(1) For the purpose of this section, "educator" means a paraeducator, teacher, principal, administrator, superintendent, school counselor, school psychologist, school social worker, school nurse, school physical therapist, school occupational therapist, or school speech-language pathologist or audiologist. "Educator" includes persons who hold, or have held, certificates as authorized by rule of the Washington professional educator standards board.
(2)(a) The professional educator collaborative is established to make recommendations on how to improve and strengthen state policies, programs, and pathways that lead to highly effective educators at each level of the public school system.
(b) The collaborative shall examine issues related to educator recruitment, certification, retention, professional learning and development, leadership, and evaluation for effectiveness. The examination must consider what barriers and deterrents hinder the recruitment and retention of professional educators, including those from underrepresented populations. The collaborative shall also consider what incentives and supports could be provided at each stage of an educator's career to produce a more effective educational system. Specifically, the collaborative must review the following issues:
(i) Educator recruitment, including the role of school districts, community and technical colleges, preparation programs, and communities, and the efficacy of financial incentives and other types of support on recruitment;
(ii) Educator preparation, including traditional and alternative route program design and content, the role of community and technical colleges, field experience duration and quality, the efficacy of financial assistance and incentives, such as apprenticeship models or other methods of providing compensation to working candidates, on program completion, school district and community connections, and the need for and efficacy of academic and social support for students;
(iii) Educator certificate types and tiers, including requirements for an initial or first-tier certificate, requirements for advanced certificates, and requirements that are transferable between certificate types;
(iv) Educator certificate renewal requirements, including comparing professional growth plan requirements with the teacher and principal residency certificate renewal requirements established in RCW 28A.410.251;
(v) Educator evaluation, including comparison to educator certificate renewal requirements to determine inconsistent or duplicative requirements or efforts, implementation issues and tool refinement, and relationship with educator compensation;
(vi) Educator certificate reciprocity;
(vii) Professional learning and development opportunities, particularly for mid-career teachers;
(viii) Leadership in the education system, including best practices of high quality leaders, training for principals and administrators, and identifying and developing teachers as leaders; and
(ix) Systems monitoring, including collection of outcomes data on educator production, employment, and retention, and the value in a cost-benefit analysis of state recruitment and retention activities.
(3)(a) The members of the collaborative must include representatives of the following organizations:
(i) The two largest caucuses of the senate and the house of representatives, appointed by the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, respectively;
(ii) The Washington professional educator standards board;
(iii) The office of the superintendent of public instruction;
(iv) The Washington association of colleges for teacher education;
(v) The Washington state school directors' association;
(vi) The Washington education association;
(vii) The Washington association of school administrators;
(viii) The association of Washington school principals; and
(ix) The association of Washington school counselors.
(b) Each organization listed in (a) of this subsection must designate one voting member, except that each legislator is a voting member.
(c) The collaborative shall choose its chair or cochairs from among its members.
(d) The voting members of the collaborative, where appropriate, may consult with stakeholders, including representatives of other educator associations, or ask stakeholders to establish an advisory committee. Members of such an advisory committee are not entitled to expense reimbursement.
(e) The voting members of the collaborative must consult with the student achievement council's office of student financial assistance on issues related to financial incentives, assistance, and supports.
(4)(a) Staff support for the collaborative must be provided by the Washington professional educator standards board, and from other state agencies, including the office of the superintendent of public instruction, if requested by the collaborative.
(b) The Washington professional educator standards board must convene the initial meeting of the collaborative within sixty days of May 8, 2019.
(5) The collaborative must contract with a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute that conducts independent, high quality research to improve education policy and practice and that works with policymakers, researchers, educators, and others to advance evidence-based policies that support equitable learning for each child for the purpose of consultation and guidance on meeting agendas and materials development, meeting facilitation, documenting collaborative discussions and recommendations, locating and summarizing useful policy and research documents, and drafting required reports.
(6) Legislative members of the collaborative are reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they are elected officials or are participating on behalf of an employer, governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.
(7)(a) By November 1, 2020, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the collaborative shall submit a preliminary report to the education committees of the legislature that makes recommendations on the educator certificate types, tiers, and renewal issues described in subsection (2) of this section. The report must also describe the activities of the collaborative to date, and include any preliminary recommendations agreed to by the collaborative on other issues described in subsection (2) of this section.
(b) By November 1, 2021, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the collaborative shall submit a final report to the education committees of the legislature that describes the activities of the collaborative since the preliminary report and makes recommendations on each issue described in subsection (2) of this section, including the fiscal implications of each recommendation at the state and local level. The report must also describe the expected efficiencies achieved by implementing the recommended comprehensive and coordinated system.
(8) This section expires July 1, 2022.
[ 2019 c 295 § 402.]
NOTES:
Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: "(1) The legislature finds that additional time and resources are necessary to establish a comprehensive and coordinated long-term vision that addresses Washington's demands for an excellent, effective educator workforce. The legislature recognizes that such an undertaking requires focused efforts to develop meaningful policy options to expand the current and future workforce supply.
(2) Therefore, the legislature intends to establish a professional educator collaborative, including a variety of stakeholders, to make recommendations on how to improve and strengthen state policies, programs, and pathways that lead to highly effective educators at each level of the public common school system." [ 2019 c 295 § 401.]
Effective date—Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See notes following RCW 28A.310.235.
Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See notes following RCW 28B.10.033.
Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28B.102.030.
Findings—Intent—2019 c 295: See note following RCW 28A.415.265.