SECOND REGULAR SESSION
92ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES JETTON (Sponsor), JACKSON, BAKER, CROWELL, LAGER,
COOPER (120), SUTHERLAND, BEHNEN, PAGE AND SAGER (Co-sponsors).Read 1st time January 29, 2004, and copies ordered printed.
STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal section 160.550, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to pupil/teacher ratios.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 160.550, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 160.550, to read as follows:
160.550. 1. There is hereby authorized a program, subject to appropriation, for the [1995, 1996, and 1997] 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 fiscal years to provide incentive payments to school districts to reduce pupil/teacher ratios and promote student achievement in grades kindergarten to three. In providing incentive payments authorized by this section, the state board of education, by rule and regulation, shall take into account the instructional methods that school districts use to qualify for the incentive payment. The state board of education shall promulgate any rules it deems necessary to effectively implement the provisions of this section. Any school district which achieves a pupil/teacher ratio [of twenty-five to one or lower] in any grades kindergarten to three that is the same as or lower than the current state standard for desirable class size shall be eligible for incentive payments pursuant to this section.
2. For the purposes of this section, the term "teacher" means a certificated teacher licensed to teach in Missouri, who is a regular classroom teacher in a regular instructional program. The term shall not include aides, administrators, or teachers with temporary certificates.
3. School districts shall be eligible for incentive payments only where the district can substantiate according to rules and regulations of the state board of education that the pupil/teacher ratio in the grade levels not affected by the program authorized by this section did not increase in order to meet the requirements for the incentive payment. Further, by rule and regulation of the state board of education, criteria shall be established to disqualify school districts from receiving incentive payments outlined in this section if such qualification is due to enrollment decreases in the district that have occurred in grades kindergarten to three.
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude the teaching staff within a school from grouping pupils in alternative ways for instruction, including, but not limited to, team teaching, class-within-a-class, cooperative learning, and ungraded approaches to teaching; provided, however, that such alternative instructional groupings are not used in grade levels not affected by the program outlined in this section in order to meet the criteria to qualify for receiving incentive payments for the reduction in class size in grades kindergarten to three.
5. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of sections 160.500 to 160.538, sections 160.545 and 160.550, sections 161.099 and 161.610, RSMo, sections 162.203 and 162.1010, RSMo, section 163.023, RSMo, sections 166.275 and 166.300, RSMo, section 170.254, RSMo, section 173.750, RSMo, and sections 178.585 and 178.698, RSMo, shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of [section 536.024] chapter 536, RSMo.