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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Stewart

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/5/06

2/7/06 HB 418/aHEC

SHORT TITLE Instructional Support Provider Licensure

SB

ANALYST Aguilar

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

See Fiscal Implications

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to House Bill-206, HJM-37, HB-164, SB-162

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY06

FY07

FY08 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$250.0 $250.0

$500.0 Nonrecurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HEC Amendment

The House Education Committee amendment to House Bill 418 makes technical adjustments to

language, provides for the implementation of the instructional support provider licensure and

compensation framework beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, removes appropriations and

removes the emergency clause.

House Bill 418/aHEC – Page 2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

House Bill 418 as amended establishes a licensure and compensation framework for instructional

support providers and provides for it to be implemented in FY08. Although there is no longer an

appropriation attached, the LFC remains concerned about increasing recurring out-year obliga-

tions before completing existing initiatives. Implementing the final year of the teacher career

ladder is scheduled for FY08 as is the implementation of minimum salaries for principals.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 418 appropriates $6.2 million from the general fund to the public education depart-

ment for implementing a licensure and compensation framework for certain instructional support

providers.

The bill declares an emergency.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $6.2 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

The fiscal impact on PED and on public school districts appears to be significant. The depart-

ment notes the requirement in the bill to design and implement a statewide evaluation system

within a five month time period. HB 418 requires the PED to develop a highly objective evalua-

tion system for instructional support providers by the 2006-2007 school year. The term “instruc-

tional support provider” covers approximately twenty professional positions including nurses,

audiologists; diagnosticians; speech language pathologists; occupational, recreational, and physi-

cal therapists; psychologists, counselors, and others. Further, provisions contained in the bill re-

quire the evaluation system to be in place prior to the implementation of the salary structure.

Based on the cost of the evaluation system design for the teacher evaluation system and the time

required to implement it, the department estimates an annual cost of $250 thousand and at least

two years to accomplish this work.

The LFC remains concerned about increasing recurring out-year obligations before completing

existing initiatives. Implementing the final year of the teacher career ladder is scheduled for

FY08 as is the implementation of minimum salaries for principals.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

HB 418 requires PED to develop and implement a three-tiered licensure system for instructional

support providers whose profession requires a license and a bachelor’s degree or higher.

The requirement of the bill directing the department to design and implement an evaluation sys-

tem prior to the 2006-2007 school year does not appear to be achievable given the lack of fund-

ing in the bill for this effort and the limited time, particularly coupled with the requirement the

department is to consult with professional licensing boards and professional organizations.

Minimum salaries for the three levels of licensure would be $30,000; $40,000; and $50,000, re-

House Bill 418/aHEC – Page 3

spectively. These minimum salaries would go into effect for the 2006-2007 school upon the

adoption by PED of the evaluation system.

The bill authorizes PED to adopt rules considering verified employment as a certified profes-

sional in a clinical or parallel setting in lieu of experience in a school setting when determining

placement of instructional support providers in the licensure levels.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The Office of Educational Accountability note increasing the rigor of the evaluation system for

instructional support providers may address one of New Mexico’s biggest challenges in terms of

helping schools meet the NCLB requirements of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Many of the

instructional providers including physical therapists, speech language pathologists, social work-

ers, and diagnosticians work with students with disabilities. An OEA analysis of 416 New Mex-

ico schools that failed to make AYP in 2005 revealed that 126 of these schools failed to make

AYP only because of students with disabilities. Over 90% of these special education subgroups

failed to make AYP in reading and 66% failed to make AYP in mathematics. Much of the burden

of helping students with disabilities falls on the shoulders of instructional support providers.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Provisions contained in the bill require PED to provide a progressive licensing framework as

well as develop a highly objective performance evaluation. The department notes the effort re-

quired to develop and implement the teacher evaluation

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

HB 164 and SB 162 require the design of a statewide competency evaluation system for princi-

pals and assistant principals. If enacted, the design of an evaluation system for principals and

assistant principals would have to be accomplished at the same time as the systems identified in

this bill. Neither HB 164 nor SB 162 provides appropriations for accomplishing these tasks.

House Joint Memorial 37 requests PED to study criteria that could be used to develop a three-

tiered career ladder and salary schedule similar to that adopted for public school teachers. HJM

37 does not include a timeline for the completion of this study.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

It is important to note that classroom teachers, after a few years of teaching, become instructional

support providers particularly with respect to teachers who become counselors. Under provi-

sions contained in this bill, a level 2 or level 3A teacher who became a counselor would have to

start as a level one instructional support provider licensure. The individual could be forced to

move from a minimum $40,000 teacher salary back to a minimum $30,000 instructional support

provider salary. The provision on page 3, lines 16-20 do not clearly authorize the department to

establish in rules how a new instructional support provider could be placed at level two or three

in order with respect to the level of teaching license.

House Bill 418/aHEC – Page 4

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

PED notes that educational diagnosticians have completed their study and developed a rule and

an evaluation component for a three-tiered system. Their work could serve as a model for the

other instructional support providers.

PA/yr:mt