§315-1  Enactment of agreement.  The

Interstate Agreement on Qualifications of Educational Personnel as contained

herein is hereby enacted into law and entered into on behalf of the State of

Hawaii with any and all other States (as defined in the Agreement) legally

enacting the Agreement in the form substantially as follows:

 

INTERSTATE

AGREEMENT ON QUALIFICATION

OF

EDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL

 

ARTICLE I

PURPOSE,

FINDINGS, AND POLICY

 

     1.  The States party to this Agreement,

desiring by common action to improve their respective school systems by

utilizing the teacher or other professional educational person wherever

educated, declare that it is the policy of each of them, on the basis of

cooperation with one another, to take advantage of the preparation and experience

of such persons wherever gained, thereby serving the best interests of society,

of education, and of the teaching profession.  It is the purpose of this

Agreement to provide for the development and execution of such programs of

cooperation as will facilitate the movement of teachers and other professional

educational personnel among the States party to it, and to authorize specific

interstate educational personnel contracts to achieve that end.

     2.  The party States find that included in the

large movement of population among all sections of the nation are many

qualified educational personnel who move for family and other personal reasons

but who are hindered in using their professional skill and experience in their

new locations.  Variations from State to State in requirements for qualifying

educational personnel discourage such personnel from taking the steps necessary

to qualify in other States.  As a consequence, a significant number of

professionally prepared and experienced educators is lost to our school

systems.  Facilitating the employment of qualified educational personnel,

without reference to their States of origin, can increase the available

educational resources.  Participation in this Compact can increase the

availability of educational manpower.

 

ARTICLE II

DEFINITIONS

 

     As used in this Agreement and contracts made

pursuant to it, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

     1.  "Educational personnel" means

persons who must meet requirements pursuant to State law as a condition of employment

in educational programs.

     2.  "Designated State official" means

the education official of a State selected by that State to negotiate and enter

into, on behalf of his State, contracts pursuant to this Agreement.

     3.  "Accept", or any variant thereof,

means to recognize and give effect to one or more determinations of another

State relating to the qualifications of educational personnel in lieu of making

or requiring a like determination that would otherwise be required by or

pursuant to the laws of a receiving State.

     4.  "State" means a State, territory,

or possession of the United States; the District of Columbia; or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

     5.  "Originating State" means a State

(and the subdivision thereof, if any) whose determination that certain

educational personnel are qualified to be employed for specific duties in

schools is acceptable in accordance with the terms of a contract made pursuant

to Article III.

     6.  "Receiving State" means a State

(and the subdivisions thereof) which accept educational personnel in accordance

with the terms of a contract made pursuant to Article III.

 

ARTICLE III

INTERSTATE

EDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL CONTRACTS

 

     1.  The designated State official of a party

State may make one or more contracts on behalf of his State with one or more

other party States providing for the acceptance of educational personnel.  Any

such contract for the period of its duration shall be applicable to and binding

on the States whose designated state officials enter into it, and the subdivisions

of those States, with the same force and effect as if incorporated in this

Agreement.  A designated state official may enter into a contract pursuant to

this Article only with States in which he finds that there are programs of

education, certification standards or other acceptable qualifications that

assure preparation or qualification of educational personnel on a basis

sufficiently comparable, even though not identical, to that prevailing in his

own State.

     2.  Any such contract shall provide for:

     (a)  Its duration.

     (b)  The criteria to be applied by an

originating State in qualifying educational personnel for acceptance by a

receiving State.

     (c)  Such waivers, substitutions, and

conditional acceptances as shall aid the practical effectuation of the contract

without sacrifice of basic educational standards.

     (d)  Any other necessary matters.

     3.  No contract made pursuant to this Agreement

shall be for a term longer than five years but any such contract may be renewed

for like or lesser periods.

     4.  Any contract dealing with acceptance of

educational personnel on the basis of their having completed an educational

program shall specify the earliest date or dates on which originating state

approval of the program or programs involved can have occurred.  No contract

made pursuant to this Agreement shall require acceptance by a receiving State

of any persons qualified because of successful completion of a program prior to

January 1, 1954.

     5.  The license or other acceptance of a person

who has been accepted pursuant to the terms of a contract shall not be revoked

or otherwise impaired because the contract has expired or been terminated. 

However, any license or other qualifying document may be revoked or suspended

on any ground which would be sufficient for revocation or suspension of a

license or other qualifying document initially granted or approved in the

receiving State.

     6.  A contract committee composed of the

designated state officials of the contracting States or their representatives

shall keep the contract under continuous review, study means of improving its

administration, and report no less frequently than once a year to the heads of

the appropriate education agencies of the contracting States.

 

ARTICLE IV

APPROVED AND

ACCEPTED PROGRAMS

 

     1.  Nothing in this Agreement shall be

construed to repeal or otherwise modify any law or regulation of a party State

relating to the approval of programs of educational preparation having effect

solely on the qualification of educational personnel within that State.

     2.  To the extent that contracts made pursuant

to this Agreement deal with the educational requirements for the proper

qualification of educational personnel, acceptance of a program of educational

preparation shall be in accordance with such procedures and requirements as may

be provided in the applicable contract.

ARTICLE V

INTERSTATE

COOPERATION

 

     The party States agree that:

     1.  They will, so far as practicable, prefer

the making of multi-lateral contracts pursuant to Article III of this Agreement.

     2.  They will facilitate and strengthen

cooperation in interstate licensing or certification and other elements of

educational personnel qualification and for this purpose shall cooperate with

agencies, organizations, and associations interested in licensing or

certification and other elements of educational personnel qualification.

 

ARTICLE VI

AGREEMENT

EVALUATION

 

     The designated state officials of any party

State may meet from time to time as a group to evaluate progress under the

Agreement, and to formulate recommendations for changes.

 

ARTICLE VII

OTHER

ARRANGEMENTS

 

     Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to

prevent or inhibit other arrangements or practices of any party State or States

to facilitate the interchange of educational personnel.

 

ARTICLE VIII

EFFECT AND

WITHDRAWAL

 

     1.  This Agreement shall become effective when

enacted into law by two States.  Thereafter it shall become effective as to any

State upon its enactment of this Agreement.

     2.  Any party State may withdraw from this

Agreement by enacting a statute repealing the same, but no such withdrawal

shall take effect until one year after the Governor of the withdrawing State

has given notice in writing of the withdrawal to the Governors of all other

party States.

     3.  No withdrawal shall relieve the withdrawing

State of any obligation imposed upon it by a contract to which it is a party. 

The duration of contracts and the methods and conditions of withdrawal

therefrom shall be those specified in their terms.

 

ARTICLE IX

CONSTRUCTION

AND SEVERABILITY

 

     This Agreement shall be liberally construed so

as to effectuate the purposes thereof.  The provisions of this Agreement shall

be severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence, or provision of this

Agreement is declared to be contrary to the constitution of any State or of the

United States, or the application thereof to any Government, agency, person, or

circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Agreement

and the applicability thereof to any Government, agency, person, or

circumstance shall not be affected thereby.  If this Agreement shall be held

contrary to the constitution of any State participating therein, the Agreement

shall remain in full force and effect as to the State affected as to all severable

matters. [L 1969, c 47, §1; am L 2004, c 21, §1]