1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing for a principled pay 
  1.3             practices system; appropriating money; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 122A.413; proposing 
  1.5             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
  1.6             122A; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 
  1.7             122A.414; 122A.415. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 122A.413, is 
  1.10  amended to read: 
  1.11     122A.413 [EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [QUALIFYING PLAN.] A district may develop 
  1.13  an educational improvement plan for the purpose of qualifying 
  1.14  for alternative teacher compensation principled pay practices 
  1.15  aid under sections 122A.414 and 122A.415 section 122A.4142.  The 
  1.16  plan must include measures for improving school district, school 
  1.17  site, teacher, and individual student performance.  
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [PLAN COMPONENTS.] The educational improvement 
  1.19  plan must be approved by the school board and have at least 
  1.20  these elements: 
  1.21     (1) assessment and evaluation tools to measure student 
  1.22  performance and progress; 
  1.23     (2) performance goals and benchmarks for improvement; 
  1.24     (3) measures of student attendance and completion rates; 
  1.25     (4) a rigorous professional development system, consistent 
  1.26  with section 122A.60, that is aligned with educational 
  2.1   improvement, designed to achieve teaching quality improvement, 
  2.2   and consistent with clearly defined research-based standards; 
  2.3      (5) measures of student, family, and community involvement 
  2.4   and satisfaction; 
  2.5      (6) a data system about students and their academic 
  2.6   progress that provides parents and the public with 
  2.7   understandable information; and 
  2.8      (7) a teacher induction and mentoring program for 
  2.9   probationary teachers that provides continuous learning and 
  2.10  sustained teacher support.  The process for developing the plan 
  2.11  must involve district teachers; and 
  2.12     (8) substantial teacher participation in developing the 
  2.13  plan, including teachers selected by the exclusive 
  2.14  representative of the teachers. 
  2.15     Subd. 3.  [SCHOOL SITE ACCOUNTABILITY.] A district that 
  2.16  develops a plan under subdivisions 1 and 2 must ensure that each 
  2.17  school site develops a board-approved educational improvement 
  2.18  plan that is aligned with the district educational improvement 
  2.19  plan under subdivision 2 and developed with teacher 
  2.20  participation consistent with subdivision 2, clause (8).  While 
  2.21  a site plan must be consistent with the district educational 
  2.22  improvement plan, it may establish performance goals and 
  2.23  benchmarks that meet or exceed those of the district.  The 
  2.24  process for developing the plan must involve site teachers.  
  2.25     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective for fiscal year 
  2.26  2005 and thereafter. 
  2.27     Sec. 2.  [122A.4142] [PRINCIPLED PAY PRACTICES FOR 
  2.28  TEACHERS.] 
  2.29     Subdivision 1.  [PRINCIPLED PAY PRACTICES SYSTEM.] A school 
  2.30  district and the exclusive representative of the teachers may 
  2.31  adopt, by agreement, principled pay practices under subdivision 
  2.32  2 to provide incentives to attract and retain high-quality 
  2.33  teachers, encourage high-quality teachers to accept difficult 
  2.34  assignments, encourage teachers to improve their knowledge and 
  2.35  skills, and support teachers' roles in improving students' 
  2.36  educational achievement. 
  3.1      Subd. 2.  [ELIGIBILITY FOR PRINCIPLED PAY PRACTICES 
  3.2   AID.] To be eligible for principled pay practices aid, a school 
  3.3   district must submit to the department: 
  3.4      (a) A districtwide or site-based educational improvement 
  3.5   plan as described in section 122A.413. 
  3.6      (b) An executed collective bargaining agreement that 
  3.7   contains at least the following elements: 
  3.8      (1) a description of the conditions or actions necessary 
  3.9   for career advancement and additional compensation; 
  3.10     (2) compensation provisions that base at least 60 percent 
  3.11  of any increase in compensation on performance and not on years 
  3.12  of service or the attainment of additional education or 
  3.13  training; 
  3.14     (3) career advancement options for teachers retaining 
  3.15  primary roles in student instruction and for other members of 
  3.16  the bargaining unit; 
  3.17     (4) incentives for teachers' continuous improvement in 
  3.18  content knowledge, pedagogy, and use of best practices; 
  3.19     (5) an objective evaluation program, including classroom or 
  3.20  performance observation, that is aligned with the district's or 
  3.21  site's educational improvement plan, and is a component of 
  3.22  determining performance; 
  3.23     (6) provisions preventing any teacher's compensation from 
  3.24  being reduced as a result of implementing principled pay 
  3.25  practices; 
  3.26     (7) provisions enabling any teacher in the district if the 
  3.27  principled pay practices are applied districtwide, or at a site, 
  3.28  if the practices apply only to a site, to participate in the 
  3.29  principled pay practices without limitations by quota or other 
  3.30  restrictions; 
  3.31     (8) provisions encouraging collaboration among teachers 
  3.32  rather than competition; and 
  3.33     (9) provisions for participation by all teachers in a 
  3.34  district, all teachers at a site, or at least 25 percent of the 
  3.35  teachers in a district. 
  3.36     (c) An agreement may contain different compensation 
  4.1   provisions for separate classifications of employees. 
  4.2      Subd. 3.  [COMMISSIONER APPROVAL.] (a) Before concluding a 
  4.3   collective bargaining agreement, a district may submit a 
  4.4   proposed agreement and educational improvement plan for review, 
  4.5   comment, and preliminary approval by the commissioner.  If the 
  4.6   plan and agreement are executed in the same form as 
  4.7   preliminarily approved by the commissioner, the plan and 
  4.8   agreement must be approved without further review. 
  4.9      (b) The application to the commissioner must contain a 
  4.10  formally adopted collective bargaining agreement, memorandum of 
  4.11  understanding, or other binding agreement that implements 
  4.12  principled pay practices consistent with this section. 
  4.13     (c) The commissioner's approval must be based on the 
  4.14  requirements established in subdivision 2.  If the commissioner 
  4.15  does not approve an application, the notice to the school 
  4.16  district must provide details regarding the commissioner's 
  4.17  reason for rejecting the application.  
  4.18     (d) A school district that intends to apply for principled 
  4.19  pay practices aid for the first time must notify the 
  4.20  commissioner in writing by November 1 prior to the academic year 
  4.21  for which they intend to seek aid.  The commissioner must 
  4.22  approve initial applications for school districts qualifying 
  4.23  under subdivision 4, paragraph (b), clause (1), by January 15 of 
  4.24  each year. 
  4.25     Subd. 4.  [AID AMOUNT.] (a) A school district that meets 
  4.26  the conditions of this section, as approved by the commissioner, 
  4.27  is eligible for principled pay practices aid.  
  4.28     (b) Principled pay practices aid for a qualifying school 
  4.29  district, site, or portion of a district or school site is as 
  4.30  follows: 
  4.31     (1) for a school district in which the school board and the 
  4.32  exclusive representative of the teachers agree to place all 
  4.33  teachers in the district or at the site in the principled pay 
  4.34  practices system, aid equals $150 times the district's or the 
  4.35  site's number of pupils enrolled on October 1 of the previous 
  4.36  fiscal year; or 
  5.1      (2) for a district in which the school board and the 
  5.2   exclusive representative of the teachers agree that at least 25 
  5.3   percent of the district's licensed teachers will be paid under 
  5.4   the principled pay practices system, aid equals $150 times the 
  5.5   percentage of participating teachers times the district's number 
  5.6   of pupils enrolled as of October 1 of the previous fiscal year.  
  5.7      Subd. 5.  [PERCENTAGE OF TEACHERS.] For purposes of 
  5.8   subdivision 4, the percentage of teachers participating in the 
  5.9   principled pay practices system equals the ratio of the number 
  5.10  of licensed teachers who are working at least 60 percent of a 
  5.11  full-time teacher's hours and agree to participate in the 
  5.12  principled pay practices system to the total number of licensed 
  5.13  teachers who are working at least 60 percent of a full-time 
  5.14  teacher's hours.  
  5.15     Subd. 6.  [AID TIMING.] Districts or sites with approved 
  5.16  applications must receive principled pay practices aid for each 
  5.17  school year that the district or site participates in the 
  5.18  program.  
  5.19     Subd. 7.  [ANNUAL AID APPROPRIATION.] The amount necessary 
  5.20  for this purpose is appropriated annually from the general fund 
  5.21  to the commissioner of children, families, and learning for 
  5.22  principled pay practices aid under this section. 
  5.23     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective for fiscal year 
  5.24  2005 and thereafter. 
  5.25     Sec. 3.  [122A.4143] [CLOSED CONTRACT.] 
  5.26     A district and the exclusive representative of the teachers 
  5.27  may agree jointly to reopen a collective bargaining agreement in 
  5.28  order to enter into a principled pay practices system consistent 
  5.29  with section 122A.4142 and an educational improvement plan under 
  5.30  section 122A.413. 
  5.31     Sec. 4.  [122A.4144] [DISTRICTS RECEIVING ALTERNATIVE 
  5.32  TEACHER COMPENSATION AID.] 
  5.33     Districts that qualified for alternative teacher 
  5.34  compensation aid under section 122A.415 shall be eligible for 
  5.35  principled pay practices aid provided that they retain the 
  5.36  system previously approved by the commissioner through June 30, 
  6.1   2005.  In order to receive aid after June 30, 2005, these 
  6.2   districts must submit an application to the commissioner under 
  6.3   section 122A.4142. 
  6.4      <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective for fiscal year 
  6.5   2005 and thereafter. 
  6.6      Sec. 5.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  6.7      $....... is appropriated in fiscal year 2005 from the 
  6.8   general fund to the commissioner of children, families, and 
  6.9   learning for principled pay practices aid. 
  6.10     Sec. 6.  [REPEALER.] 
  6.11     Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 122A.414 and 122A.415, 
  6.12  are repealed. 
  6.13     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective for fiscal year 
  6.14  2005 and thereafter.