1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; integrating alternative, early intervention services programs 
1.3 	into the Q-Comp and staff development programs;amending Minnesota Statutes 
1.4 	2008, sections 122A.413, subdivision 2; 122A.414, subdivision 2; 122A.60, 
1.5 	subdivisions 1a, 3; 122A.61, subdivision 1.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 122A.413, subdivision 2, is amended to 
1.8 	read:
1.9 		Subd. 2.Plan components. The educational improvement plan must be approved 
1.10 	by the school board and have at least these elements:
1.11 	(1) assessment and evaluation tools to measure student performance and progress;
1.12 	(2) performance goals and benchmarks for improvement;
1.13 	(3) measures of student attendance and completion rates;
1.14 	(4) a rigorous professional development system, consistent with section 122A.60, 
1.15 	that is aligned with educational improvement, designed to achieve teaching quality 
1.16 	improvement, and consistent with clearly defined research-based standards;
1.17 	(5) measures of student, family, and community involvement and satisfaction;
1.18 	(6) a data system about students and their academic progress that provides parents 
1.19 	and the public with understandable information;
1.20 	(7) a teacher induction and mentoring program for probationary teachers that 
1.21 	provides continuous learning and sustained teacher support; ~~and~~
1.22 	(8) substantial participation by the exclusive representative of the teachers in 
1.23 	developing the plan~~.~~; and
1.24 	(9) an alternative, early intervening services program consistent with section 
1.25 	125A.56.

2.1 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
2.2 	and applies to education improvement plans approved after that date.

2.3 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 122A.414, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
2.4 		Subd. 2.Alternative teacher professional pay system. (a) To participate in this 
2.5 	program, a school district, intermediate school district, school site, or charter school must 
2.6 	have an educational improvement plan under section 122A.413 and an alternative teacher 
2.7 	professional pay system agreement under paragraph (b). A charter school participant also 
2.8 	must comply with subdivision 2a.
2.9 	(b) The alternative teacher professional pay system agreement must:
2.10 	(1) describe how teachers can achieve career advancement and additional 
2.11 	compensation;
2.12 	(2) describe how the school district, intermediate school district, school site, or 
2.13 	charter school will provide teachers with career advancement options that allow teachers 
2.14 	to retain primary roles in student instruction and facilitate site-focused professional 
2.15 	development that helps other teachers improve their skills;
2.16 	(3) reform the "steps and lanes" salary schedule, prevent any teacher's compensation 
2.17 	paid before implementing the pay system from being reduced as a result of participating 
2.18 	in this system, and base at least 60 percent of any compensation increase on teacher 
2.19 	performance using:
2.20 	(i) schoolwide student achievement gains under section 120B.35 or locally selected 
2.21 	standardized assessment outcomes, or both;
2.22 	(ii) measures of student achievement; and
2.23 	(iii) an objective evaluation program that includes:
2.24 	(A) individual teacher evaluations aligned with the educational improvement plan 
2.25 	under section 122A.413 and the staff development plan under section 122A.60; and
2.26 	(B) objective evaluations using multiple criteria conducted by a locally selected and 
2.27 	periodically trained evaluation team that understands teaching and learning;
2.28 	(4) provide integrated ongoing site-based professional development activities to 
2.29 	improve instructional skills and learning that are aligned with student needs under section 
2.30 	122A.413, consistent with the staff development plan under section 122A.60 and led 
2.31 	during the school day by trained teacher leaders such as master or mentor teachers;
2.32 	(5) allow any teacher in a participating school district, intermediate school district, 
2.33 	school site, or charter school that implements an alternative pay system to participate in 
2.34 	that system without any quota or other limit; ~~and~~
3.1 	(6) ensure that teachers provide alternative intervention services, consistent with 
3.2 	an early intervening services program under section 125A.56, that meet the needs of 
3.3 	students in kindergarten through grade 8 and allow students in grades 9 through 12 to 
3.4 	also participate; and
3.5 	(7) encourage collaboration rather than competition among teachers.

3.6 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
3.7 	and applies to an alternative teacher professional pay system agreement entered into or 
3.8 	modified after that date.

3.9 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 122A.60, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:
3.10 		Subd. 1a.Effective staff development activities. (a) Staff development activities 
3.11 	must:
3.12 	(1) focus on the school classroom and research-based strategies that improve student 
3.13 	learning;
3.14 	(2) provide opportunities for teachers to practice and improve their instructional 
3.15 	skills over time;
3.16 	(3) provide opportunities for teachers to use student data as part of their daily work 
3.17 	to increase student achievement;
3.18 	(4) enhance teacher content knowledge and instructional skills;
3.19 	(5) align with state and local academic standards;
3.20 	(6) provide opportunities to build professional relationships, foster collaboration 
3.21 	among principals and staff who provide instruction, and provide opportunities for 
3.22 	teacher-to-teacher mentoring; ~~and~~
3.23 	(7) align with the plan of the district or site for an alternative teacher professional 
3.24 	pay system~~.~~; and
3.25 	(8) provide opportunities to meet the requirements of section 125A.56 for using 
3.26 	alternative intervention services, including early intervening services.
3.27 	Staff development activities may include curriculum development and curriculum training 
3.28 	programs, and activities that provide teachers and other members of site-based teams 
3.29 	training to enhance team performance. The school district also may implement other 
3.30 	staff development activities required by law and activities associated with professional 
3.31 	teacher compensation models.
3.32 	(b) Release time provided for teachers to supervise students on field trips and school 
3.33 	activities, or independent tasks not associated with enhancing the teacher's knowledge 
3.34 	and instructional skills, such as preparing report cards, calculating grades, or organizing 
4.1 	classroom materials, may not be counted as staff development time that is financed with 
4.2 	staff development reserved revenue under section 122A.61.

4.3 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
4.4 	and applies to the 2009-2010 school year and later.

4.5 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 122A.60, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
4.6 		Subd. 3.Staff development outcomes. The advisory staff development committee 
4.7 	must adopt a staff development plan for improving student achievement. The plan must 
4.8 	be consistent with education outcomes that the school board determines. The plan 
4.9 	must include ongoing staff development activities that contribute toward continuous 
4.10 	improvement in achievement of the following goals:
4.11 	(1) improve student achievement of state and local education standards in all areas 
4.12 	of the curriculum by using best practices methods;
4.13 	(2) effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population, including at-risk 
4.14 	children, children with disabilities, and gifted children, within the regular classroom 
4.15 	and other settings, with specific focus on providing alternative intervention services 
4.16 	including an early intervening services program under section 125A.56 that uses progress 
4.17 	monitoring to assess and appropriately serves students before they are referred for a 
4.18 	special education evaluation;
4.19 	(3) provide an inclusive curriculum for a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse 
4.20 	student population that is consistent with the state education diversity rule and the district's 
4.21 	education diversity plan;
4.22 	(4) improve staff collaboration and develop mentoring and peer coaching programs 
4.23 	for teachers new to the school or district;
4.24 	(5) effectively teach and model violence prevention policy and curriculum that 
4.25 	address early intervention alternatives, issues of harassment, and teach nonviolent 
4.26 	alternatives for conflict resolution; and
4.27 	(6) provide teachers and other members of site-based management teams with 
4.28 	appropriate management and financial management skills.

4.29 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
4.30 	and applies to the 2009-2010 school year and later.

4.31 	Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 122A.61, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
4.32 		Subdivision 1.Staff development revenue. A district is required to reserve 
4.33 	an amount equal to at least two percent of the basic revenue under section 126C.10, 
5.1 	subdivision 2, for in-service education for programs under section 120B.22, subdivision 
5.2 	2, for staff development plans, including plans for challenging instructional activities 
5.3 	and experiences under section 122A.60, and for curriculum development and programs, 
5.4 	other in-service education, teachers' workshops, teacher conferences, the cost of 
5.5 	substitute teachers staff development purposes, preservice and in-service education for 
5.6 	special education professionals and paraprofessionals and for a related alternative early 
5.7 	intervening services program under section 125A.56, and other related costs for staff 
5.8 	development efforts. A district may annually waive the requirement to reserve their basic 
5.9 	revenue under this section if a majority vote of the licensed teachers in the district and 
5.10 	a majority vote of the school board agree to a resolution to waive the requirement. A 
5.11 	district in statutory operating debt is exempt from reserving basic revenue according to 
5.12 	this section. Districts may expend an additional amount of unreserved revenue for staff 
5.13 	development based on their needs. With the exception of amounts reserved for staff 
5.14 	development from revenues allocated directly to school sites, the board must initially 
5.15 	allocate 50 percent of the reserved revenue to each school site in the district on a per 
5.16 	teacher basis, which must be retained by the school site until used. The board may 
5.17 	retain 25 percent to be used for district wide staff development efforts. The remaining 
5.18 	25 percent of the revenue must be used to make grants to school sites for best practices 
5.19 	methods. A grant may be used for any purpose authorized under section 120B.22, 
5.20 	subdivision 2, 122A.60, or for the costs of curriculum development and programs, other 
5.21 	in-service education, teachers' workshops, teacher conferences, substitute teachers for 
5.22 	staff development purposes, and other staff development efforts, and determined by 
5.23 	the site professional development team. The site professional development team must 
5.24 	demonstrate to the school board the extent to which staff at the site have met the outcomes 
5.25 	of the program. The board may withhold a portion of initial allocation of revenue if the 
5.26 	staff development outcomes are not being met.  

5.27 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment 
5.28 	and applies to the 2009-2010 school year and later.