HB273: Teachers; increase in salaries for those in critical shortage areas.

HOUSE BILL NO. 273
Offered January 11, 2006
Prefiled January 4, 2006
A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-289.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to teacher salaries.
Patron-- Poisson

Referred to Committee on Education

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That § 22.1-289.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 22.1-289.1. Teacher compensation; biennial review required.

A. It is a goal of the Commonwealth that its public school teachers be compensated at a rate that is competitive in order to attract and keep competent teachers. The Director of Human Resource Management shall conduct a biennial review of the compensation of teachers and other occupations requiring similar education and training. The results of these reviews shall be reported to the Governor, the General Assembly and the Board of Education by June 1 of each odd-numbered year beginning with 1989. However, a preliminary report shall be submitted by the Director of Human Resource Management by December 15, 1987.

B. To assure the availability of highly qualified teachers in high-demand subject areas, the local school boards shall adjust their teacher salary schedules to provide for greater compensation for personnel who teach in a critical teacher shortage area or discipline, as identified by the Board of Education's Regulations Governing the Determination of Critical Teacher Shortage Areas, than in areas in which there is no shortage of highly qualified teachers.

C. In order to provide teachers with salaries comparable to those earned by school administrators, no teacher salary schedule adopted by a local school board shall establish a maximum salary that can be earned by teachers in a school division.