Page 1 of 7 Sec. 14.20.022. Subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate. (a) Notwithstanding AS 14.20.020, a person may be issued a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate, valid only in the subject-matter in which the person has expertise, upon compliance with the requirements of this section. A subject-matter expert teacher may only be employed to teach subjects in which the person has satisfied the education or experience requirements set out in (b)(1) of this section. (b) To be eligible for a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate, a person shall (1) hold at least a baccalaureate degree from an institution of higher education accredited by a recognized regional or national accrediting association or approved by the commissioner and (A) have majored or minored in the subject that the person will be teaching; or (B) have at least five years experience in the subject matter that the person will be teaching; (2) have submitted fingerprints and the fees required by the Department of Public Safety under AS 12.62.160 for criminal justice information and a national criminal history record check to the department; the department must have submitted the fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public Safety for a report of criminal justice information under AS 12.62 and a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 and the person must have been found by the department to be suitable for employment as a teacher under AS 14.20.020(f); and (3) be currently enrolled in an approved post-baccalaureate teacher education program at a regionally accredited institution meeting the requirements of AS 14.20.020 (b) that provides for completion of the regular teacher certificate education requirements within two years after receipt of a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate under this section. (c) Before a school district or regional educational attendance area determines whether to hire a person as a subject-matter expert teacher under this section, the school district or regional educational attendance area shall administer a competency examination. (d) A subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate is valid for one school year and may be renewed for one additional school year upon a showing of substantial progress towards completion of the teacher education program required under (b)(3) of this section. (e) A school district or regional educational attendance area that employs a subject-matter expert teacher shall provide a mentor who is an experienced teacher for the subject-matter expert teacher for at least the first year of the subject-matter expert teacher's employment in the school district or regional educational attendance area. (f) A person employed as a subject-matter expert teacher under this section is considered a certificated employee for purposes of AS 14.25 (teachers' retirement system). Employment as a subjectmatter expert teacher under this section counts as employment for purposes of acquiring tenure under AS 14.20.150 ; however, a person holding a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate under this section is not entitled to tenure until the person receives a teacher certificate under AS 14.20.020.
Page 2 of 7 (g) The department shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this section. (h) In this section, "subject-matter expert teacher" is a teacher qualified to teach under (b) of this section. Sec. 14.20.025. Limited teacher certificates. Notwithstanding AS 14.20.020 (b), a person may be issued a limited certificate, valid only in the area of expertise for which it is issued, to teach Alaska Native language or culture, military science, or a vocational or technical course for which the board determines by regulation that baccalaureate degree training is not sufficiently available. A limited certificate may be issued under this section only if the school board of the district or regional educational attendance area in which the person will be teaching has requested its issuance. A person who applies for a limited certificate shall demonstrate, as required by regulations adopted by the board, instructional skills and subject matter expertise sufficient to ensure the public that the person is competent as a teacher. The board may require a person issued a limited certificate to undertake academic training as may be required by the board by regulation and make satisfactory progress in the academic training. Sec. 14.20.027. Reporting of and access to social security numbers. Notwithstanding AS 14.20.010-14.20.040, the department may not issue a teacher certificate under AS 14.20.020 or a limited teacher certificate under AS 14.20.025 unless the applicant has supplied the department with the applicant's social security number. Upon request, the department shall provide the social security number to the child support services agency created in AS 25.27.010, or the child support enforcement agency of another state, for child support purposes authorized under law. Sec. 14.20.030. Causes for revocation and suspension. (a) The commissioner or the Professional Teaching Practices Commission may revoke or suspend a certificate only for the following reasons: (1) incompetency, which is defined as the inability or the unintentional or intentional failure to perform the teacher's customary teaching duties in a satisfactory manner; (2) immorality, which is defined as the commission of an act which, under the laws of the state, constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude; or (3) substantial noncompliance with the school laws of the state or the regulations of the department; (4) upon a determination by the Professional Teaching Practices Commission that there has been a violation of ethical or professional standards or contractual obligations. (b) The commissioner or the Professional Teaching Practices Commission shall revoke for life the certificate of a person who has been convicted of a crime, or an attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit a crime, involving a minor under AS 11.41.410-11.41.460 or a law or ordinance in another jurisdiction with elements similar to an offense described in this subsection. (c) The commissioner or the Professional Teaching Practices Commission shall request the chief administrative law judge (AS 44.64.020), to appoint an administrative law judge employed by the office
Page 3 of 7 of administrative hearings to preside at a hearing conducted under this section. AS 44.64.060 and 44.64.070 do not apply to the hearing. Sec. 14.20.035. Evaluation of training and experience. In evaluating an applicant for a position in a district or regional educational attendance area, a district or regional educational attendance area shall give preference to those applicants who demonstrate training or experience that establishes that the applicant is likely to be sensitive to the traditions and culture of the cultural backgrounds represented in the student population. Sec. 14.20.040. Applicability of the Administrative Procedure Act. AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) applies to all proceedings under AS 14.20.030, and revocations and suspensions are final and reviewable in accordance with AS 44.62.560-44.62.570. Sec. 14.20.090. Revocation of certificates. [Repealed, Sec. 59 ch 98 SLA 1966]. Repealed or Renumbered Article 02. EMPLOYMENT AND TENURE Sec. 14.20.095. Right to comment and criticize not to be restricted. A bylaw or regulation of the commissioner, a school board, or local school administrator may not restrict or modify the right of a teacher to engage in comment and criticism outside school hours, regarding school personnel, members of the governing body of any school or school district, any other public official, or any school employee, to the same extent that any private individual may exercise the right. Sec. 14.20.097. Duty-free time. Each governing body shall allow its teachers in school facilities with four or more teachers a daily dutyfree mealtime of at least 30 minutes reasonably scheduled during the middle of the teacher's workday. Sec. 14.20.100. Unlawful to require statement of religious or political affiliation. A school board, or a member of a school board, may not require or compel a person applying for the position of teacher in the public schools of the state to state a religious or political affiliation. Sec. 14.20.110. Penalty for violation of AS 14.20.100. A person violating AS 14.20.100 is punishable by a fine of not more than $100. Sec. 14.20.120. Statement of qualifications. A statement of the qualifications of each teacher and superintendent employed by the state or a school district shall be filed with the commissioner. The statement must contain the credits earned in college, normal school, or university, and the number of years of teaching experience both in the state and elsewhere in the form and manner prescribed by the commissioner.
Page 4 of 7 Sec. 14.20.130. Employment of teachers and administrators. An employer may, after January 1, issue contracts for the following school year to employees regularly qualified in accordance with the regulations of the department. The contract for a superintendent may be for more than one school year but may not exceed three consecutive school years. Sec. 14.20.135. Employment of retired teachers because of shortages. (a) A school district or regional educational attendance area that has or anticipates having a shortage of teachers qualified to teach in a particular discipline or specialty may, by resolution, adopt a policy that permits the employment of retired teachers who are qualified to teach in the discipline or specialty in accordance with this section. The policy must describe the circumstances that constitute the shortage. If a shortage of teachers exists as described in the policy, the district or attendance area shall notify the administrator of the teachers' retirement system (AS 14.25) that it is hiring retired teachers under this section. (b) A teacher who retired under AS 14.25.110 (a) and is subsequently reemployed under this section may, within 30 days after the date of reemployment, elect to continue receiving retirement benefit payments under AS 14.25 during the period of reemployment by filing a waiver of coverage as set out in AS 14.25.043 (b). (c) A school district or regional educational attendance area may not employ a teacher, principal, or administrator who participated in a retirement incentive program under ch. 26, SLA 1986; ch. 89, SLA 1989; ch. 65, SLA 1996; ch. 4, FSSLA 1996; or ch. 92, SLA 1997, under this section. (d) A retired teacher employed under this section is not eligible to acquire, maintain, or reacquire tenure under AS 14.20.150. (e) If a school district or regional educational attendance area hires a retired teacher under this section and the retired teacher who has been rehired elects to continue receiving benefit payments during the period of reemployment under AS 14.25.043 (b), the employer of a retired teacher who has been rehired under this section shall provide health and medical benefits to the retired teacher who has been rehired. If the retired teacher has been rehired as a full-time teacher, the teacher's employer shall provide the same health and medical benefits to that teacher as the employer provides to other full-time teachers, and the teacher may not receive retirement medical benefits during the period of reemployment. Sec. 14.20.140. Notification of lay off or nonretention. (a) If a teacher who has acquired tenure rights is to be laid off under AS 14.20.177 or is not to be retained for the following school year, the employer shall notify the teacher of the layoff or nonretention by writing, delivered before March 16, or by registered mail postmarked before March 16. (b) If a teacher who has not acquired tenure rights is to be laid off under AS 14.20.177 or is not to be retained for the following school year the employer shall notify the teacher of the layoff or nonretention by writing delivered on or before the last day of the school term or by registered mail postmarked on or before the last day of the school term. (c) Notwithstanding a teacher's right to continued employment under AS 39.20.500-39.20.550, a school district may notify a teacher of layoff or nonretention under this section for the following school year for a permissible reason.
Page 5 of 7 Sec. 14.20.145. Automatic reemployment. If notification of nonretention or layoff is not given according to AS 14.20.140, a teacher is entitled to be reemployed in the same district for the following school year on the contract terms the teacher and the employer may agree upon, or, if no terms are agreed upon, the provisions of the previous contract are continued for the following school year, subject to AS 14.20.158. Except as provided in AS 14.20.177 (e), the right to automatic reemployment under this section expires if the teacher does not accept reemployment within 30 days after the date on which the teacher receives a contract of reemployment. A teacher who is on family leave under AS 39.20.500-39.20.550 must comply with the 30-day deadline in this section to retain the teacher's reemployment rights under this section. Sec. 14.20.147. Transfer or absorption of attendance area or federal agency school. (a) When an attendance area is transferred from a currently operating district to, or absorbed into, a new or existing school district, the teachers for the attendance area also shall be transferred unless otherwise mutually agreed by the teacher or teachers and the chief school administrator of the new district if the district employs a chief school administrator. Accumulated or earned benefits, including seniority, salary level, tenure, leave, and retirement, accompany the teacher who is transferred. (b) When a school operated by a federal agency is transferred to or absorbed into a new or existing school district, the teachers shall also be transferred if mutually agreed by the teacher or teachers and the school board of the new or existing district. A teacher transferred from a federal agency school that does not have an official salary schedule or teacher tenure in the same manner as a public school district in the state shall be placed on a position on the salary schedule of the absorbing district; the salary may not be less than the teacher would have received in the federal agency school. If the teacher taught three or more years in the federal agency school and, at the time of transfer, had a valid Alaska teaching certificate, that teacher shall be placed on tenure in the absorbing district. (c) On the first day of service in the absorbing school district, a teacher transferred from a federal agency school shall be allowed the actual number of days of accumulated sick leave that the teacher has earned while teaching in the state. Consistent with the established district policy the absorbing district may allow credit for any other type of leave. Credit for retirement shall be allowed in accordance with AS 14.25.060. Sec. 14.20.148. Intradistrict teacher reassignments. When a teacher is involuntarily transferred or reassigned to a position for which the teacher is qualified, within the district, the teacher's moving expenses shall be paid unless the one-way driving distance is 20 miles or less from the teacher's present place of residence, or unless otherwise mutually agreed by the teacher and chief school administrator of the district if the district employs a chief school administrator. Sec. 14.20.149. Employee evaluation. (a) A school board shall adopt by July 1, 1997, a certificated employee evaluation system for evaluation and improvement of the performance of the district's teachers and administrators. The evaluation system applies to all the district's certificated employees except the district's superintendent. A school board shall consider information from students, parents, community members, classroom teachers, affected collective bargaining units, and administrators in the design and periodic review of the district's certificated employee evaluation system. An evaluation of a certificated employee under this section must be based on observation of the employee in the employee's workplace.
Page 6 of 7 (b) The certificated employee evaluation system must (1) establish district performance standards for the district's teachers and administrators that are based on professional performance standards adopted by the department by regulation; (2) require at least two observations for the evaluation of each nontenured teacher in the district each school year; (3) require at least an annual evaluation of each tenured teacher in the district who met the district performance standards during the previous school year; (4) permit the district to limit its evaluations of tenured teachers who have consistently exceeded the district performance standards to one evaluation every two school years; (5) require the school district to perform an annual evaluation for each administrator; (6) require the school district to prepare and implement a plan of improvement for a teacher or administrator whose performance did not meet the district performance standards, except if the teacher's or administrator's performance warrants immediate dismissal under AS 14.20.170(a); and (7) provide an opportunity for students, parents, community members, teachers, and administrators to provide information on the performance of the teacher or administrator who is the subject of the evaluation to the evaluating administrator. (c) A person may not conduct an evaluation under this section unless the person holds a type B certificate or is a site administrator under the supervision of a person with a type B certificate, is employed by the school district as an administrator, and has completed training in the use of the school district's teacher evaluation system. (d) Once each school year, a school district shall offer in-service training to the certificated employees who are subject to the evaluation system. The training must address the procedures of the evaluation system, the standards that the district uses in evaluating the performance of teachers and administrators, and other information that the district considers helpful. (e) A school district shall provide a tenured teacher whose performance, after evaluation, did not meet the district performance standards with a plan of improvement. The evaluating administrator shall consult with the tenured teacher in setting clear, specific performance expectations to be included in the plan of improvement. The plan of improvement must address ways in which the tenured teacher's performance can be improved and shall last for not less than 90 workdays and not more than 180 workdays unless the minimum time is shortened by agreement between the evaluating administrator and the teacher. The plan of improvement shall be based on the professional performance standards outlined in the locally adopted school district evaluation procedure. The school district must observe the teacher at least twice during the course of the plan. If, at the conclusion of the plan of improvement, the tenured teacher's performance again does not meet the district performance standards, the district may nonretain the teacher under AS 14.20.175 (b)(1). (f) A school district may place an administrator who has previously acquired tenure, whose performance, including performance as an evaluator under the district's certificated employee evaluation system, does not meet the district performance standards on a plan of improvement. The plan must address ways in which the administrator's performance can be improved and shall last for not less than
Page 7 of 7 90 workdays and not more than 210 workdays unless the minimum time is shortened by agreement between the evaluating administrator and the administrator being evaluated. The school district must observe the administrator being evaluated at least twice during the course of the plan. If, at the conclusion of the plan of improvement, the administrator's performance again does not meet the district performance standards, the district may terminate its employment contract with the administrator. This subsection does not restrict the right of a school district to reassign an administrator to a teaching position consistent with the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement. (g) The department may request copies of each school district's certificated employee evaluation system and changes the district makes to the systems. (h) Information provided to a school district under the school district's certificated employee evaluation system concerning the performance of an individual being evaluated under the system is not a public record and is not subject to disclosure under AS 40.25. However, the individual who is the subject of the evaluation is entitled to a copy of the information and may waive the confidentiality provisions of this subsection concerning the information.