TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEV’T - S.B. 366: COMMITTEE SUMMARY
sans-serif">Senate Bill 366 (as introduced 4-2-03)
Sponsor: Senator Alan L. Cropsey
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Revised School Code to eliminate the required number of days of professional development a district must provide to its teachers each year.
Currently, Section 1527 of the Code requires that the board of each school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy provide at least five days of professional development to its teachers. The bill would repeal this section.
The Code further requires that, for the first three years of their classroom teaching, new teachers receive at least 15 days of professional development (not including the five required under Section 1527), the experiencing of effective practices in university-linked professional development schools, and regional seminars conducted by master teachers and other mentor mentors. The bill would eliminate this requirement.
MCL 380.1526 & 380.1526a - Legislative Analyst: Claire Layman
FISCAL IMPACT
The elimination of the five-day and the 15-day professional development requirements would result in savings for all school districts.
The exact amount of savings is indeterminate since the cost of professional development for teachers varies widely among school districts and is directly related to the number of teachers in each district. Although the actual cost of professional development training is indeterminate, the savings attributable to the cost of hiring substitute teachers for each day that a full-time teacher is involved in professional development training can be estimated. The State-wide average cost of a substitute teacher on a per-day basis is $75. Thus, for the five days of professional development that are currently required annually for both new and veteran teachers, a school district could expect to save an estimated $375 per year per teacher who is absent due to professional development training. This estimated saving would be in addition to whatever savings resulted from the cost associated with the actual professional development training.
- Fiscal Analyst: Joe CarrascoS0304\s366sa
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.