EXCEPTIONS TO REQUIREMENTS ON

HIRING CERTIFICATED TEACHERS

House Bill 5963 (Substitute H-3)

Sponsor:  Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer

Committee:  Education

Complete to 12-6-06

A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 5963 AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Under House Bill 5963 (H-3), a school district or nonpublic school could hire a non-certificated, non-endorsed teacher to teach in Grades 7-12, full-time or part-time, if he or she meets all of the following requirements:

o                   Possesses at least an earned bachelor's degree from an accredited post-secondary institution.   

o                   Has a major or a graduate degree in the field of study in which he or she will teach.

o                   If the teacher wants to teach for more than one year, has passed both a basic skills examination and a subject area examination in the field of specialization in which he or she will teach.

o                   Is annually and continually enrolled and completing credit in an approved teacher preparation program leading to a teaching certificate.

o                   Is assigned to work with a mentor teacher, consistent with Section 1526 of the code.

(These requirements would be in addition to any other requirements established by a board of a school district or governing board of a nonpublic school.)

Currently under the law, a non-certificated, non-endorsed teacher is qualified to teach if the teacher has, in the five year period immediately preceding the date of hire, not less than two years of occupational experience in the field of specialization in which he or she will teach.  House Bill 5963 (H-3) would eliminate this provision.

Currently under the law, a local school board or intermediate school district can hire a full-time or part-time non-certificated teacher to teach courses in computer science, a foreign language, mathematics, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, robotics, or any other subject areas determined by the State Board of Education, in grades 9 through 12. House Bill 5963 (H-3) would extend the hiring provision to nonpublic schools, as well as to teachers in grades 7 through 12, and also would eliminate the list of courses cited above, along with the State Board's authority to designate courses for which non-certificated teachers could be hired.

Currently under the law, the board of a school district cannot engage a non-certificated teacher to teach a course, if the district is able to engage a certificated, endorsed teacher.  However, a board may employ or continue to employ a non-certificated teacher, if both of the following conditions are met:  a) the non-certificated, non-endorsed teacher is annually and continually enrolled and completing credit in an approved teacher preparation program leading to a provisional teaching certificate; and b) the non-certificated, non-endorsed teacher has a planned program leading to teacher certification on file with the employing school district or intermediate school district, his or her teacher preparation institutions, and the Department of Education.  House Bill 5963 (H-3) would retain these provisions, and require that the teacher's planned program on file with the school district lead to teacher certification within three years.

Finally, the law currently specifies that if a non-certificated teacher completes three years of successful classroom teaching, the Department of Education and a teacher preparation institution must use the teaching experience to waive student teaching as a condition for receiving a continued employment authorization in a school district and a provisional teaching certificate.  House Bill 5963 would retain the waiver provision, but specify that the teaching experience would waive student teaching as a condition for receiving a teaching certificate.

MCL 380.1233b

FISCAL IMPACT:

House Bill 5963 would have no fiscal impact on state or local government.

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   J. Hunault

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Mary Ann Cleary

                                                                                                                           Bethany Wicksall

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.