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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 344 FILED ON: 1/13/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 340 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Pavel M. Payano |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act enabling all students to thrive: protecting a high quality, diverse educator workforce. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Pavel M. PayanoFirst Essex 1 of 3 |
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| 16 | 16 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 344 FILED ON: 1/13/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 340 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Mr. Payano, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 340) of Pavel M. Payano for |
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| 19 | 19 | | legislation to enable all students to thrive: protecting a high quality, diverse educator workforce. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act enabling all students to thrive: protecting a high quality, diverse educator workforce. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Section 42 of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2is hereby amended by striking the seventh paragraph, and inserting in the place thereof the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3following: |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 Nothing in this section or section 41 shall affect the right of a superintendent to lay off |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5teachers pursuant to reductions in force or reorganization resulting from declining enrollment or |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6other budgetary reasons. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7 Except as herein provided, no teacher with professional teacher status shall be laid off |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8pursuant to a reduction in force or reorganization if there is a teacher without such status for |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9whose position the covered employee is currently certified or if there is a less qualified teacher |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10with professional teacher status holding the same or similar position for which the covered |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11employee is currently certified. No teacher with professional teacher status shall be displaced in |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12accordance with the terms of a collective bargaining agreement or otherwise by a more senior 2 of 3 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13teacher with such status unless the more senior teacher is currently certified pursuant to section |
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| 42 | 42 | | 1438G and is at least as qualified for the position as the junior teacher holding the position. The |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15criteria for determining a qualified teacher under this paragraph shall be subject to the collective |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16bargaining provisions of chapter 150E; provided, however, that any such collectively bargained |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17for qualifications shall include, as the primary factors, indicators of job performance, including |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18overall ratings resulting from comprehensive evaluations conducted consistent with section 38, |
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| 47 | 47 | | 19and the best interests of the students in the school or district; and provided further, that for the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 20purposes of this paragraph, no distinction shall be made between the overall performance ratings |
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| 49 | 49 | | 21established by the board of elementary and secondary education finding that the teacher has met |
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| 50 | 50 | | 22or exceeded acceptable performance standards developed under said section 38 and that are |
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| 51 | 51 | | 23defined by the board as proficient and exemplary. |
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| 52 | 52 | | 24 In a layoff, a school district shall retain a teacher with linguistic proficiency in relation to |
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| 53 | 53 | | 25an in-district language or dialect who has less seniority and without regard to the professional |
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| 54 | 54 | | 26teacher status or lack thereof of such teacher if the release of the less senior teacher would result |
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| 55 | 55 | | 27in a lesser proportion of teachers with such linguistic proficiency compared to the proportion of |
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| 56 | 56 | | 28students for whom such language or dialect is their first language or dialect. For purposes of this |
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| 57 | 57 | | 29paragraph, linguistic proficiency in relation to an in-district language or dialect shall mean |
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| 58 | 58 | | 30proficiency in a language or dialect other than English that is spoken by the greater of (a) by five |
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| 59 | 59 | | 31percent or more of the students enrolled at the school where a teacher is assigned or, if the |
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| 60 | 60 | | 32teacher is not assigned to a school, of the students enrolled in the district or (b) at five percent or |
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| 61 | 61 | | 33more of the homes of the students enrolled at the school where a teacher is assigned or, if the |
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| 62 | 62 | | 34teacher is not assigned to a school, of the homes of the students enrolled in the district. 3 of 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 35 A teacher meeting one of the following criteria shall be exempted from layoff based on |
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| 64 | 64 | | 36seniority or based on whether or not a teacher has professional teacher status: (a) a teacher who |
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| 65 | 65 | | 37is a member of a population underrepresented among certified teachers in the district, (b) a |
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| 66 | 66 | | 38teacher who graduated from a so-called grow your own teacher preparation program of the |
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| 67 | 67 | | 39district, (c) a teacher who works in a school defined by the district as hard to staff, (d) a teacher |
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| 68 | 68 | | 40certified in a subject area for which there is a shortage of teachers in the district, which may |
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| 69 | 69 | | 41include without limitation science, technology, engineering, mathematics, computer science, |
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| 70 | 70 | | 42special education, English as a second language, and a foreign language, (e) a teacher deemed by |
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| 71 | 71 | | 43the department as a Teacher of the Year, (f) a teacher certified by the National Board for |
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| 72 | 72 | | 44Professional Teaching Standards, or (g) a teacher who received the highest rating on a |
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| 73 | 73 | | 45performance evaluation delivered in either or both of the school years immediately prior to the |
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| 74 | 74 | | 46school year in which a layoff is announced. |
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| 75 | 75 | | 47 The school committee and the collective bargaining representative may negotiate for |
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| 76 | 76 | | 48seniority or length of service only as a tiebreaker in layoffs among teachers whose qualifications |
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| 77 | 77 | | 49are no different using the qualifications collectively bargained for in accordance with this |
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| 78 | 78 | | 50section. |
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