Action Alert for S. 305 and H. 4280!

The House of Representatives just voted unanimously to pass their amended version of S. 305. As a reminder, S. 305, as originally passed by the Senate, is a piece of legislation that would award years of experience on an educator certificate for individuals with at least five years of "related" work experience outside of education. Under a House amendment to the bill, an individual would receive one year of experience on their teaching certificate for each year of "related" work experience. This, in turn, would result in the teacher being paid at a higher "step" on the salary schedule.

The House further amended S. 305 by inserting the full text of H. 4280, the Educator Assistance Act, into the bill. As unanimously passed by the House in 2023, this bill would enhance educator retention through four actions:

• Creating a "permanent" educator certificate. This action would eliminate the need for educators to "recertify" by submitting paperwork documenting 120 hours of PD every five years. NOTE- this would NOT exempt educators from ongoing professional development as educators would still be required to complete the non-instructional PD days that are part of educator contracts.
• Revising "breach of contract" law. Current law requires the State Board to suspend the certificate of any teacher reported by a school district for "breach of contract" for any reason. H. 4280 would allow the State Board to decline to suspend a reported certificate while lowering the maximum allowable certificate suspension for "breach" to six months from the date of the breach.
• Informing educators of salaries. Under current law, certified educators must sign their contract by May 10th- weeks prior to the finalization of a salary schedule for the coming school year.  H. 4280 would give educators 10 days from the date a district finalizes a salary schedule to withdraw a contract without penalty.
• Eliminating duplicative paperwork. The bill would permanently eliminate a statutory requirement for high school counselors to gather information on post-secondary activities of graduates. This information is already gathered separately by the Education Oversight Committee.

During this legislative session, members of the Palmetto state teachers’ association (PSTA) have sent thousands of communications to Senators asking for passage of H. 4280. However, the bill has not received a Senate subcommittee hearing.

With House passage of the merged S. 305/H. 4280, a Senate subcommittee hearing is no longer necessary. As a Senate bill, S. 305/H. 4280 will now return directly to the floor of the Senate. If Senators vote to "concur" with the House amendments to the bill, it can proceed to the Governor for signature into law.

However, there is a very real possibility that the Senate will NOT concur with the House amendments. In that scenario, the next best outcome would be for the Senate to request a conference committee on the bill, but it is also possible the Senate could fail to take any action- a decision that would kill both S. 305 AND H. 4280 for the 2024 legislative session.

As a result, it is imperative that educators contact their Senators NOW in support of S. 305/H. 4280. The legislative session ends on May 9th, and there are numerous bills currently requiring the attention of Senators. In order for S. 305/H. 4280 to have the best chance of review and passage, Senators need to hear from their constituents about the need to pass this bill before the end of session.

 Phone calls are FAR more effective advocacy actions than emails, and for this particular bill, the message on the phone is VERY simple. All you need to do is ask your Senator to concur with House amendments to S. 305!

Please take a moment now to advocate for S. 305/H. 4280. This will be the final chance to do so in 2024!

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