ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor                           H.B. 873

Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.
Governor

House Bill No. 873

AN ACT concerning

Education - Study Commission on Teachers' Educators' Time and

Paperwork

FOR the purpose of establishing a Study Commission on Teachers' Educators' Time
and Paperwork; specifying the composition, powers, and duties of the
Commission; providing a certain staff for the Commission; requiring the
Commission to report to the Governor and the General Assembly on or before a
certain date; providing for the termination of this Act; and generally relating to
the Study Commission on Teachers' Educators' Time and Paperwork.

Preamble

WHEREAS, The amount of paperwork teachers and school administrators are
required to complete is duplicative and time consuming and frequently detracts from
the goal of providing the best quality education possible to all children; and

WHEREAS, According to a report by the Council for Exceptional Children
(CEO, concerns about paperwork ranked high, especially among special education
teachers and special education teachers are leaving the profession at almost twice the
rate of general educators; and                                                       

WHEREAS, While teachers recognize and support the necessity of the
individualized education programs (IEP), it remains one of the main sources of
frustration for both general and special education teachers because of its complexity,
the duplicative nature, and the inconsistency of forms from district to district, and
school to school in Maryland; and

WHEREAS, Both regular and special education teachers state they are often
required to provide data for the principal and various central office staff after they
have already provided it otherwise during the school year; and

WHEREAS, Both regular and special education teachers state they are
frustrated by the lack of technical assistance when completing paperwork for the
principal, county central office, or the State Department of Education; and

WHEREAS, Teachers and school administrators leaving the profession routinely
state that poor working conditions in the schools, including the burdensome
paperwork issues, are most to blame; and

WHEREAS, Because we already face a teacher shortage in Maryland and the
recently passed federal law, No Child Left Behind Act, establishes additional
pressures with federal mandates; and

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