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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2372 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 375
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Adam Gomez
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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 relative to the teacher leadership program.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Adam GomezHampdenPavel M. PayanoFirst Essex2/1/2025 1 of 9
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2372 FILED ON: 1/17/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 375
By Mr. Gomez, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 375) of Adam Gomez and Pavel M.
Payano for legislation measuring the effectiveness of teacher leadership programs. Education.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act relative to the teacher leadership program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 69 of the General Law is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
2 Section 39. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the
3context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
4 “Distributed leadership”, a range of approaches where school leadership shares aspects
5of the traditional set of school decisions, organization, management and operations with teachers
6in a manner that is coordinated by, agreed to and led by the teachers and school leadership.
7 “Educational service agency”, a governmental agency or governmental entity, including
8an educational collaborative board established by section 4E of chapter 40, which is established
9and operated exclusively for the purpose of providing such services to 1 or more educational
10institutions.
11 “Eligible entity”, (i) a local educational agency or educational service agency; (ii) a
12consortium of local educational agencies or educational service agencies; (iii) a partnership 2 of 9
13between a local educational agency or educational service agency; (iv) a nonprofit organization
14with demonstrated expertise in teacher leadership programs, as determined by the commissioner;
15(v) a local educational agency or educational service agency with demonstrated capacity in
16supporting teacher leadership programs, as determined by the commissioner; or (vi) an
17institution of higher education that awards postsecondary teacher certificates or degrees and has
18a demonstrated capacity in supporting teacher leadership programs or teacher diversity, as
19determined by the commissioner.
20 “High-need educational service agency”, an educational service agency that serves a
21significant number or percentage of high-need local educational agencies.
22 “High-need local educational agency”, a high-need local educational agency, as such
23term is defined in paragraph (10) of section 200 of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, 20
24U.S.C. 1021(10).
25 “Local educational agency'”, any agency that has administrative control and direction of
26a vocational education program funded in whole or in part by federal funds.
27 “Teacher leader”, one who takes initiative to design and implement solutions within and
28beyond the classroom positively affecting students, families, and colleagues at the school,
29district, state or federal level which ensures teacher retention, and ultimately student success.
30Teacher Leaders may participate in the teacher leadership program under this section.
31 (b)(1) The commissioner shall award competitive grants to eligible entities to establish
32and maintain teacher leadership programs. 3 of 9
33 (2) From the total amount appropriated to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the
34commissioner: (A) shall reserve not less than 5 percent to carry out planning grants in subsection
35(g); (B) may reserve not more than: (i) 3 per cent to provide technical assistance to, and support
36the capacity building of, the programs assisted under this section; and (ii) 0.5 per cent to support
37program administration and data collection under this section; and (C) may reserve not more than
383.5 per cent to award planning grants to eligible entities in order to assist those eligible entities in
39developing a program proposal in accordance with subsection (g).
40 (3) Grant periods shall not exceed 3 years, with possible 2-year extensions based on
41grantee program performance in achieving program objectives.
42 (4) The commissioner shall ensure geographic diversity among grantees, including
43representation from urban and rural areas.
44 (c)(1) An eligible entity desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to
45the department, in such manner and containing such information as the commissioner may
46require including: (A) a description of how the eligible entity shall implement the program
47proposal described in paragraph (2); (B) a description of how grant funds shall be spent,
48including if and how other federal, state and local funding sources may be used to supplement
49grant funds in order to meet the requirements of the teacher leadership program; (C) a
50description of how the eligible entity shall continue the teacher leadership activities assisted
51under the grant after the grant period ends; and (D) a description of how the eligible entity shall
52engage teachers in the development and design of the program, including how the program will
53function at the school level
54 (2) The program proposal required under this subsection shall include the following: 4 of 9
55 (A) A plan to establish and operate a teacher leadership program that includes the
56following descriptions of how the eligible entity shall:
57 (i) ensure that the program includes the participation of teacher leaders in goal setting,
58professional learning or collaboration with content experts, school leadership, colleagues or
59leadership of an eligible entity, with respect to strategic planning or development at the school
60level and the level of the eligible entity, including planning and development relating to school
61climate, community engagement, teacher professional development and mentorship and student
62growth or implementing practices to support the whole child , including: (1) planning the design
63of and organizing the physical space, organizational structure, wraparound services and culture
64of schools to support positive, healthy and developmentally appropriate relationships among
65members of the school and community; (2) creating multi-tiered and integrated systems of
66support to address student academic and non-academic needs; and (3) creating and fostering safe
67and inclusive learning environments;
68 (ii) ensure that the program offers structures for shared decision making, distributed
69leadership, common planning and collaboration between participating teacher leaders and school
70leaders;
71 (iii) ensure that teacher leaders receive training and support to improve skills related to
72acting as instructional leaders, coaches, mentors or facilitators of professional learning;
73 (iv) use this program to establish and sustain teacher leadership opportunities to increase
74teacher retention, including for teachers who are individuals from underrepresented populations
75in the teaching profession. 5 of 9
76 (B) A description of how the eligible entity shall meet each of the following program
77requirements:
78 (i) ensuring all full-time teachers with at least 3 years of full-time teaching experience
79that maintain their roles as classroom instructors and are employed by the local educational
80agency may apply to participate in such program as teacher leaders;
81 (ii) providing the selection criteria for program participation to all eligible teachers
82described in clause (i), which shall include selection based on an eligible teacher's demonstrated
83ability in carrying out not less than 5 of the criteria in subclauses (1) through (8), inclusive, and a
84commitment to growth in other criteria where they do not have a demonstrated ability of: (1)
85carrying out leadership responsibilities while maintaining a role as a classroom instructor; (2)
86focusing on improving or advancing the vision, goals and priorities of the eligible entity that
87employs such teacher using evidence-based and practice-based data; (3) collecting and analyzing
88data of student outcomes or teacher professional outcomes and taking actions to improve student
89outcomes, teacher outcomes or professional learning informed by such data; (4) facilitating
90collaborative, evidence-based and practice-based and sustained professional learning with peers,
91including mentorship and instruction leadership, that lead to improvements in teaching efficacy
92and professional outcomes; (5) analyzing socioeconomic, cultural and historical contexts of
93students, their communities and the local educational agency, including existing pedagogy,
94school policies and school-based outreach to families and the community to create safe, healthy
95and inclusive school climates; (6) implementing and evaluating strategies aimed at addressing
96areas of demonstrated need in the school that the teacher is employed, including increasing
97wraparound services, academic supports, family engagement and community-based services; (7)
98supporting teachers to effectively serve students with disabilities, English learners and students 6 of 9
99who are linguistically, racially and culturally diverse, economically disadvantaged or historically
100underrepresented to increase their social, emotional and academic needs; and (8) using,
101customizing or developing lesson materials and instructional resources to meet the unique needs
102of students and the eligible entity to further students' achievement.
103 (iii) ensuring that all teachers and paraprofessionals employed by the participating local
104educational agencies served by the eligible entity are eligible to participate in programming led
105by a teacher leader, when applicable;
106 (iv) providing financial assistance or compensation to teacher leaders who participate in
107such program for the additional responsibilities that are directly related to the teacher leadership
108program;
109 (v) allowing the financial assistance or compensation described in clause (iv) to be
110substituted for paid time off or satisfaction of a contract requirement at the request of the teacher
111leader receiving such compensation and with the authorization and agreement of the eligible
112entity that serves the elementary or secondary school that such teacher leader is employed;
113 (vi) requiring teacher leaders to support their own development and professional growth
114by evaluating themselves and each other using evidence, research or practice-based rubrics;
115 (vii) consulting with other teachers who are not teacher leaders when developing and
116implementing the program as described in this paragraph; and
117 (viii) Expending funds granted under this section to permit not more than 5 percent of
118such grant funds for administrative expenses incurred by the eligible entity and not less than 95
119percent of such grant funds to implement the program proposal described in this paragraph at the 7 of 9
120school or classroom level in order to carry out 1 or more of the following activities: (1)
121facilitating collaboration between program participants; (2) developing or improving
122instructional materials; or (3) design new roles and compensation structures that differentiate
123between classroom responsibilities and responsibilities as a teacher leader.
124 (3) Each eligible entity applying for a grant under this section shall include in such
125application an assurance that the eligible entity shall comply with reporting and evaluation
126requirements described in subsection (f).
127 (d) In awarding grants under this section, the commissioner shall give priority to eligible
128entities that include:
129 (i) a high-need educational service agency;
130 (ii) a high-need local educational agency;
131 (iii) a local educational agency that receives basic support payments under section
1327003(b)(1) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C.
1337703(b)(1);
134 (iv) a local educational agency that demonstrates in their program proposal under
135subsection (c)(2) a plan to use this program to establish and sustain teacher leadership
136opportunities to increase teacher recruitment, including teachers who are individuals from
137underrepresented populations in the teaching profession; and
138 (v) an eligible entity involving a partnership between a local educational agency or
139educational service agency that has a successful track record in supporting teacher leadership
140models, retaining teachers or advancing teacher diversity. 8 of 9
141 (e)(1) An eligible entity awarded a grant under this section shall use: (i) not more than 5
142percent of such grant funds for administrative expenses; and (ii) not less than 95 percent of such
143grant funds to implement the program proposal described in subsection (c)(2) and, at the eligible
144entity's option, carry out activities described in paragraph (2).
145 (2) In addition to implementing the program proposal under subsection (c)(2), an eligible
146entity awarded a grant under this section may use such grant funds to facilitate collaboration
147between program participants, instructional materials development or the reallocation of work
148hours for teacher leaders between classroom responsibilities and responsibilities as a teacher
149leader.
150 (f)(1) An eligible entity shall submit to the department, in a timeline determined by the
151commissioner, all information necessary for the evaluation described in paragraph (2).
152 (2) The commissioner shall carry out an independent evaluation measuring the
153effectiveness of the activities carried out under grants awarded under this section, including
154information about whether participating eligible entities experience greater teacher retention than
155non-participants. In carrying out the evaluation, the commissioner shall collect and analyze the
156following information, disaggregated by race, ethnicity and gender:
157 (A) Each participating eligible entity shall submit the following: (i) the 3-year retention
158rate of all full-time teachers, disaggregated by teachers who are in their first year of teaching and
159teachers hired by such local educational agency in the same school year as one another; (ii) the
1605-year retention rate of all full-time teachers, disaggregated by teachers who are in their first year
161of teaching; and teachers hired by such local educational agency in the same school year as one 9 of 9
162another; and (iii) the employment status of full-time teachers hired by such educational agency,
163in the same school year that such eligible entity received a grant under this section.
164 (B) Each teacher leader participating in a program established using such grant funds,
165shall submit the following: (i) the number of years of teaching experience such teacher leader
166had at the time of program participation; (ii) whether such teacher leader is employed by a local
167educational agency served by such eligible entity; (iii) if such teacher leader is not employed by
168a local educational agency served by such eligible entity, the reason for leaving; and (iv) the year
169that such teacher leader was first employed as a teacher.
170 (3) The aggregated data submitted under paragraph (1) and the results of the evaluation
171under paragraph (2) shall be made publicly available on the website of the department, except
172that such publicly available data and results shall not reveal personally identifiable information.
173 (g)(1) The commissioner may award planning grants to eligible entities to enable those
174eligible entities to develop a program proposal under subsection (c)(2).
175 (2) An eligible entity seeking a planning grant under this subsection shall submit an
176application to the department. The commissioner shall establish application requirements,
177including submission deadlines and required information and documentation.
178 (3) A planning grant under this subsection shall be for a period of not more than 1 year.
179 (h) Annually, not later than December 31, the commissioner shall file a report evaluating
180the teacher leadership programs and measuring the effectiveness of the activities carried out
181under the grants awarded including recommendations for regulations and legislation, with the
182clerks of the house and senate and the joint committee on education.