Budget Summary - Education Policy Changes

The following items have nothing to do with the budget, but were passed along with the budget. They are aimed directly at teachers, school employees, and the Arizona Education Association. The measures are widely seen as retribution for the advocacy work the AEA has done this year at the legislature. This summary was created by Jennifer Loredo, AEA lobbyist.

Policy Changes Targeted Against Teachers & Association Members (HB2648 & SB1187)

· Prohibits school district employment contracts from including compensated days for professional association activities. (New language added to the bill states that this policy change “does not prohibit individual employees of school districts from taking compensated leave time for any personal purpose, any professional purpose or any other lawful purpose.”)

· Prohibits a school district from adopting policies that provide employment retention priority for teachers based on tenure or seniority.

· Removes the current prohibition against school districts reducing the salary of a tenured teacher except under a general salary reduction applied equitably to all tenured teachers.

· Removes the contract dates (between March 15 and May 15) in which districts are required to offer teaching contracts for tenured teachers. Thus, there will be no date in statute set for contracts and school districts will each set their own contract notification deadline.

· Eliminates the May 15 statutory deadline for notice of salary reduction. Instead allows each school district to set its own salary reduction deadline for teachers.

· Removes current statute that requires a school board to notify a provisional teacher of nonrenewal by April 15; thus, there will be no date in statute set for this notification.

· Removes the current statutory requirement for a school district to give a preferred right of reappointment to a job for a teacher who has lost his/her job through the reduction in force (RIF) process if a job becomes available within three years of the RIF process.

· Reduces the time frame for requesting a hearing on dismissal or long-term suspension from 30 days to 10 days.

· Reduces the amount of a time a school district must allow a teacher to correct inadequate classroom performance from 85 instructional days to 60 instructional days after receiving notice.