HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 186        FILED ON: 1/12/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 441

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Paul McMurtry

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act  to waive the DESE teacher licensing fee.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

1/12/2015

Leah Cole

12th Essex

1/15/2015

Paul R. Heroux

2nd Bristol

1/29/2015


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 186        FILED ON: 1/12/2015

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 441

By Mr. McMurtry of Dedham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 441) of Paul McMurtry, Leah Cole and Paul R. Heroux relative to establishing a performance review program for the initial licensure of teachers and waiving certain license application fees.  Education.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

_______________

 

An Act  to waive the DESE teacher licensing fee.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.  Section 6 of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the third paragraph, the following paragraphs:-

Consistent with the purpose of this section and the department’s stated goal of attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers, the department shall establish a performance review program for the initial licensure of teacher candidates who hold a preliminary license, are hired as teachers of record and are working in a district that does not have an approved program for the initial license.  The department shall determine which teacher and specialist teacher licenses may be eligible for attainment through the performance review program pursuant to its regulatory authority under sections 1B, 1J and 1K of chapter 69. 

Teacher candidates seeking appropriate licensure through the performance review program shall be required to meet the following criteria:

(a)possession of a preliminary license in the field and at the level of the license sought;

(b)at least three full years of employment in the role of the preliminary license;

(c)documentation of seminars, courses and experience relevant to the professional standards for teachers set by the department pursuant to its regulatory authority;

(d)a recommendation from the principal of each school where the candidate was employed under the preliminary license or in the role of the license sought;

(e)a competency review for those license fields that have no subject matter knowledge test, or for which not all the subject matter knowledge required for the license is measured by the test; and

(f)for core academic teachers, possession of a sheltered English immersion teacher endorsement.

Fees associated with the performance review program, including application and tuition fees, shall be eligible for full reimbursement by the district in which the candidate works pursuant to section 38I of chapter 71 or otherwise waived by the department.