Bill to Streamline Educators’ Professional Development Training Passes

Representative Melissa Provenzano

OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation that seeks to give educators more time to focus on students while still receiving adequate professional development training passed off the House floor Monday with a bipartisan vote of  74-19.

House Bill 1593, authored by Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, modifies how often teachers are required to complete professional development hours by reducing the frequency of four educator trainings out of the twenty-seven currently required by state statute.

“Training for a career educator is important but it must be balanced with the needs of students,” said Provenzano. “We must support effective, relevant training and evaluate the efficiency and value of repetitive requirements. This bill seeks to protect teacher time so they may prepare for their students, which is a big deal to our public school education professionals.”

Provenzano, a former public school educator and administrator, heard from teachers across the state regarding the redundancy of professional development training.

“Not every education policy change needs to be huge and dramatic,” Provenzano said. “There are huge and dramatic issues, but also, through an examination of current burdensome practices, we can not only help improve outcomes but also the quality of life for Oklahoma educators.”

HB1593 is now eligible to be heard in the Oklahoma Senate.

State Rep. Melissa Provenzano’s office can be reached by phone (405) 557-7330 or email [email protected].