SENATE BILL 567

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

John C. Ryan

AN ACT

RELATING TO SCHOOL PERSONNEL; REQUIRING THE PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO ESTABLISH, IMPLEMENT AND ADMINISTER THE TEACHER CHOICE COMPENSATION PROGRAM TO REWARD CERTAIN PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS FOR IMPROVING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT; CREATING A FUND; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

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

     SECTION 1. A new section of the School Personnel Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] TEACHER CHOICE COMPENSATION FUND--VOLUNTARY TEACHER INCREMENTS--REQUIREMENTS--EVALUATIONS.--

          A. As used in this section:

                (1) "school district" includes a charter school; and

                (2) "school principal" or "local superintendent" includes the head administrator of a charter school.

          B. The department shall create and establish rules for the "teacher choice compensation program", to be implemented beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.

          C. The teacher choice compensation program shall annually allow eligible teachers to earn performance-based, one-time salary increments by meeting measurable student performance goals based upon value-added assessments developed by the department or assessments used to measure achievement based on meeting state standards-based criteria.

          D. A teacher who holds a level two or three-A license may participate in the teacher choice compensation program.

          E. A teacher who chooses to participate in the teacher choice compensation program shall opt out of the standard, negotiated employment contract as long as the teacher is employed by the school district.

          F. A teacher who has chosen to participate in the teacher choice compensation program in one school district and changes employment to another school district may choose to remain in the teacher choice compensation program or may choose to resume participation in a standard, negotiated employment contract.

          G. A teacher who chooses to participate in the teacher choice compensation program shall be eligible for an annual performance-based, one-time salary increment based upon the following criteria:

                (1) a level of improvement in student scores on a value-added test instrument or instruments as determined by the department. Such instruments shall give a reliable measurement of the skills and knowledge transferred to students during the time they are in the teacher's classroom and shall be selected by the school district from one or more of the following assessments:

                     (a) for a teacher in grades and courses that are required to have statewide standards-based assessments, the majority of the teacher's evaluation shall be based upon student academic growth in reading and mathematics; or

                     (b) if no designated school district assessments apply, the majority of the teacher's evaluation shall be based on teacher-developed assessments after those assessments have been reviewed and approved by the local superintendent or the school administrator designated by the local superintendent;

                (2) observations and evaluations by school principals or other school administrators with expertise to evaluate classroom performance; and

                (3) additional measures of teacher effectiveness developed by each school district, including:

                     (a) student and parent surveys;

                     (b) peer observations and reviews;

                     (c) teacher performance portfolios; or

                     (d) other evidence-based measures that effectively measure teacher performance.

          H. Before the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, the department shall develop criteria for determining eligibility for performance-based, one-time salary increments, including a range of target scores on assessments for use by the school districts, and shall provide school districts with a protocol for teacher evaluations. School district teacher evaluation scales shall include at least four levels of evaluating effectiveness.

          I. Teachers shall qualify annually in October for the teacher choice compensation program performance-based, one-time salary increments, in five-thousand-dollar ($5,000) increments up to a maximum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). Any increment received shall be in addition to the base salary to which the teacher would otherwise be entitled. Teachers shall be responsible for all standard withholding amounts.

          J. Subject to availability of funding, the department shall make a payment to the school district in the total or partial amount of the school district's teacher choice compensation program performance-based, one-time salary increments, to be paid in one lump sum in January following the October of qualification.

          K. The "teacher choice compensation fund" is created in the state treasury. The fund shall consist of transfers, appropriations, reversions, gifts, grants, donations and bequests made to the fund. Income from the fund shall be credited to the fund, and money in the fund shall not revert or be transferred to any other fund at the end of a fiscal year. Money in the fund is appropriated to the department for the purpose of paying performance-based, one-time salary increments to qualifying teachers participating in the teacher choice compensation program. Expenditures from the fund shall be made on warrant of the secretary of the department of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of public education."

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