1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
3 HOUSE BILL 2676 By: Baker
4
5
6 AS INTRODUCED
7 An Act relating to teachers; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 3-129.11, which relates to the School
8 District Empowerment Program; deleting statutory
reference; amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-101.3,
9 which relates to definitions; modifying definitions
for certain types of teachers; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
10 Sections 6-101.10, 6-101.11, and 6-101.16, which
relate to teacher evaluations; deleting requirement
11 for annual review of certain written policy; removing
requirement for a focused and individualized program
12 of professional development; deleting references to
policy and program; striking provision providing for
13 release of certain data; striking statutory
reference; removing individualized program of
14 professional development requirement; permitting
school districts to submit a request to use an
15 alternative evaluation system; allowing certain
evaluation schedule to be designated by local policy;
16 limiting collection of certain information only for
federal reporting requirements; amending 70 O.S.
17 2021, Sections 6-101.23 and 6-101.24, which relate to
the Teacher Due Process Act of 1990; deleting
18 reference to certain evaluation provisions; removing
statutory citation; amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-
19 101.31, which relates to teacher evaluation ratings;
deleting statutory reference; providing an effective
20 date; and declaring an emergency.
21
22
23
24 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
Req. No. 6016 Page 1
1 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 3-129.11, is
2 amended to read as follows:
3 Section 3-129.11 A. There is hereby established the School
4 District Empowerment Program which shall be administered by the
5 State Board of Education. The purpose of the program is to empower
6 locally elected school board members to govern school districts and
7 make decisions based on the needs of their students and
8 circumstances.
9 B. 1. Subject to the provisions of this section, a school
10 district shall be allowed to submit a request to the State Board of
11 Education for an exemption from all statutory requirements and State
12 Board of Education rules from which charter schools are exempt, as
13 provided for in the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act. Any request for
14 exemption shall include a plan which outlines the goals sought to be
15 achieved at a minimum, include including the educational and fiscal
16 benefits and the anticipated impacts or outcomes the plan will have
17 in the district.
18 2. Within ninety (90) days after receiving the request and
19 plan, the State Board shall approve or disapprove the request. If
20 the State Board does not approve the request, it shall provide to
21 the school district a written explanation of the basis for its
22 decision. The school district may resubmit an amended request at
23 any time after the denial. The request shall be approved by the
24 State Board before implementation by the school district. An
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1 approved request and plan shall be for no longer than three (3)
2 years. Prior to the beginning of the third year, the school
3 district may apply for renewal of the approved request and plan.
4 The school district shall be required to submit an annual report and
5 the State Board shall annually assess the academic achievement and
6 fiscal status of the school district.
7 C. Nothing in this section shall prevent a school district
8 board of education from choosing to follow any or all state laws,
9 rules or regulations from which a charter school is exempt. A
10 school district which has been granted approval by the State Board
11 for an exemption as set forth in subsection B of this section shall
12 have the option to adopt policies to implement any requirement for
13 the school district that is consistent with any statutory
14 requirement or mandate or State Board rule, but a participating
15 school district shall comply with the following requirements:
16 1. Students who reside in the school district shall be entitled
17 to attend school in the district as set forth in Section 1-114 of
18 this title;
19 2. School districts shall comply with the requirements of the
20 minimum salary schedule for teachers as set forth in Section 18-
21 114.12 18-114.14 of this title;
22 3. Employees of school districts shall continue to participate
23 as members of the Teachers' Retirement System of Oklahoma as set
24 forth in Section 17-101 et seq. of this title;
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1 4. School districts shall comply with the requirement to
2 provide a health insurance plan for school district employees as set
3 forth in Section 5-117.5 of this title and to establish or make
4 available to school district employees a cafeteria plan as set forth
5 in Section 26-104 of this title;
6 5. School districts shall require any person employed by the
7 school district to file with the district board a current Oklahoma
8 criminal history record check from the Oklahoma State Bureau of
9 Investigation as well as a national criminal history record check as
10 defined in Section 150.9 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Each
11 district shall adopt a policy regarding criminal history record
12 checks as set forth in Section 5-142 of this title;
13 6. School districts shall comply with the requirement
14 requirements to evaluate teachers and to train personnel designated
15 to conduct personnel evaluations as set forth in Sections 6-101.10
16 and Section 6-101.11 of this title, the dismissal and due process
17 procedures for administrators as set forth in Sections 6-101.13
18 through 6-101.15 of this title and the due process procedures for
19 teachers as set forth in Sections 6-101.21 through 6-101.26 of this
20 title;
21 7. School districts shall comply with the requirement to make
22 payroll deductions for either or both professional organization dues
23 and political contributions upon the request of an employee as set
24 forth in Section 5-139 of this title;
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1 8. School districts shall comply with the dismissal and due
2 process procedures for education support employees as set forth in
3 Sections 6-101.40 through 6-101.47 of this title;
4 9. School districts shall employ as teachers, counselors,
5 librarians, school nurses, superintendents, principals, supervisors
6 or any other instructional, supervisory or administrative employee
7 only those persons who are certified by the State Board of Education
8 in accordance with the Oklahoma Teacher Preparation Act, except for
9 persons exempt from the certification requirements as otherwise
10 provided by law;
11 10. School districts shall provide for negotiations between
12 school employees and school districts as set forth in Sections 509.1
13 through 509.11 of this title;
14 11. School districts shall be required to offer and students
15 enrolled in the school district shall be required to complete the
16 curriculum requirements as set forth in Section 11-103.6 of this
17 title;
18 12. Students enrolled in the school district shall be required
19 to demonstrate mastery of the state academic content standards as
20 set forth in Section 1210.523 of this title; and
21 13. Members of the school district board of education shall be
22 required to satisfy the instruction and continuing education
23 requirements as set forth in Sections 5-110, 5-110.1 and 5-110.2 of
24 this title.
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1 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-101.3, is
2 amended to read as follows:
3 Section 6-101.3 As used in Section 6-101 et seq. of this title:
4 1. "Administrator" means a duly certified person who devotes a
5 majority of time to service as a superintendent, elementary
6 superintendent, principal, supervisor, vice principal or in any
7 other administrative or supervisory capacity in the school district;
8 2. "Dismissal" means the discontinuance of the teaching service
9 of an administrator or teacher during the term of a written
10 contract, as provided by law;
11 3. "Nonreemployment" means the nonrenewal of the contract of an
12 administrator or teacher upon expiration of the contract;
13 4. "Career teacher" means a teacher who:
14 a. is employed by a school district prior to the 2017-
15 2018 school year and has completed three (3) or more
16 consecutive complete school years as a teacher in one
17 school district under a written continuing or
18 temporary teaching contract, or
19 b. is employed for the first time by a school district
20 under a written continuing or temporary teaching
21 contract during the 2017-2018 school year and
22 thereafter:
23 (1) has completed three (3) consecutive complete
24 school years as a teacher in one school district
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1 under a written continuing or temporary teaching
2 contract and has achieved a district evaluation
3 rating of "superior" as measured pursuant to the
4 TLE as set forth in Section 6-101.16 of this
5 title for at least two (2) of the three (3)
6 school years,
7 (2) has completed four (4) consecutive complete
8 school years as a teacher in one school district
9 under a written continuing or temporary teaching
10 contract, has averaged a district evaluation
11 rating of at least "effective" as measured
12 pursuant to the TLE for the four-year period, and
13 has received district evaluation ratings of at
14 least "effective" for the last two (2) years of
15 the four-year period, or
16 (3) has completed four (4) or more consecutive
17 complete school years in one school district
18 under a written continuing or temporary teaching
19 contract and has not met the requirements of
20 subparagraph a or b of this paragraph, only if
21 the principal of the school at which the teacher
22 is employed submits a petition to the
23 superintendent of the school district requesting
24 that the teacher be granted career status, the
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1 superintendent agrees with the petition, and the
2 school district board of education approves the
3 petition. The principal shall specify in the
4 petition the underlying facts supporting the
5 granting of career status to the teacher;
6 5. "Teacher hearing" means the hearing before a school district
7 board of education after a recommendation for dismissal or
8 nonreemployment of a teacher has been made but before any final
9 action is taken on the recommendation, held for the purpose of
10 affording the teacher all rights guaranteed by the United States
11 Constitution and the Constitution of Oklahoma under circumstances
12 and for enabling the board to determine whether to approve or
13 disapprove the recommendation;
14 6. "Probationary teacher" means a teacher who:
15 a. is employed by a school district prior to the 2017-
16 2018 school year and has completed fewer than three
17 (3) consecutive complete school years as a teacher in
18 one school district under a written teaching contract,
19 or
20 b. is employed for the first time by a school district
21 under a written teaching contract during the 2017-2018
22 school year and thereafter and has not met the
23 requirements for career teacher as provided in
24 paragraph 4 of this section;
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1 7. "Suspension" or "suspended" means the temporary
2 discontinuance of the services of an administrator or teacher, as
3 provided by law;
4 8. "Teacher" means a person defined as a teacher has the same
5 meaning as provided in Section 1-116 of this title; and
6 9. "District evaluation rating" means the rating issued based
7 on the components of the TLE Oklahoma Teacher and Leader
8 Effectiveness Evaluation System (TLE) as set forth in subsection B
9 of Section 6-101.16 of this title.
10 SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-101.10, is
11 amended to read as follows:
12 Section 6-101.10 A. Each school district board of education
13 shall maintain and annually review, following consultation with or
14 involvement of representatives selected by local teachers, a written
15 policy of evaluation and corresponding professional development for
16 all teachers and administrators. In those school districts in which
17 there exists a professional negotiations agreement made in
18 accordance with Section 509.1 et seq. of this title, the procedure
19 for evaluating members of the negotiations unit and any standards of
20 performance and conduct proposed for adoption beyond those
21 established by the State Board of Education shall be negotiable
22 items. Nothing in this section shall be construed to annul, modify
23 or to preclude the renewal or continuing of any existing agreement
24 heretofore entered into between any school district and any
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1 organizational representative of its employees. Every policy of
2 evaluation adopted by a board of education shall:
3 1. Be based upon a set of minimum criteria developed by the
4 State Board of Education, which shall be revised and based upon the
5 Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Evaluation System (TLE)
6 developed by the State Board of Education as provided in Section 6-
7 101.16 of this title. The revisions to each policy of evaluation
8 shall be phased in according to the following schedule:
9 a. for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school
10 years, the evaluation rating of teachers and
11 administrators shall be based on the qualitative
12 component of the TLE. For the 2016-2017 school year,
13 the State Department of Education shall work with
14 school districts to develop individualized programs of
15 professional development as described in subsection B
16 of this section. However, nothing in this
17 subparagraph shall preclude a school district with an
18 average daily attendance of more than thirty-five
19 thousand (35,000) from continuing to use quantitative
20 components which the district has incorporated at its
21 own expense prior to the 2015-2016 school year into
22 its evaluation system of teachers and administrators,
23 as defined by the district's written policy,
24
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1 b. for evaluations of teachers and administrators
2 conducted during the 2017-2018 school year, and each
3 school year thereafter, school districts shall
4 incorporate and put into operation the qualitative
5 component of the TLE as provided for in subsection B
6 of Section 6-101.16 of this title into the evaluations
7 used in all school sites within the district. For the
8 2017-2018 school year, and each school year
9 thereafter, teachers and administrators shall receive
10 a district evaluation rating based on the components
11 of the TLE as set forth in subsection B of Section 6-
12 101.16 of this title. For the 2017-2018 school year,
13 school districts shall incorporate the individualized
14 programs of professional development as described in
15 subsection B of this section on a pilot program basis,
16 and
17 c. for evaluations of teachers and administrators
18 conducted during the 2018-201