FISCAL NOTE

Senate Bill 327 as passed the Senate establishes the Teacher Excellence and Accountability for Mathematics and Science (TEAMS) Salary Schedule Program to be administered by the State Department of Education (SDE), beginning with the 2021-2022 school year. The TEAMS Program will provide eligible teachers electing to participate in the program with an incremental salary increase net of the State Minimum Salary Schedule, which would be funded from the non-reverting TEAMS Fund, created by this bill, in the State Treasury. This bill requires participating teachers to agree to certain contract requirements and to obtain a specialized certification or credential within three years of admission to the program. This bill also establishes a hard-to-staff annual supplement of $5,000 for participating teachers teaching in hard-to-staff schools, as designated by the SDE. This bill provides that each local board, including charter school governing boards, is allocated one mathematics position and one science position TEAMS Program teacher for every 105 students in combined grades 6-12 which would allow an estimated 7,000 teachers to participate in the program statewide, thereby increasing the obligations of the Education Trust Fund by an undetermined amount dependent upon: (1) the number of teachers that qualify and elect to participate in the TEAMS program; (2) the net salary supplement a participant qualifies for based on degree and years of service; and (3) the number of participants that qualify to receive the additional hard-to-staff supplement.

This bill also entitles a participating teacher to a hearing, with a court reporter provided by the local superintendent, and an expedited review by SDE which could increase the administrative obligations of the local board and SDE by an undetermined amount dependent upon the number of hearings and reviews initiated and the cost of each.