§315-1  Enactment of agreement.  TheInterstate Agreement on Qualifications of Educational Personnel as containedherein is hereby enacted into law and entered into on behalf of the State ofHawaii with any and all other States (as defined in the Agreement) legallyenacting the Agreement in the form substantially as follows:

 

INTERSTATEAGREEMENT ON QUALIFICATION

OFEDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL

 

ARTICLE I

PURPOSE,FINDINGS, AND POLICY

 

1.  The States party to this Agreement,desiring by common action to improve their respective school systems byutilizing the teacher or other professional educational person wherevereducated, declare that it is the policy of each of them, on the basis ofcooperation with one another, to take advantage of the preparation and experienceof such persons wherever gained, thereby serving the best interests of society,of education, and of the teaching profession.  It is the purpose of thisAgreement to provide for the development and execution of such programs ofcooperation as will facilitate the movement of teachers and other professionaleducational personnel among the States party to it, and to authorize specificinterstate educational personnel contracts to achieve that end.

2.  The party States find that included in thelarge movement of population among all sections of the nation are manyqualified educational personnel who move for family and other personal reasonsbut who are hindered in using their professional skill and experience in theirnew locations.  Variations from State to State in requirements for qualifyingeducational personnel discourage such personnel from taking the steps necessaryto qualify in other States.  As a consequence, a significant number ofprofessionally prepared and experienced educators is lost to our schoolsystems.  Facilitating the employment of qualified educational personnel,without reference to their States of origin, can increase the availableeducational resources.  Participation in this Compact can increase theavailability of educational manpower.

 

ARTICLE II

DEFINITIONS

 

As used in this Agreement and contracts madepursuant to it, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

1.  "Educational personnel" meanspersons who must meet requirements pursuant to State law as a condition of employmentin educational programs.

2.  "Designated State official" meansthe education official of a State selected by that State to negotiate and enterinto, 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 anotherState relating to the qualifications of educational personnel in lieu of makingor requiring a like determination that would otherwise be required by orpursuant 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 certaineducational personnel are qualified to be employed for specific duties inschools is acceptable in accordance with the terms of a contract made pursuantto Article III.

6.  "Receiving State" means a State(and the subdivisions thereof) which accept educational personnel in accordancewith the terms of a contract made pursuant to Article III.

 

ARTICLE III

INTERSTATEEDUCATIONAL PERSONNEL CONTRACTS

 

1.  The designated State official of a partyState may make one or more contracts on behalf of his State with one or moreother party States providing for the acceptance of educational personnel.  Anysuch contract for the period of its duration shall be applicable to and bindingon the States whose designated state officials enter into it, and the subdivisionsof those States, with the same force and effect as if incorporated in thisAgreement.  A designated state official may enter into a contract pursuant tothis Article only with States in which he finds that there are programs ofeducation, certification standards or other acceptable qualifications thatassure preparation or qualification of educational personnel on a basissufficiently comparable, even though not identical, to that prevailing in hisown State.

2.  Any such contract shall provide for:

(a)  Its duration.

(b)  The criteria to be applied by anoriginating State in qualifying educational personnel for acceptance by areceiving State.

(c)  Such waivers, substitutions, andconditional acceptances as shall aid the practical effectuation of the contractwithout sacrifice of basic educational standards.

(d)  Any other necessary matters.

3.  No contract made pursuant to this Agreementshall be for a term longer than five years but any such contract may be renewedfor like or lesser periods.

4.  Any contract dealing with acceptance ofeducational personnel on the basis of their having completed an educationalprogram shall specify the earliest date or dates on which originating stateapproval of the program or programs involved can have occurred.  No contractmade pursuant to this Agreement shall require acceptance by a receiving Stateof any persons qualified because of successful completion of a program prior toJanuary 1, 1954.

5.  The license or other acceptance of a personwho has been accepted pursuant to the terms of a contract shall not be revokedor otherwise impaired because the contract has expired or been terminated. However, any license or other qualifying document may be revoked or suspendedon any ground which would be sufficient for revocation or suspension of alicense or other qualifying document initially granted or approved in thereceiving State.

6.  A contract committee composed of thedesignated state officials of the contracting States or their representativesshall keep the contract under continuous review, study means of improving itsadministration, and report no less frequently than once a year to the heads ofthe appropriate education agencies of the contracting States.

 

ARTICLE IV

APPROVED ANDACCEPTED PROGRAMS

 

1.  Nothing in this Agreement shall beconstrued to repeal or otherwise modify any law or regulation of a party Staterelating to the approval of programs of educational preparation having effectsolely on the qualification of educational personnel within that State.

2.  To the extent that contracts made pursuantto this Agreement deal with the educational requirements for the properqualification of educational personnel, acceptance of a program of educationalpreparation shall be in accordance with such procedures and requirements as maybe provided in the applicable contract.

ARTICLE V

INTERSTATECOOPERATION

 

The party States agree that:

1.  They will, so far as practicable, preferthe making of multi-lateral contracts pursuant to Article III of this Agreement.

2.  They will facilitate and strengthencooperation in interstate licensing or certification and other elements ofeducational personnel qualification and for this purpose shall cooperate withagencies, organizations, and associations interested in licensing orcertification and other elements of educational personnel qualification.

 

ARTICLE VI

AGREEMENTEVALUATION

 

The designated state officials of any partyState may meet from time to time as a group to evaluate progress under theAgreement, and to formulate recommendations for changes.

 

ARTICLE VII

OTHERARRANGEMENTS

 

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed toprevent or inhibit other arrangements or practices of any party State or Statesto facilitate the interchange of educational personnel.

 

ARTICLE VIII

EFFECT ANDWITHDRAWAL

 

1.  This Agreement shall become effective whenenacted into law by two States.  Thereafter it shall become effective as to anyState upon its enactment of this Agreement.

2.  Any party State may withdraw from thisAgreement by enacting a statute repealing the same, but no such withdrawalshall take effect until one year after the Governor of the withdrawing Statehas given notice in writing of the withdrawal to the Governors of all otherparty States.

3.  No withdrawal shall relieve the withdrawingState 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 withdrawaltherefrom shall be those specified in their terms.

 

ARTICLE IX

CONSTRUCTIONAND SEVERABILITY

 

This Agreement shall be liberally construed soas to effectuate the purposes thereof.  The provisions of this Agreement shallbe severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence, or provision of thisAgreement is declared to be contrary to the constitution of any State or of theUnited States, or the application thereof to any Government, agency, person, orcircumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Agreementand the applicability thereof to any Government, agency, person, orcircumstance shall not be affected thereby.  If this Agreement shall be heldcontrary to the constitution of any State participating therein, the Agreementshall remain in full force and effect as to the State affected as to all severablematters. [L 1969, c 47, §1; am L 2004, c 21, §1]