NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CODE OF ETHICS AND DEFINITIONS
IN THE REGULATIONS OF THE PROFESSIONAL TEACHING PRACTICES COMMISSION
The Professional Teaching Practices Commission proposes to adopt regulation changes in Title 20 of the Alaska Administrative Code to update and clarify provisions of the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession, including the following:
1. 20 AAC 10.020 (Code of ethics and teaching standards) is proposed to be changed to clarify that that the Code of Ethics applies to anyone holding an Alaska education certificate, including student teachers; to explicitly prohibit sexual contact between educators and recently graduated students for up to one year after graduation; to add gender identification to the list of protected classes of students; to further clarify responsibilities of educators before, during, and after administration of any part of the Alaska statewide assessment system; to add gender identification to the list of protected classes of colleagues; to clarify that a section of the Code of Ethics dealing with employment issues pertains only to certificated employees; to prohibit falsification or misrepresentation in regards to initial employment.
2. 20 AAC 10.900 is proposed to be changed by adding additional conditions to the definition of sexual conduct and by adding the definition of “student,” “colleague,” “educator,” and “members of the profession.”
The Professional Teaching Practices Commission invites the public to submit written comments during the written comment period, which begins with the date of this notice and ends on December 15, 2016, at 4:30 p.m. The written comment period closes in advance of the meeting of the Professional Teaching Practices Commission on January 26 & 27, 2017 at which time the Commission will consider the adoption of the proposed regulations. This allows the Professional Teaching Practices Commission staff an opportunity to prepare changes based on written comment and to distribute any proposed changes to the Commission for its consideration prior to the meeting.
You may comment in writing on the proposed regulation changes, including the potential costs to private persons of complying with the proposed changes, by submitting written comment to the Professional Teaching Practices Commission, 1016 W. 6th Ave., Suite 302, Anchorage, AK 99501.
You also may submit written comment by facsimile at (907) 269-5070; by electronic mail to jim.seitz@alaska.gov; and through the Alaska Online Public Notice System by accessing this notice on the system and using the comment link. All written comments received are public records subject to public inspection.
All written comment must be received not later than 4:30 p.m. on December 15, 2016.
Oral comments will not be accepted.
You may submit written questions relevant to the proposed action to Jim Seitz at jim.seitz@alaska.gov or the Professional Teaching Practices Commission, 1016 W. 6th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501. If a question is relevant to the proposed change in the regulations and the question is received by December 5, 2016, which is 10 days before the end of the public comment period, the Commission Staff will make a good-faith effort to answer the question before the end of the public comment period. Commission Staff will aggregate its response to substantially similar questions and make the questions and responses available on the Alaska Online Public Notice System and on the website of the Professional Teaching Practices Commission at https://education.alaska.gov/ptpc/.
If you are a person with a disability who needs a special accommodation in order to participate in this process, please contact Jim Seitz at (907) 269-6579 or jim.seitz@alaska.gov not later than December 5, 2016, to ensure that any necessary accommodation can be provided.
Copies of the proposed regulation changes are available on the Alaska Online Public Notice System, on the website of the Professional Teaching Practices Commission https://education.alaska.gov/ptpc/, and by contacting Jim Seitz at jim.seitz@alaska.gov or 907-269-6579.
After the public comment period ends, the Professional Teaching Practices Commission will either adopt the proposed regulation changes or other provisions dealing with the same subject, without further notice, or decide to take no action. The language of the final regulation may be different from that of the proposed regulation. You should comment during the time allowed if your interests could be affected.
Statutory authority: AS 14.20.450; AS 14.20.460
Statutes being implemented, interpreted, or made specific: AS 14.20.030; AS 14.20.370; AS 14.20.480
Fiscal information: The proposed regulation changes are not expected to require an increased appropriation.