1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; clarifying alternative teacher professional pay system 
1.3 	provisions and establishing oversight;amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, 
1.4 	section 122A.414, subdivisions 1, 2.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.414, subdivision 1, is amended to 
1.7 	read:
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Restructured pay system. A restructured alternative teacher 
1.9 	professional pay system that includes pay based on components in addition to experience 
1.10 	and education credits is established under subdivision 2 to provide incentives to encourage 
1.11 	teachers to improve their knowledge and instructional skills in order to improve student 
1.12 	learning and for school districts, intermediate school districts, and charter schools to 
1.13 	recruit and retain highly qualified teachers, encourage highly qualified teachers to 
1.14 	undertake challenging assignments, and support teachers' roles in improving students' 
1.15 	educational achievement.

1.16 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2008-2009 school year and 
1.17 	later.

1.18 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 122A.414, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.19 		Subd. 2.Alternative teacher professional pay system. (a) To participate in this 
1.20 	program, a school district, intermediate school district, school site, or charter school must 
1.21 	have an educational improvement plan under section 122A.413 and an alternative teacher 
1.22 	professional pay system agreement under paragraph (b). A charter school participant also 
1.23 	must comply with subdivision 2a.
2.1 	(b) The alternative teacher professional pay system agreement must:
2.2 	(1) describe how teachers can achieve career advancement and additional 
2.3 	compensation;
2.4 	(2) describe how the school district, intermediate school district, school site, or 
2.5 	charter school will provide teachers with career advancement options that allow teachers 
2.6 	to retain primary roles in student instruction and facilitate site-focused professional 
2.7 	development that helps other teachers improve their skills;
2.8 	(3) reform the "steps and lanes" salary schedule, prevent any teacher's compensation 
2.9 	paid before implementing the pay system from being reduced as a result of participating 
2.10 	in this system, and base at least 60 percent of any compensation increase funded by 
2.11 	alternative compensation revenue on teacher performance using:
2.12 	(i) schoolwide student achievement gains under section 120B.35 or locally selected 
2.13 	standardized assessment outcomes, or both;
2.14 	(ii) measures of student achievement; and
2.15 	(iii) an objective evaluation program that includes:
2.16 	(A) individual teacher evaluations aligned with the educational improvement plan 
2.17 	under section 122A.413 and the staff development plan under section 122A.60; and
2.18 	(B) objective evaluations using multiple criteria conducted by a locally selected and 
2.19 	periodically trained evaluation team that understands teaching and learning;
2.20 	(4) provide integrated ongoing site-based professional development activities to 
2.21 	improve instructional skills and learning that are aligned with student needs under section 
2.22 	122A.413, consistent with the staff development plan under section 122A.60 and led 
2.23 	during the school day by trained teacher leaders such as master or mentor teachers;
2.24 	(5) allow any teacher in a participating school district, intermediate school district, 
2.25 	school site, or charter school that implements an alternative pay system to participate in 
2.26 	that system without any quota or other limit; and
2.27 	(6) encourage collaboration rather than competition among teachers.
2.28 	(c) A statewide oversight committee oversees the statutory processes of the 
2.29 	alternative teacher professional pay system under this section and the effects of this pay 
2.30 	system on students' academic progress. Education Minnesota, the Minnesota Association 
2.31 	of School Administrators, the Department of Education, and the Minnesota School Boards 
2.32 	Association must each have a representative on the oversight committee. The oversight 
2.33 	committee must:
2.34 	(1) meet at least quarterly to review letters of intent and the alternative teacher 
2.35 	professional pay programs approved and disapproved in the past quarter;
3.1 	(2) monitor the ongoing implementation and results of the alternative teacher 
3.2 	professional pay system; and
3.3 	(3) report annually by February 1 to the education policy and finance committees of 
3.4 	the legislature on the administration, processes, and effects of the pay system.

3.5 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2008-2009 school year and 
3.6 	later.