New law provides lesson plan relief for teachers

A comprehensive instructional materials bill that passed last session, HB 1605, includes several TCTA-initiated provisions that provide protections for teachers. One gives teachers relief in certain cases from current law, which provides that teachers can be required to prepare weekly written lesson plans.

HB 1605 defines “instructional materials” as including unit or lesson plans, grading rubrics, answer keys and other materials used by a teacher. As the bill moved through the legislative process, TCTA saw an opportunity to advocate for exempting teachers from having to prepare weekly written lesson plans if the instructional materials adopted by their local school district already include unit or weekly lesson plans. TCTA worked with the bill author for HB 1605 to amend current law to provide that units or weekly lesson plans included in adopted instructional materials will satisfy a local requirement to prepare units or weekly lesson plans (i.e., a teacher in a district that adopts such materials cannot be required to prepare weekly lesson plans). This provision should give teachers some welcome relief from this common type of paperwork requirement.

Another TCTA-initiated provision in HB 1605 restricts districts from requiring teachers to perform duties related to initial plan design and instructional design during their planning and preparation time unless the teacher voluntarily enters into a supplemental agreement with the district to do so. Absent such a supplemental agreement, such duties cannot be required during the statutorily required 450 minutes of planning and preparation time in most circumstances.

TCTA members who are offered a supplemental agreement for lesson planning should contact the TCTA Legal Department at 888-879-8282 before signing it if there are any questions or concerns about the agreement. TCTA members should also contact the Legal Department if their district is in the process of approving or amending a district of innovation plan that would take away current rights regarding planning and preparation periods.