Title 16, Title 16: Education

§ 1696. Licensing (a) Qualifications of applicants. An applicant shall submit to the Secretary evidence satisfactory to the Secretary that the applicant either has completed all requirements of an approved educator preparation program or has otherwise acquired the knowledge and s…

§ 1697. Fees (a) Each individual applicant and licensee shall be subject to the following fees: (1) Processing of application $50.00 per application (2) Issuance of Level I license $50.00 per year for the term of the license (3) Issuance of Level II license $50.00 per year for th…

§ 1698. Causes for licensing action Any one of the following, or any combination of the following, constitutes potential cause for licensing action whether occurring within or outside the State: (1) Unprofessional conduct, which means: (A) grossly negligent conduct or greater, on…

§ 1699. Reports of alleged unprofessional conduct or incompetence (a) An individual who has reasonable cause to believe a licensee has engaged in unprofessional conduct or is incompetent may, and a superintendent who has reasonable cause to believe a licensee has engaged in unpro…

§ 1700. Investigation (a) Investigation committee. Upon receiving notice of either an applicant’s appeal of a licensing office decision or an allegation of unprofessional conduct or incompetence on the part of a licensee, the hearing panel administrative officer shall assign one …

§ 1701. Secretary’s determination (a) Matters involving denial of licensure. With respect to an applicant’s appeal, the Secretary shall, within 10 days of receiving the committee’s recommendation, affirm or reverse the licensing decision and notify the applicant in writing. If th…

§ 1702. Hearing panels (a) Appointment. The Governor shall appoint seven teachers, four administrators, and three members of the public to serve on hearing panels for terms of three years beginning on July 1 of the year of appointment. No person shall be eligible for more than on…

§ 1703. Time and notice of hearing The chair of the panel shall fix the time of hearing, which shall be between 30 and 60 days after, as applicable, filing of the license application appeal or service of the charge on the licensee. The chair shall provide the applicant or license…

§ 1704. Burden of proof (a) Denial of licensure. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the burden of proof in matters involving the denial of an initial license or the addition of an endorsement to a license once issued shall be on the applicant by a preponderance…

§ 1705. Hearing officer recommendation The hearing officer shall conduct the hearing for the purpose of issuing recommended findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a proposed decision to the hearing panel. The hearing officer may administer oaths and otherwise exercise the powe…

§ 1706. Decision and order (a) Hearing panel decision. The hearing panel may take additional evidence and may accept, reject, or modify the recommendations of the hearing officer and shall issue findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order within 30 days of receiving the re…

§ 1707. Appeal from panel order (a)(1) A party aggrieved by a final decision of a hearing panel may, within 30 days after the decision, appeal that decision by filing a notice of appeal with the administrative officer of the hearing panel, who shall refer the case to the Director…

§ 1708. Accessibility and confidentiality of licensing matters (a) It is the purpose of this section both to protect the reputation of licensees from public disclosure of unwarranted complaints and to fulfill the public’s right to know of any action taken against an applicant or …

§ 1710. Literacy professional learning (a) Each supervisory union and each approved independent school that is eligible to receive public tuition shall provide professional learning activities to kindergarten through grade-three educators, to include all teachers and administrato…