MODIFY TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATOR

COMPENSATION CRITERIA

House Bill 4625

Sponsor:  Rep. Pete Lund

Committee:  Education

Complete to 5-7-13

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4625 AS INTRODUCED 4-24-13

House Bill 4625 would amend the Revised School Code (MCL 380.1250) to modify the criteria school districts, intermediate school districts, and charter schools must use to set compensation for teachers and administrators.  The bill would require that job performance and job accomplishments be the primary factor (rather than a significant factor) used to determine compensation, and that the evaluation of job performance be based primarily upon student growth data.  The bill would apply to teachers and administrators hired after the bill's effective date.  A more detailed description of the bill follows.

Now under the law, school officials must use a method of compensation for teachers and school administrators that includes job performance and job accomplishments as a significant factor in determining compensation.  The assessment of job performance must incorporate a rigorous, transparent, and fair evaluation system that evaluates a teacher's or administrator's performance at least in part based upon data of student growth, as measured by assessments and other objective criteria.

House Bill 4625 would modify this provision to specify that, for teachers and administrators hired after the bill's effective date, school districts and charter schools would have to implement a method of compensation that included job performance and job accomplishments as the primary factor in determining compensation.  Further, the assessment of job performance would have to incorporate a rigorous, transparent, and fair evaluation system that evaluated a teacher's or school administrator's performance primarily based upon data on student growth as measured by assessments and other objective criteria.

The bill further specifies that school officials would be prohibited from using "length of service" or "achievement of advanced degrees" as a factor in compensation levels or adjustments in compensation for teachers and administrators hired after the bill's effective date, except as follows:

·                    for teachers with secondary certificates having a subject area endorsement and teaching in that subject area, an advanced degree in that subject area could be considered as a factor in the teacher's base compensation; and

·                    for teachers with elementary certificates who teach in an elementary grade, an advanced degree in elementary education could be considered as a factor in the teacher's base compensation.

           

Finally, House Bill 4625 specifies that if a collective bargaining agreement is in effect preventing compliance with these modifications, then the modifications described above would not apply until after the expiration of that collectively bargained agreement.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

The bill would have no fiscal impact on the state, but may have a fiscal impact on local school districts, intermediate districts and charter schools.  To the extent that the bill revises compensation determination factors, it could change overall compensation levels for teachers and administrators.  However, the fiscal impact is indeterminate because there is no information to determine whether or to what extent the bill would have a net increase or decrease on costs.

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   J. Hunault

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Bethany Wicksall      

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.