HOUSE BILL NO. 209

By Representative Davidson

Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 25

By Senator Womack

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapters 1 through 6, relative to elementary and secondary education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-5-5004, is amended by deleting subdivision (a)(1) in its entirety and substituting the following:

(a)(1) Parts 50-55 of this chapter shall apply only to:

(A) Educators who were licensed or certified as career level teacher or career level principal or assistant principal or supervisor between July 1, 1984 and the effective date of this act, and who maintain such certification, or who were so licensed and certified, but are inactive on the effective date of this act, and later return to service.

(B) Any educator who is in the process of applying for career level I certification, as of the effective date of this act, who successfully completes such certification and who maintains such certification.

(C) Any teacher in the second, third, or fourth year of employment as of the effective date of this act who, when eligible to do so, successfully applies for career level I certification, and who maintains such certification.

SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Sections 49-5-5201, 49-5-5202, 49-5-5301, 49-5-5302, 49-5-5401, 49-5-5402, 49-5-5501, and 49-5-5502, are amended by deleting the words and figures "after July 1, 1984" wherever they appear and substituting the words and figures "between July 1, 1984 and the effective date of this act".

SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-5-5005, is amended by adding new subsections thereto, as follow:

(c) As career level certificates in effect on the effective date of this act, or successfully applied for as provided in Section 1 expire, such certificates shall be renewed without any state evaluation for the term of that educator's service in a career ladder position in a local education agency.

(d) No provision of this act shall affect local evaluation procedures for educators.

SECTION 4. No provision of this act shall affect extended contracts involving educators who are or remain certified as career level educators.

SECTION 5. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to that end the provisions of this act are declared to be severable.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.