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TSPC's Decision on CPD
Effecting All Educators - Including Substitutes
As of December 15, 2011, DRAFT RULING of TSPC "Requires professional development for all educators including charter schools and school nurses." Furthermore, the DRAFT "Requires educators who are currently employed or unemployed to supply evidence their CPD was completed at the time of renewal."
"The rules listed ... have not yet been adopted by the commission. These
are draft rules that will be considered for adoption at the next commission
meeting on February 2, 2011.
The purpose of this notice is to inform all interested parties that:
* An Administrative Rulemaking Hearing will be held January 23rd, 2012.
* This hearing will be held from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the TSPC office at 250
Division Street, Salem, OR, in the main conference room.
* The reason for holding this hearing is to allow all interested parties an
opportunity to provide comment either in person at the hearing itself or in
writing by 2:00 p.m. on February 2nd."
For the entire contents of the proposed rules, kindly refer to the actual TSPC News Release.
Report on TSPC Meeting
Credential Renewals Changes Coming
I attended a TSPC meeting today, Oct. 11, 2010 and the subcommittee talked about the changes that they wanted to be done to the requirements for credential renewals. Their comments indicated that TSPC members have done away with using any form of recency (recent experience) as a way to qualify for renewals. For some reason recency has become undesirable to the committee. They want continuing education for all teachers, 25 hours (cpds) per year for all credential renewals. that would be 75 hours for a three year and 125 hours for a 5 year credential.
Some discussion was done about the need for less cpds for unemployed and substitute teachers The only exception to the 25 cpds would be for the substitute credential only. Much discussion was done about the amount of cpds required. The chairman thought 10 would be too much and suggested 5 hours. I got the feeling that the rest of the group was leaning toward 10 hours. That was mentioned but not discussed. No decision was made about the amount however.
The chairman indicated that if the whole committee agrees with this subcommittee, and everything went without objections, and with the legislature agreeing that this could be put into action at best by July 1, 2011. This is what was discussed about renewals for the most part.
Other discussions were done about what districts need to do and what the implementation of the new requirements would mean to the districts. Basically the districts don't want more responsibility for record keeping. If I understood correctly they also don't know what to do about making cpds available for Subs.
Procedure For Renewing Credentials For Subs If This Becomes The Rule
The procedure for renewals for subs would be handled directly by TSPC. Subs will submit a plan for improvement on a form provided from TSPC along with a log of the cpds that were done over the years of the life of their old credential. TSPC has the forms on-line now. They also have a list on-line of suggested classes or ways to get the required cpds.
If I understand correctly, the plan of improvement it is what we see that we need to improve our teaching skills. They should be related to the domains that TSPC has published. We need to watch for continuing changes
Current Requirements for Renewal
However, for the next year, it seems no requirements for renewal are needed except the peers form, the application, and fees. It seems like the requirements are on hold for now. Even the peers form is not always required. Some districts are refusing to fill them out.
Tom Heiser,
OSTA Board Member
Conference 2011 Report
OSTA’s Annual Conference, held October 15th at Keizer Community Heritage Center, featured speakers from TSPC regarding licensure and past and present Oregon Substitutes of the Year sharing classroom ideas.
Jerry Kalapus of Reynolds School District was introduced by Tom Heiser as the 2012 Substitute of the Year.
Yvonne Christensen and Joyce Gifford reported on the National Substitute Teachers Alliance meeting in Seattle. First year dues in NSTA are now only $5 (same as OSTA) and all OSTA members are encouraged to join and support our colleagues working for the professionalism of teachers-on call nationwide.
At our business meeting, there was discussion regarding unemployment benefits, due process, computerized sub finder systems and areas of general concern.
The conference concluded with networking and door prizes for all in attendance.
Oregon Substitute Teacher in Prison for Alleged Sexual Molestation
Accused of inappropriate touching by a third grade girl in May of 2008 in a Woodburn elementary school, the teacher was sentenced in August 2010 to 75 months in prison, with 45 months probation, and always having to register as a sex offender. Friends of the teacher have set up a website to tell her story and to raise funds for her appeal. For more information, please go to www.justiceforlucinda.org.