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H.B. 120

             1     

CAREER LADDER PERFORMANCE AWARDS

             2     
1999 GENERAL SESSION

             3     
STATE OF UTAH

             4     
Sponsor: Bill Wright

             5      AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC EDUCATION; PROVIDING THAT 10% OF THE MONEY
             6      APPROPRIATED FOR CAREER LADDERS BE USED TO PAY PERFORMANCE BONUSES;
             7      PROVIDING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PERFORMANCE CRITERIA TO MEASURE
             8      STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT; PROVIDING OPTIONS FOR THE PAYMENT OF
             9      PERFORMANCE BONUSES TO PROFESSIONAL STAFF; PROVIDING THAT 5% OF
             10      CAREER LADDER MONEYS BE USED TO PAY EDUCATORS AT SCHOOLS WITH
             11      PROGRAMS THAT FOCUS ON ESTABLISHING POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH
             12      PARENTS OF STUDENTS TO HELP ACCOMPLISH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
             13      PERFORMANCE GOALS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
             14      This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
             15      AMENDS:
             16          53A-17a-124, as last amended by Chapter 234, Laws of Utah 1998
             17      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             18          Section 1. Section 53A-17a-124 is amended to read:
             19           53A-17a-124. State contributions to career ladders -- Distribution of appropriation
             20      -- Performance bonus.
             21          (1) There is appropriated to the State Board of Education $45,226,476 (24,394 weighted
             22      pupil units) for career ladders for distribution to school districts in accordance with career ladder
             23      guidelines provided by the state board and Title 53A, Chapter 9.
             24          (a) The state board shall distribute the appropriation, upon application, to each local school
             25      board by a formula based on the average of equal weighting considerations for:
             26          (i) a district's prior year average daily membership;
             27          (ii) the total number of teachers employed by a district during the prior year; and


             28          (iii) weighted pupil units allocated to the district.
             29          (b) The Legislature shall provide for an annual adjustment in the career ladder
             30      appropriation in proportion to:
             31          (i) the increase in the value of the weighted pupil unit established in this chapter; and
             32          (ii) the increase in the number of students in the state over the prior year.
             33          (2) Each school district participating in the career ladder program may spend career ladder
             34      monies:
             35          [(a) to pay a performance bonus to teachers judged by the district as being outstanding in
             36      regular classroom performance;]
             37          [(b)] (a) (i) for additional nonteaching days for teachers to devote to curriculum
             38      development, inservice training, preparation, and related activities;
             39          (ii) a local board of education may specifically use from the career ladder appropriation
             40      an amount equivalent to $300 per eligible teacher per year for approved inservice costs, for daily
             41      stipends, for per diem expenses, and for eligible teacher trainers; and
             42          [(c)] (b) for negotiated additional teacher compensation for extending the length of the
             43      instructional day or the number of instructional days.
             44          (3) (a) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1999, the State Board of Education shall retain
             45      10% of the career ladder appropriation made under Subsection (1) for the awarding of performance
             46      bonuses to educators in the state's public schools.
             47          (b) The percentage shall increase to 15% for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2000, and
             48      for each fiscal year thereafter.
             49          (c) The board shall distribute the appropriation retained under Subsections (3)(a) and (b)
             50      to individual schools as follows:
             51          (i) each school, under the direction of its local school board, shall establish performance
             52      criteria for the school to measure student achievement in each grade level against targeted goals;
             53          (ii) each school shall use continuous student improvement on criterion-referenced and
             54      norm-referenced tests as its performance criteria in establishing targeted goals;
             55          (iii) each school shall base its targeted goals on improved test score averages over a
             56      three-year cycle, except if a school is unable to use a three-year improvement cycle for the first two
             57      years of the first cycle, then it shall use a continuous improvement performance measurement
             58      procedure established by the State Board of Education, in consultation with local school boards,


             59      based upon test scores over a one or two-year period; and
             60          (iv) performance bonus awards shall be made only to those schools that meet or exceed
             61      their targeted goals.
             62          (d) A school that receives a performance bonus award under Subsection (3)(c)(iv) may use
             63      the award to pay performance bonuses to:
             64          (i) the entire staff at the school;
             65          (ii) individuals involved in specific programs or at specific grade levels at the school;
             66          (iii) selected individual staff members; or
             67          (iv) a combination of the individuals referred to in Subsections (3)(d)(i),(ii), and (iii).
             68          (e) A school may elect to use its performance bonus award to support continuous
             69      improvement at the school rather than for salary bonuses, subject to approval by at least two-thirds
             70      vote of the staff.
             71          (4) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2000, and for each year thereafter, the State Board
             72      of Education shall retain 5% of the career ladder appropriation made under Subsection (1) for
             73      distribution to schools that meet the following criteria:
             74          (a) schools that have school directors as defined in Section 53A-1a-301 ;
             75          (b) schools that have provided for extensive involvement of parents in developing a
             76      personalized education plan for each student at the school; and
             77          (c) schools that have programs focused on establishing positive relationships with parents
             78      of students to help accomplish the continuous improvement performance goals referred to in
             79      Subsection (3).
             80          Section 2. Effective date.
             81          This act takes effect on July 1, 1999.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 1-25-99 11:32 AM


A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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