A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide for a one‑year provisional professional license for teachers from other states and authorize local boards of education to determine experience credit for those teachers to pay them on the commensurate level on the state salary schedule for the term of the license.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑270.20(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Teacher Licenses. – The State Board shall adopt rules for the issuance of the following classes of teacher licenses, including required levels of preparation for each classification:
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(4a)	Provisional professional license. – A one‑year nonrenewable license issued to an individual who holds current teacher licensure in another state that is in good standing. A provisional professional license shall only be requested by a local board of education. The individual may begin the application process to meet the requirements for a continuing professional license as an out‑of‑state applicant while holding the provisional professional license.
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SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑270.25 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑270.25.  Out‑of‑state license applicants.
Initial applications for a continuing professional license from an individual with an out‑of‑state teacher's license shall require the applicant to provide evidence of that teacher's effectiveness, when available, as measured by the evaluation system used in that applicant's state of current licensure at the time of application, including any growth measures included in that evaluation system. Applications that include the evidence of that educator's effectiveness shall be prioritized for review over initial applications from applicants with out‑of‑state licenses that do not include that information. An individual who does not include evidence of that teacher's effectiveness with the initial application shall only be eligible for an IPL."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑302.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(b3)	Pay for Teachers with a Provisional Professional License. – Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local board of education that employs a teacher who is licensed with a one‑year provisional professional license pursuant to G.S. 115C‑270.20(a)(4a) shall determine experience credit for that teacher for the purposes of paying the teacher with State‑allotted funds in accordance with the State salary schedule for teachers during the term of the license. Notwithstanding subsection (f) of this section, the local board of education and the teacher shall not be responsible for the repayment of any overpayment of State funds due to misapplication of experience credit for the State salary schedule when the determination of experience credit was done in good faith based on the teacher's prior employment record and the guidelines established by the State Board of Education for awarding experience credit. A teacher paid in accordance with this subsection shall not be entitled to the same pay on the State salary schedule for teachers for subsequent school years after the State Board determines the appropriate experience credit for that teacher when the teacher is issued a continuing professional license."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 93B‑15.1(i) reads as rewritten:
"(i)	For the purposes of this section, the State Board of Education shall be considered an occupational licensing board when issuing teacher licenses under Article 17E of Subchapter V of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes. In addition to the provisions for licensure provided by this section, a local board of education may request a one‑year provisional professional license for a military spouse who holds a current teaching license in another jurisdiction pursuant to G.S. 115C‑270.20(a)(4a)."
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with applications for teacher licensure submitted on or after that date.