Excessive Teacher Professional Development Requirements Addressed

Representative Melissa Provenzano

OKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation to examine excessive teacher professional development training for Oklahoma’s public school teachers passed the House Common Education Committee Tuesday with a vote of 13-0.

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.

“While training for improvement can be a good thing, overwhelming professional development requirements can take time away from planning and preparing for our kids,” said Provenzano.   “Examining our requirements for efficiency must be a part of the process.”

This bill doesn’t add to the amount of continuing education hours teachers have to take. The educator-led initiative seeks to streamline the process.

“Teachers have been fervent that the redundancy and frequency of training take up too much of their classroom preparation time,” Provenzano said. “This bill not only changes the content to adapt to current obstacles, but it also makes the training more conducive to an Oklahoma educator’s schedule.”

HB1593 is now eligible to be heard on the House floor.

Provenzano encourages Oklahomans who want to modernize continuing education programs for public school teachers to contact their local legislator in support of HB1593.

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