;

(5) one member who is a parent of a school-age child who is not employed in education, appointed jointly by the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives;

(6) two members who are certified school instructors and master teachers and of which no more than fifty percent shall be a member of either the New Mexico national education association or the federation of education employees, appointed by the governor; and

(7) two members who are certified school instructors and master teachers and of which no more than fifty percent shall be a member of either the New Mexico national education association or the federation of education employees, appointed jointly by the president pro tempore of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.

C. The remaining members of the state board of education standing committee on accountability who are not already appointed may serve as advisory members to the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee.

D. The teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall meet at the call of the chairman and shall meet not less than monthly. The chairman shall be elected from among the members of the ad hoc committee. Members of the ad hoc committee who are not public employees shall not be paid but shall receive per diem and mileage as provided in the Per Diem and Mileage Act.

E. The teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall advise the state board of education on the design and implementation of the pilot project at twenty schools in order to evaluate academic achievement of students in the 2001-2002 through 2004-2005 school years through the following merit pay programs:

(1) all certified school instructors at participating schools receive a four hundred dollar ($400) merit pay award as a result of reaching a participating school's benchmarks and outcomes in overall school academic achievement that have been developed by the school academic achievement plan;

(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 extracurricular projects with their students, educational committees or educational programs directly related to their school academic achievement plan in addition to their teaching responsibilities;

(3) individual certified school instructors, teaching in the classroom over fifty percent of the day, at participating schools who most improve the academic test scores of their students during the course of the school year in accordance with their school academic achievement plan, benchmarks and outcomes receive a merit pay award in the amount of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500); and (4) certified school instructors at participating schools who have earned or earn national board for professional teaching standards certification shall receive a one-time merit pay award of three thousand dollars ($3,000).

G. In addition to evaluating the merit pay programs in Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection F of this section, the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall also evaluate the effectiveness of a value-added assessment tool to determine teaching effectiveness compared to student academic achievement.

H. The teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall design and establish a peer intervention program to advise and mentor low-performing teachers.

I. A certified school instructor at a participating school who receives a merit pay award for having earned or earning national board for professional teaching standards certification shall commit to teaching in the state for two years following the receipt of the merit award. An instructor who chooses to forgo the two years of teaching contingent with the merit award shall repay the award to the state in accordance with rules promulgated by the state board of education.

J. The teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall complete the design of the pilot project prior to the beginning of the 2001-2002 school year.

K. The teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall terminate at the end of the 2004-2005 school year or when the state board of education determines that a teacher merit pay pilot project has been successfully implemented and the committee has completed its work, whichever is sooner.

Section 4. TEACHER MERIT PAY PILOT PROJECT-- PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.--

A. An elementary, middle school or junior high school may participate in the teacher merit pay pilot project beginning in the 2001-2002 school year if at least seventy-five percent of its teachers agree to participate.

B. The teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee shall select through a lottery process twenty schools throughout the state that have applied to participate in the teacher merit pay pilot project. After selecting twenty schools, the ad hoc committee may provide for additional schools to participate in the pilot project if enough funds are available from the teacher merit pay pilot project fund.

C. A school applying to participate in the teacher merit pay pilot project shall submit a school academic achievement plan to the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee, prior to participation in the pilot project. The school academic achievement plan shall include the assessment and accountability measures for the participating schools along with benchmarks and determine outcomes to be achieved by the pilot project at that school.

D. The teacher merit pay pilot project shall require participating schools to annually use terra nova pre- and post-testing results to measure student progress.

E. Master teachers shall assist participating schools in the achievement of the schools' academic achievement plans. A master teacher shall receive a salary in accordance with rules promulgated by the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee. There shall be no more than one master teacher assigned to every ten participating schools. The master teacher shall oversee the training of the participating schools in the conduct of the pilot project. The master teacher shall also mentor, train and encourage low-performing teachers.

F. At each participating school, the following

priorities shall be established for distributing merit pay awards:

(1) first priority for merit pay awards shall be given to schools that submit a school academic achievement plan that includes a merit pay award to all certified school instructors at the school for achieving benchmarks and outcomes in overall school academic achievement;

(2) second priority for merit pay awards shall be given to individual certified school instructors at participating schools who improve the test scores of their students during the course of the school year;

(3) third priority for merit pay awards shall be given to certified school instructors at participating schools who have earned or earn national board for professional teaching standards certification; and

(4) fourth priority for merit pay awards shall be given to certified school instructors who participate as members on extracurricular projects with their students, educational committees or educational programs directly related to their school academic achievement plan.

G. No participating school shall annually receive more than eighty thousand dollars ($80,000) in merit pay awards and no more than twenty-five percent of the award shall be given for teachers who have earned or earn national board for professional teaching standards certification.

Section 5. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION--SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION--ADDITIONAL DUTIES.--

A. The state department of public education shall provide specialized training to participating schools for the conduct of the Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act.

B. The state department of public education shall provide such administrative assistance, meeting space and other necessary facilities and support services as the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee may request.

C. Using the recommendations and advice of the teacher merit pay pilot ad hoc committee, the superintendent of public instruction shall report annually to the legislature and the governor on the teacher merit pay pilot project, including evaluations, surveys and recommendations of parents and teachers involved in the pilot project. The final report of the pilot project shall be provided to the legislature and the governor by November 2004, including any proposed legislation.

Section 6. TEACHER MERIT PAY PILOT PROJECT FUND--CREATED.--

A. There is created in the state treasury the "teacher merit pay pilot project fund". The fund shall consist of any state money appropriated to the fund, undistributed annual balances and earnings of the fund and gifts or bequests made to the fund. The state treasurer shall invest the fund as other state funds are invested. The balance remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.

B. The teacher merit pay pilot project fund is appropriated to the state department of public education for the purpose of implementing the Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act. No more than eight percent of the fund may be retained by the department for administrative purposes in the design of the Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act.

C. Money in the teacher merit pay pilot project fund other than that used for administrative purposes shall be distributed in accordance with the implementation of the Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act.

Section 7. APPROPRIATION.--One million nine hundred ten thousand dollars ($1,910,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the teacher merit pay pilot project fund for expenditure in fiscal year 2001 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Teacher Merit Pay Pilot Act. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining in the fund at the end of fiscal year 2001 shall not revert to the general fund.