| 1 | 1 | | General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6324 |
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| 2 | 2 | | January Session, 2011 LCO No. 2930 |
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| 3 | 3 | | *02930_______ED_* |
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| 4 | 4 | | Referred to Committee on Education |
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| 5 | 5 | | Introduced by: |
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| 6 | 6 | | (ED) |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | General Assembly |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | Raised Bill No. 6324 |
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| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | January Session, 2011 |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | LCO No. 2930 |
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| 15 | 15 | | |
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| 16 | 16 | | *02930_______ED_* |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | Referred to Committee on Education |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | Introduced by: |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | (ED) |
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| 23 | 23 | | |
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| 24 | 24 | | AN ACT CONCERNING TEACHER EMPLOYMENT CRITERIA. |
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| 25 | 25 | | |
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| 26 | 26 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: |
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| 27 | 27 | | |
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| 28 | 28 | | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2011) In the absence of a provision for a layoff procedure agreed upon by a local or regional board of education and the exclusive employees' representative organization, each local and regional board of education shall develop a written policy regarding the layoff procedure of teachers employed by the board of education. Such layoff procedure policy shall include the factors to be considered in determining the teachers to be laid off and the weight given to each factor, provided years of service as a certified teacher in the school district shall not be the primary factor for why a teacher's employment is terminated. |
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| 29 | 29 | | |
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| 30 | 30 | | Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 10-151 of the general statutes is repealed the following is substituted on lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011): |
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| 31 | 31 | | |
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| 32 | 32 | | (d) The contract of employment of a teacher who has attained tenure shall be continued from school year to school year, except that it may be terminated at any time for one or more of the following reasons: (1) Inefficiency or incompetence, provided, if a teacher is notified on or after July 1, 2000, that termination is under consideration due to incompetence, the determination of incompetence is based on evaluation of the teacher using teacher evaluation guidelines established pursuant to section 10-151b; (2) insubordination against reasonable rules of the board of education; (3) moral misconduct; (4) disability, as shown by competent medical evidence; (5) elimination of the position to which the teacher was appointed or loss of a position to another teacher, if no other position exists to which such teacher may be appointed if qualified, provided such teacher, if qualified, shall be appointed to a position held by a teacher who has not attained tenure, and provided further that determination of the individual contract or contracts of employment to be terminated shall be made in accordance with either (A) a provision for a layoff procedure agreed upon by the board of education and the exclusive employees' representative organization, or (B) in the absence of such agreement, a written policy of the board of education developed in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of this act; or (6) other due and sufficient cause. Nothing in this section or in any other section of the general statutes or of any special act shall preclude a board of education from making an agreement with an exclusive bargaining representative which contains a recall provision. Prior to terminating a contract, the superintendent shall give the teacher concerned a written notice that termination of such teacher's contract is under consideration and, upon written request filed by such teacher with the superintendent, within seven days after receipt of such notice, shall within the next succeeding seven days give such teacher a statement in writing of the reasons therefor. Within twenty days after receipt of written notice by the superintendent that contract termination is under consideration, such teacher may file with the local or regional board of education a written request for a hearing. A board of education may designate a subcommittee of three or more board members to conduct hearings and submit written findings and recommendations to the board for final disposition in the case of teachers whose contracts are terminated. Such hearing shall commence within fifteen days after receipt of such request, unless the parties mutually agree to an extension, not to exceed fifteen days (A) before the board of education or a subcommittee of the board, (B) if indicated in such request or if designated by the board before an impartial hearing panel, or (C) if the parties mutually agree, before a single impartial hearing officer chosen by the teacher and the superintendent. If the parties are unable to agree upon the choice of a hearing officer within five days after their decision to use a hearing officer, the hearing shall be held before the board or panel, as the case may be. The impartial hearing panel shall consist of three members appointed as follows: The superintendent shall appoint one panel member, the teacher shall appoint one panel member, and those two panel members shall choose a third, who shall serve as chairperson. If the two panel members are unable to agree upon the choice of a third panel member within five days after the decision to use a hearing panel, the third panel member shall be selected with the assistance of the American Arbitration Association using its expedited selection process and in accordance with its rules for selection of a neutral arbitrator in grievance arbitration. If the third panel member is not selected with the assistance of such association within five days, the hearing shall be held before the board of education or a subcommittee of the board. Within seventy-five days after receipt of the request for a hearing, the impartial hearing panel, subcommittee of the board or hearing officer, unless the parties mutually agree to an extension not to exceed fifteen days, shall submit written findings and a recommendation to the board of education as to the disposition of the charges against the teacher and shall send a copy of such findings and recommendation to the teacher. The board of education shall give the teacher concerned its written decision within fifteen days of receipt of the written recommendation of the impartial hearing panel, subcommittee or hearing officer. Each party shall pay the fee of the panel member selected by it and shall share equally the fee of the third panel member or hearing officer and all other costs incidental to the hearing. If the hearing is before the board of education, the board shall render its decision within fifteen days after the close of such hearing and shall send a copy of its decision to the teacher. The hearing shall be public if the teacher so requests or the board, subcommittee, hearing officer or panel so designates. The teacher concerned shall have the right to appear with counsel at the hearing, whether public or private. A copy of a transcript of the proceedings of the hearing shall be furnished by the board of education, upon written request by the teacher within fifteen days after the board's decision, provided the teacher shall assume the cost of any such copy. Nothing herein contained shall deprive a board of education or superintendent of the power to suspend a teacher from duty immediately when serious misconduct is charged without prejudice to the rights of the teacher as otherwise provided in this section. |
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| 33 | 33 | | |
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| 34 | 34 | | |
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| 35 | 35 | | |
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| 36 | 36 | | |
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| 37 | 37 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: |
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| 38 | 38 | | Section 1 July 1, 2011 New section |
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| 39 | 39 | | Sec. 2 July 1, 2011 10-151(d) |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | Section 1 |
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| 44 | 44 | | |
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| 45 | 45 | | July 1, 2011 |
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| 46 | 46 | | |
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| 47 | 47 | | New section |
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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | Sec. 2 |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | July 1, 2011 |
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| 52 | 52 | | |
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| 53 | 53 | | 10-151(d) |
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| 54 | 54 | | |
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| 55 | 55 | | Statement of Purpose: |
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| 56 | 56 | | |
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| 57 | 57 | | To require local and regional boards of education to develop, in the absence of a provision in a collective bargaining agreement, a layoff procedure policy for the termination of employment of teachers, provided such policy prohibits the termination of teachers based solely on seniority. |
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| 58 | 58 | | |
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| 59 | 59 | | [Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] |
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