PRINTER'S NO. 3229
No. 2409 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY BIRMELIN, METCALFE, FORCIER, McGILL AND
WASHINGTON, MARCH 21, 2000
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 21, 2000
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," further providing for dismissals;
6 providing for the elimination of tenure; and making repeals.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 520(b)(4) of the act of March 10, 1949
10 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is
11 amended to read:
12 Section 520. Temporary Emergency War Provisions.--* * *
13 (b) Subject to the foregoing provisions, any board of school
14 directors may--
15 * * *
16 (4) Adjust the assignment and reassignment of teachers in
17 such fields, subjects, schedules and semesters or other periods
18 of work and in such schools as their preparation, experience and
19 certification may qualify them. No such temporary emergency
1 assignment or reassignment shall reduce the annual compensation
2 any teacher receives at the time of such assignment or
3 reassignment, nor shall the emergency assignment, reassignment
4 or the return to the original type of assignment when the
5 emergency has ended be deemed to be a demotion under [the tenure
6 provisions of] this act;
7 * * *
8 Section 2. Section 913-A(e) of the act, added May 4, 1970
9 (P.L.311, No.102), is amended to read:
10 Section 913-A. Staff.--* * *
11 (e) All professional and temporary professional employes of
12 an intermediate unit shall be subject to sections 1120 and 1134
13 of this act and shall have the same rights of [tenure,] minimum
14 salaries and increments, leaves of absence because of illness,
15 professional study or physical disability, sabbatical leaves,
16 military leaves and exchange teacher leaves as professional and
17 temporary professional employes of school districts.
18 * * *
19 Section 3. Section 1108 of the act is repealed.
20 Section 4. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
21 Section 1120. Abrogation of Tenure.--Each professional
22 employe and temporary professional employe shall be deemed an
23 at-will employe and shall no longer possess any tenure status.
24 This section shall apply to all professional employes and
25 temporary professional employes, including such employes who
26 were hired before the effective date of this act. For purposes
27 of this section and section 1134, "school entity" shall mean a
28 school district, area vocational-technical school or
29 intermediate unit.
30 Section 5. Section 1121(c) of the act, amended March 29,
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1 1996 (P.L.47, No.16), is amended to read:
2 Section 1121. Contracts; Execution; Form.--* * *
3 (c) Contracts under subsection (b) shall contain only the
4 following:
5 "IT IS AGREED by and between .....................
6 Professional Employe, and the Board of Directors (or Board of
7 Public Education) of the school district of
8 ....................., Pennsylvania, that said professional
9 employe shall, under the authority of the said board and its
10 successors, and subject to the supervision and authority of the
11 properly authorized superintendent of schools or supervising
12 principal, serve as a professional employe in the said school
13 district [for a term of ........months], for an annual
14 compensation of $............., payable monthly or semi-monthly
15 during the school term or year, less the contribution required
16 by law to be paid to the Public School Employes' Retirement
17 Fund, and less other proper deductions for loss of time.
18 "This contract is subject to the provisions of the 'Public
19 School Code of 1949' and the amendments thereto.
20 "AND IT IS FURTHER AGREED by the parties hereto that none of
21 the provisions of this act may be waived either orally or in
22 writing[, and that this contract shall continue in force year
23 after year, with the right of the]. The board of school
24 directors (or board of public education) [to] may increase the
25 compensation over the compensation herein stated, from time to
26 time, as may be provided under the provisions and proper
27 operation of the established salary schedule, if any, for the
28 school district, subject to the provisions of law, without
29 invalidating any other provision of this contract, unless
30 terminated by the professional employe by written resignation
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1 presented sixty (60) days before resignation becomes effective,
2 or by the board of school directors (or board of public
3 education) by official written notice presented to the
4 professional employe: Provided, That the said notice shall
5 designate the cause for the termination and shall state that an
6 opportunity to be heard shall be granted if the said
7 professional employe, within ten (10) days after receipt of the
8 termination notice, presents a written request for such
9 hearing."
10 Section 6. Sections 1122 and 1123 of the act are repealed.
11 Section 7. Sections 1127, 1129 and 1130 of the act are
12 amended to read:
13 Section 1127. Procedure on Dismissals; Charges; Notice;
14 Hearing.--Before any professional employe [having attained a
15 status of permanent tenure] is dismissed by the board of school
16 directors, such board of school directors shall furnish such
17 professional employe with a [detailed] written statement of the
18 [charges upon which his or her proposed] reason for such
19 dismissal is based and shall conduct a hearing. A written notice
20 signed by the president and attested by the secretary of the
21 board of school directors shall be forwarded by registered mail
22 to the professional employe setting forth the time and place
23 when and where such professional employe will be given an
24 opportunity to be heard either in person or by counsel, or both,
25 before the board of school directors and setting forth [a
26 detailed statement of the charges] the reason for the dismissal.
27 Such hearing shall not be sooner than ten (10) days nor later
28 than fifteen (15) days after such written notice. At such
29 hearing all testimony offered, including that of complainants
30 and their witnesses, as well as that of the accused professional
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1 employe and his or her witnesses, shall be recorded by a
2 competent disinterested public stenographer whose services shall
3 be furnished by the school district at its expense. Any such
4 hearing may be postponed, continued or adjourned.
5 Section 1129. Vote Required for Dismissals.--After [fully
6 hearing the charges or complaints and hearing all witnesses
7 produced by the board and the person against whom the charges
8 are pending, and after] full, impartial and unbiased
9 consideration [thereof], the board of school directors shall by
10 a two-thirds vote of all the members [thereof], to be recorded
11 by roll call, determine whether [such charges or complaints] the
12 reasons for dismissal have been sustained and whether the
13 evidence substantiates such [charges and complaints] reasons,
14 and if so determined shall discharge such professional employe.
15 If less than two-thirds of all of the members of the board vote
16 in favor of discharge, the professional employe shall be
17 retained [and the complaint shall be dismissed].
18 No member of any board of school directors shall vote on any
19 roll call if he is related as father, mother, brother, sister,
20 husband, wife, son, daughter, stepson, step-daughter,
21 grandchild, nephew, niece, first cousin, sister-in-law, brother-
22 in-law, uncle or aunt to the professional employe involved or to
23 any of the parties instituting the [complaint] dismissal action.
24 Section 1130. Notice of Discharge; Procedure on Decision
25 Favorable to Employe.--A written notice of any decision of the
26 board of school directors discharging a professional employe,
27 shall be sent by registered mail to such professional employe at
28 his or her last known address within ten (10) days after such
29 hearing is actually concluded.
30 In all cases where the final decision is in favor of the
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1 professional employe, the [charges made] dismissal action shall
2 be physically expunged from the records of the board of school
3 directors, but a complete official transcript of the records of
4 the hearing shall be delivered to the one against whom the
5 charges were made. In all such cases there shall be no abatement
6 of salary or compensation.
7 Section 8. Section 1132 of the act, amended December 21,
8 1973 (P.L.429, No.150), is amended to read:
9 Section 1132. Appeals to Court.--The [ruling or] decision of
10 the [Secretary of Education] Board of School Directors shall be
11 final, unless, an appeal is taken [in accordance with the
12 provisions of the act of June 4, 1945 (P.L.1388, No.442), known
13 as the "Administrative Agency Law."] to the court of common
14 pleas of appropriate jurisdiction.
15 Section 9. Section 1133 of the act, added June 29, 1984
16 (P.L.438, No.93), is amended to read:
17 Section 1133. Collective Bargaining for Public Employes.--
18 Nothing contained in sections 1121 through 1132 shall be
19 construed to supersede or preempt a provision of a collective
20 bargaining agreement in effect on July 23, 1970, or on any date
21 subsequent thereto, negotiated by a school entity and an
22 exclusive representative of the employes in accordance with the
23 act of July 23, 1970 (P.L.563, No.195), known as the "Public
24 Employe Relations Act," which agreement provides for the right
25 of the exclusive representative to grieve and arbitrate the
26 validity of a professional employe's termination [for just cause
27 or for the causes set forth in section 1122 of this act];
28 however, no agreement shall prohibit the right of a professional
29 employe from exercising his or her rights under the provisions
30 of this act except as herein provided. However, if within ten
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1 (10) days after the receipt of the [detailed] written statement
2 and notice as required by section 1127, the professional employe
3 chooses to exercise his or her right to a hearing, any provision
4 of the collective bargaining agreement relative to the right of
5 the exclusive representative to grieve or arbitrate the
6 termination of such professional employe shall be void.
7 Professional employes shall have the right to file a grievance
8 under the collective bargaining agreement or request a hearing
9 pursuant to sections 1121 through 1132, but not both.
10 Section 10. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
11 Section 1134. Employment Protection Accorded by Collective
12 Bargaining Agreement.--Nothing in section 1120 or any other
13 provision in this act shall prohibit a school entity and an
14 employe organization, as defined in section 1101-A, from
15 restricting the authority of the school entity to dismiss
16 professional employes or temporary professional employes or
17 otherwise providing employment protection for such employes
18 pursuant to the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement.
19 Section 11. Section 1152 of the act, reenacted and amended
20 December 20, 1968 (P.L.1256, No.398), is amended to read:
21 Section 1152. Compensation in Excess of Schedule; Temporary
22 or Emergency Increases.--The foregoing schedules prescribe a
23 minimum salary in each instance, and where an increment is
24 prescribed, it is also a minimum. It is within the power of the
25 boards of school directors to increase for any person or group
26 of persons, included in any schedule, the initial salary or the
27 amount of an increment or the number of increments.
28 Nothing contained in this act shall be construed to interfere
29 with or discontinue any salary schedule rights[, tenure rights,]
30 or other privileges or terms of employment now or heretofore in
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1 force in any school district, provided such shall meet the
2 requirements of this act, nor to prevent the adoption of any
3 salary schedule in conformity with the provisions of this act.
4 In addition to the salaries provided for by this act, the
5 board of directors of each school district is hereby authorized
6 to grant temporary or emergency increases in salaries to members
7 of its teaching or supervisory staff for any period, and to
8 discontinue such increases at the end of the period for which
9 the same were granted, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.
10 In order to pay the amount of salary hereby provided for, the
11 board of school directors of any school district may revise its
12 budget by increasing its appropriation or appropriations for
13 salaries of members of the teaching and supervisory staffs of
14 the school district for any year. The funds therefor shall be
15 provided from unexpended balances in existing appropriations,
16 from unappropriated revenue, if any, or from temporary loans.
17 Any temporary or emergency increases heretofore or hereafter
18 granted by any school district, and the discontinuance thereof
19 at the end of the period for which granted, and any contracts,
20 rights, tenure rights, or other privileges or terms of
21 employment heretofore in effect in any school district, provided
22 the same shall meet the requirements of this act, are hereby
23 ratified, confirmed and made valid, notwithstanding the terms or
24 provisions of any other act or that the same may have been done
25 without previous authority of law.
26 No school district shall be required to pay any increments
27 provided for hereby to any teacher who is rated unsatisfactory
28 for any part of the probationary period of such teacher.
29 Section 12. Section 1162 of the act, amended March 19, 1970
30 (P.L.189, No.73), is amended to read:
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1 Section 1162. Joint Employment Including Supervisors or
2 Teachers of Special Subjects.--Two or more school districts may,
3 upon the nomination or joint nomination of the county
4 superintendent, district superintendent or supervising principal
5 under whose supervision such districts may be, join in the
6 employment of a supervisor or teacher of drawing, music, or
7 other special subject, for part or all of the schools of such
8 districts and may jointly prescribe his duties and fix and pay
9 his compensation, under and subject to the provisions of this
10 article governing the employment [and tenure] of professional
11 employes, including sections 1120 and 1134 of this act. Such
12 employment of teachers of special subjects shall include, for
13 the purpose of easing the transition period of immigrants
14 residing in such school districts, the employment of special
15 teachers who speak the idiomatic or colloquial language of
16 immigrants residing in such school districts.
17 Section 13. Section 1724-A(f) of the act, added June 19,
18 1997 (P.L.225, No.22), is amended to read:
19 Section 1724-A. School Staff.--* * *
20 (f) [Temporary professional employes on leave from a school
21 district may accrue tenure in the non-charter public school
22 system at the discretion of the local board of school directors,
23 the same as they would under Article XI if they had continued to
24 be employed by that district. Professional employes on leave
25 from a school district shall retain their tenure rights, as
26 defined in Article XI, in the school entity from which they
27 came.] No temporary professional employe or professional employe
28 shall have tenure rights as against a charter school. Both
29 temporary professional employes and professional employes shall
30 continue to accrue seniority in the school entity from which
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1 they came if they return to that school entity when the leave
2 ends.
3 * * *
4 Section 14. Section 1850.1(b)(9) of the act, amended May 14,
5 1968 (P.L.119, No.62), is amended to read:
6 Section 1850.1. Organization and Operation of Schools and
7 Institutes.--* * *
8 (b) The area vocational-technical board shall have authority
9 and its duty shall be:
10 * * *
11 (9) To employ temporary professional and professional
12 employes, supervisors and teachers, and to employ all other
13 persons necessary to carry on vocational-technical education and
14 technical institutes, and to determine the salaries to be paid.
15 All temporary professional and professional employes so employed
16 shall be subject to sections 1120 and 1134 of this act and shall
17 have the same rights of [tenure,] minimum salaries and
18 increments, leaves of absence because of illness or physical
19 disability, leaves of absence because of death in the immediate
20 family or death of a near relative, sabbatical leaves, military
21 leaves, exchange teacher leaves, and membership in the Public
22 School Employes' Retirement System as temporary professional and
23 professional employes of school districts[. No professional
24 employe who has attained tenure status as an employe of any area
25 vocational-technical board shall, thereafter, be required to
26 serve as a temporary professional employe before being tendered
27 such a contract when employed by any other part of the public
28 school system of the Commonwealth];
29 * * *
30 Section 15. Section 1926 of the act, amended October 25,
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1 1967 (P.L.491, No.237), is amended to read:
2 Section 1926. Schools and Classes in Institutions.--It shall
3 be within the jurisdiction of the Department of Public
4 Instruction to organize and to supervise schools and classes
5 according to the regulations and standards established for the
6 conduct of schools and classes of the public school system in
7 the Commonwealth in all institutions wholly or partly supported
8 by the Commonwealth which are not supervised by public school
9 authorities. Schools and classes so established in wholly state-
10 owned institutions shall be financed by the department of the
11 State government having jurisdiction and control of such
12 institutions. Except as otherwise provided by law, a teacher in
13 a school or of a class organized and supervised by the
14 Department of Public Instruction in an institution wholly or
15 partly supported by the Commonwealth, teachers in the
16 Pennsylvania State Oral School for the Deaf, teachers in the
17 Thaddeus Stevens Trade School and teachers in the Scotland
18 School for Veterans' Children shall enjoy the same privileges[,
19 including tenure rights] and be subject to the same laws as a
20 teacher in the public schools of the Commonwealth, including,
21 but not limited to, sections 1120 and 1134 of this act.
22 Section 16. Nothing in this amendatory act shall affect the
23 provisions of any collective bargaining agreement in effect on
24 the effective date of this amendatory act.
25 Section 17. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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