Posted: | April 8, 2013 03:13 PM |
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From: | Representative Seth M. Grove |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Professional Develpment for Educators |
I am preparing to introduce legislation that will extend the current moratorium on mandatory professional development for educators by one year and require the Department of Education (PDE) to create a plan for targeting professional development to those school entities and buildings with unsatisfactory performance levels. Under current law, each public school entity must prepare a three-year professional education plan. In addition, each certified professional educator must complete 180 hours of professional education every five years in order to maintain active certification. In 2011, the General Assembly imposed a two-year moratorium on these requirements as a cost-saving measure for school entities. The moratorium expires on June 30, 2013. My proposal will extend this moratorium for an additional year, until June 30, 2014. In addition, my bill calls on PDE to develop a proposal to modify the Commonwealth’s professional development program to concentrate on delivering professional development where it is most needed: to school entities and school buildings with unsatisfactory performance under the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile developed by PDE pursuant to the teacher evaluation provisions of the School Code. PDE’s plan, which must include recommended legislation and an explanation in support of the proposal, must be presented to the Education Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives by December 31, 2013. My goal is to target professional development where it is needed and to remove onerous burdens on our school districts and teachers who engage in professional development without the need of a state mandate. |
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Introduced as HB1097