(1)(a) The Washington professional educator standards board is created, consisting of twenty members to be appointed by the governor to four-year terms and the superintendent of public instruction.

     (b) As the four-year terms of the first appointees expire or vacancies to the board occur for the first time, the governor shall appoint or reappoint the members of the board to one-year to four-year staggered terms. Once the one-year to three-year terms expire, all subsequent terms shall be for four years, with the terms expiring on June 30th of the applicable year. The terms shall be staggered in such a way that, where possible, the terms of members representing a specific group do not expire simultaneously.

     (c) No person may serve as a member of the board for more than two consecutive full four-year terms.

     (d) The governor shall annually appoint the chair of the board from among the teachers and principals on the board. No board member may serve as chair for more than two consecutive years.

     (2) Seven of the members shall be public school teachers, one shall be a private school teacher, three shall represent higher education educator preparation programs, four shall be school administrators, two shall be educational staff associates, one shall be a classified employee who assists in public school student instruction, one shall be a parent, and one shall be a member of the public.

     (3) Public school teachers appointed to the board must:

     (a) Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington public school;

     (b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position; and

     (c) Include one teacher currently teaching at the elementary school level, one at the middle school level, one at the high school level, and one vocationally certificated.

     (4) Private school teachers appointed to the board must:

     (a) Have at least three years of teaching experience in a Washington approved private school; and

     (b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in a teaching position in an approved private school.

     (5) Appointees from higher education educator preparation programs must include two representatives from institutions of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 and one representative from an institution of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.07.020(4).

     (6) School administrators appointed to the board must:

     (a) Have at least three years of administrative experience in a Washington public school district;

     (b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in a school administrator position; and

     (c) Include two public school principals, one Washington approved private school principal, and one superintendent.

     (7) Educational staff associates appointed to the board must:

     (a) Have at least three years of educational staff associate experience in a Washington public school district; and

     (b) Be currently certificated and actively employed in an educational staff associate position.

     (8) Public school classified employees appointed to the board must:

     (a) Have at least three years of experience in assisting in the instruction of students in a Washington public school; and

     (b) Be currently employed in a position that requires the employee to assist in the instruction of students.

     (9) Each major caucus of the house of representatives and the senate shall submit a list of at least one public school teacher. In making the public school teacher appointments, the governor shall select one nominee from each list provided by each caucus. The governor shall appoint the remaining members of the board from a list of qualified nominees submitted to the governor by organizations representative of the constituencies of the board, from applications from other qualified individuals, or from both nominees and applicants.

     (10) All appointments to the board made by the governor shall be subject to confirmation by the senate.

     (11) The governor shall appoint the members of the initial board no later than June 1, 2000.

     (12) In appointing board members, the governor shall consider the diversity of the population of the state.

     (13) Each member of the board shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240 and shall be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in carrying out the duties of the board in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

     (14) The governor may remove a member of the board for neglect of duty, misconduct, malfeasance or misfeasance in office, or for incompetency or unprofessional conduct as defined in chapter 18.130 RCW. In such a case, the governor shall file with the secretary of state a statement of the causes for and the order of removal from office, and the secretary of state shall send a certified copy of the statement of causes and order of removal to the last known post office address of the member.

     (15) If a vacancy occurs on the board, the governor shall appoint a replacement member from the nominees as specified in subsection (9) of this section to fill the remainder of the unexpired term. When filling a vacancy of a member nominated by a major caucus of the legislature, the governor shall select the new member from a list of at least one name submitted by the same caucus that provided the list from which the retiring member was appointed.

     (16) Members of the board shall hire an executive director and an administrative assistant to reside in the office of the superintendent of public instruction for administrative purposes only.

[2005 c 497 § 202; 2003 1st sp.s. c 22 § 1; 2002 c 92 § 1; 2000 c 39 § 102.]

NOTES:

     Intent -- Part headings not law -- Effective date -- 2005 c 497: See notes following RCW 28A.305.011.

     Findings -- 2000 c 39: "The legislature finds and declares:

     (1) Creation of a public body whose focus is educator quality would be likely to bring greater focus and attention to the profession;

     (2) Professional educator standards boards are consumer protection boards, establishing assessment policies to ensure the public that its new practitioners have the knowledge to be competent;

     (3) The highest possible standards for all educators are essential in ensuring attainment of high academic standards by all students;

     (4) Teacher assessment for certification can guard against admission to the teaching profession of persons who have not demonstrated that they are knowledgeable in the subjects they will be assigned to teach; and

     (5) Teacher assessment for certification should be implemented as an additional element to the system of teacher preparation and certification." [2000 c 39 § 101.]

     Part headings and section captions not law -- 2000 c 39: "Part headings and section captions used in this act are not any part of the law." [2000 c 39 § 301.]

Joint report to the legislature: RCW 28A.305.035.