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SB1317 • 2026

Teachers; modifying definition of career teacher. Effective date.

Teachers; modifying definition of career teacher. Effective date.

Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Dossett
Last action
2026-04-28
Official status
HAs read
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Teachers; modifying definition of career teacher. Effective date.

Teachers; modifying definition of career teacher.

What This Bill Does

  • Teachers; modifying definition of career teacher.
  • Effective date.
  • Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Engrossed (3/31/2026) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 (4/1/2026) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Recommendation (4/10/2026) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Committee Substitute (4/22/2026) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (Senate): Introduced (12/29/2025) Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (Senate): House Amendment to Senate Bill (4/29/2026)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Plain English: Req.

  • Req.
  • No.
  • 17271 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026) POLICY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION FOR SENATE BILL NO.
  • 1317 By: Dossett of the Senate and Provenzano of the House POLICY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION An Act relating to teachers; amending 70 O.S.

Plain English: SB1317 POLPCS1 Melissa Provenzano-SW 3/30/2026 11:34:34 am AMEND TITLE TO CONFORM TO AMENDMENTS Amendment submitted by: Melissa Provenzano Adopted: _____________________________ ______________________________________ Reading Clerk COMMITTEE AMENDMENT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES State of Oklahoma SPEAKER: CHAIR: I move to amend SB1317 Of the printed Bill Page Section Lines Of the Engrossed Bill By deleting the content of the entire measure, and by inserting in lieu thereof the following language: Req.

  • SB1317 POLPCS1 Melissa Provenzano-SW 3/30/2026 11:34:34 am AMEND TITLE TO CONFORM TO AMENDMENTS Amendment submitted by: Melissa Provenzano Adopted: _____________________________ ______________________________________ Reading Clerk COMMITTEE AMENDMENT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES State of Oklahoma SPEAKER: CHAIR: I move to amend SB1317 Of the printed Bill Page Section Lines Of the Engrossed Bill By deleting the content of the entire measure, and by inserting in lieu thereof the following language: Req.
  • No.
  • 17229 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 STATE OF OKLAHOMA 2nd Session of the 60th Legislature (2026) PROPOSED POLICY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR ENGROSSED SENATE BILL NO.
  • 1317 By: Dossett of the Senate and Provenzano of the House PROPOSED POLICY COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE An Act relating to teachers; amending 70 O.S.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-28 House

    General Order

  2. 2026-04-28 House

    Third Reading, Measure passed: Ayes: 89 Nays: 0

  3. 2026-04-28 House

    Referred for engrossment

  4. 2026-04-28 House

    Engrossed, signed, to Senate

  5. 2026-04-28 Senate

    HAs read

  6. 2026-04-14 House

    CR; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Education Oversight Committee

  7. 2026-04-06 House

    Policy recommendation to the Education Oversight committee; Do Pass, amended by committee substitute Common Education

  8. 2026-04-06 House

    Emergency removed

  9. 2026-03-30 House

    Second Reading referred to Education Oversight

  10. 2026-03-30 House

    Referred to Common Education

  11. 2026-03-04 Senate

    Engrossed to House

  12. 2026-03-04 House

    First Reading

  13. 2026-03-03 Senate

    General Order, Considered

  14. 2026-03-03 Senate

    Measure and Emergency passed: Ayes: 43 Nays: 0

  15. 2026-03-03 Senate

    Referred for engrossment

  16. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Placed on General Order

  17. 2026-02-10 Senate

    Reported Do Pass Education committee; CR filed

  18. 2026-02-10 Senate

    Coauthored by Representative Provenzano (principal House author)

  19. 2026-02-03 Senate

    Second Reading referred to Education

  20. 2026-02-02 Senate

    First Reading

  21. 2026-02-02 Senate

    Authored by Senator Dossett

Official Summary Text

Teachers; modifying definition of career teacher. Effective date.
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Engrossed (3/31/2026)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Substitute 1 (4/1/2026)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Proposed Policy Committee Recommendation (4/10/2026)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (House): Committee Substitute (4/22/2026)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (Senate): Introduced (12/29/2025)
Bill Summaries/Fiscal Impact for SB 1317 (Senate): House Amendment to Senate Bill (4/29/2026)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
ENGR. H. A. to ENGR. S. B. NO. 1317 Page 1
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ENGROSSED HOUSE AMENDMENT
TO
ENGROSSED SENATE BILL NO. 1317 By: Dossett of the Senate

and

Provenzano of the House

An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 6-101.3, which relates to definitions for
teachers; modifying certain definition; updating
statutory language; providing an effective date; and
declaring an emergency.

AMENDMENT NO. 1. Strike the title, enacting clause, and entire bill
and insert:

"An Act relating to teachers; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 6-101.3, which relates to definitions for
teachers; modifying definition for career teacher for
evaluation purposes; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-101.3, is
amended to read as follows:

ENGR. H. A. to ENGR. S. B. NO. 1317 Page 2
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Section 6-101.3. As used in Section 6-101 et seq. of this
title:
1. "Administrator" means a duly certified person who devotes a
majority of time to service as a superintendent, elementary
superintendent, principal, supervisor, vice principal or in any
other administrative or supervisory capacity in the school district;
2. "Dismissal" means the discontinuance of the teaching service
of an administrator or teacher during the term of a written
contract, as provided by law;
3. "Nonreemployment" means the nonrenewal of the contract of an
administrator or teacher upon expiration of the contract;
4. "Career teacher" means a teacher who:
a. is employed by a school district prior to the 2017-
2018 school year and has completed three (3) or more
consecutive complete school years as a teacher in one
school district under a written continuing or
temporary teaching contract, or
b. is employed for the first time by a school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching
contract during the 2017-2018 school year and
thereafter, and:
(1) has completed three (3) consecutive complete
school years as a teacher in one school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching

ENGR. H. A. to ENGR. S. B. NO. 1317 Page 3
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contract and has achieved a district evaluation
rating of "superior" as measured pursuant to the
TLE as set forth in Section 6-101.16 of this
title for at least two (2) of the three (3)
school years,
(2) has completed four (4) consecutive complete
school years as a teacher in one school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching
contract, has averaged a district evaluation
rating of at least "effective" as measured
pursuant to the TLE for the four-year period, and
has received district evaluation ratings of at
least "effective" for the last two (2) years of
the four-year period, or
(3) has completed four (4) or more consecutive
complete school years in one school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching
contract and has not met the requirements of
subparagraph a or b of this paragraph, only if
the principal of the school at which the teacher
is employed submits a petition to the
superintendent of the school district requesting
that the teacher be granted career status, the
superintendent agrees with the petition, and the

ENGR. H. A. to ENGR. S. B. NO. 1317 Page 4
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school district board of education approves the
petition. The principal shall specify in the
petition the underlying facts supporting the
granting of career status to the teacher, or
c. after meeting the requirements of subparagraph a or b
of this paragraph in one school district, is employed
by another school district under a written continuing
or temporary teaching contract and the board of
education of the school district has approved the
granting of career status to the teacher. Status as a
career teacher pursuant to this paragraph shall be for
evaluation purposes only;
5. "Teacher hearing" means the hearing before a school district
board of education after a recommendation for dismissal or
nonreemployment of a teacher has been made but before any final
action is taken on the recommendation, held for the purpose of
affording the teacher all rights guaranteed by the United States
Constitution and the Constitution of Oklahoma under circumstances
and for enabling the board to determine whether to approve or
disapprove the recommendation;
6. "Probationary teacher" means a teacher who:
a. is employed by a school district prior to the 2017-
2018 school year and has completed fewer than three
(3) consecutive complete school years as a teacher in

ENGR. H. A. to ENGR. S. B. NO. 1317 Page 5
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one school district under a written teaching contract,
or
b. is employed for the first time by a school district
under a written teaching contract during the 2017-2018
school year and thereafter and has not met the
requirements for career teacher as provided in
paragraph 4 of this section;
7. "Suspension" or "suspended" means the temporary
discontinuance of the services of an administrator or teacher, as
provided by law;
8. "Teacher" means a person defined as a teacher in Section 1-
116 of this title; and
9. "District evaluation rating" means the rating issued based
on the components of the TLE as set forth in subsection B of Section
6-101.16 of this title.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2026."

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Passed the House of Representatives the 28th day of April, 2026.

Presiding Officer of the House of
Representatives

Passed the Senate the ____ day of __________, 2026.

Presiding Officer of the Senate

ENGR. S. B. NO. 1317 Page 1
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ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 1317 By: Dossett of the Senate

and

Provenzano of the House

An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2021,
Section 6-101.3, which relates to definitions for
teachers; modifying certain definition; updating
statutory language; providing an effective date; and
declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 6-101.3, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 6-101.3. As used in Section 6-101 et seq. of this
title:
1. “Administrator” means a duly certified person who devotes a
majority of time to service as a superintendent, elementary
superintendent, principal, supervisor, vice principal, or in any
other administrative or supervisory capacity in the school district;
2. “Dismissal” means the discontinuance of the teaching service
of an administrator or teacher during the term of a written
contract, as provided by law;
3. “Nonreemployment” means the nonrenewal of the contract of an
administrator or teacher upon expiration of the contract;

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4. “Career teacher” means a teacher who:
a. is employed by a school district prior to the 2017-
2018 school year and has completed three (3) or more
consecutive complete school years as a teacher in one
school district under a written continuing or
temporary teaching contract, or
b. is employed for the first time by a school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching
contract during the 2017-2018 school year and
thereafter and:
(1) has completed three (3) consecutive complete
school years as a teacher in one school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching
contract and has achieved a district evaluation
rating of “superior” as measured pursuant to the
TLE Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness
Evaluation System (TLE) as set forth in Section
6-101.16 of this title for at least two (2) of
the three (3) school years,
(2) has completed four (4) consecutive complete
school years as a teacher in one school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching
contract, has averaged a district evaluation
rating of at least “effective” as measured

ENGR. S. B. NO. 1317 Page 3
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pursuant to the TLE for the four-year period, and
has received district evaluation ratings of at
least “effective” for the last two (2) years of
the four-year period, or
(3) has completed four (4) or more consecutive
complete school years in one school district
under a written continuing or temporary teaching
contract and has not met the requirements of
subparagraph a or b of this paragraph, only if
the principal of the school at which the teacher
is employed submits a petition to the
superintendent of the school district requesting
that the teacher be granted career status, the
superintendent agrees with the petition, and the
school district board of education approves the
petition. The principal shall specify in the
petition the underlying facts supporting the
granting of career status to the teacher, or
c. after meeting the requirements of subparagraph a or b
of this paragraph in one school district, is employed
by another school district under a written continuing
or temporary teaching contract and the school district
board of education has approved the granting of career
status to the teacher;

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5. “Teacher hearing” means the hearing before a school district
board of education after a recommendation for dismissal or
nonreemployment of a teacher has been made but before any final
action is taken on the recommendation, held for the purpose of
affording the teacher all rights guaranteed by the United States
Constitution and the Oklahoma Constitution of Oklahoma under
circumstances and for enabling the board to determine whether to
approve or disapprove the recommendation;
6. “Probationary teacher” means a teacher who:
a. is employed by a school district prior to the 2017-
2018 school year and has completed fewer than three
(3) consecutive complete school years as a teacher in
one school district under a written teaching contract,
or
b. is employed for the first time by a school district
under a written teaching contract during the 2017-2018
school year and thereafter and has not met the
requirements for career teacher as provided in
paragraph 4 of this section;
7. “Suspension” or “suspended” means the temporary
discontinuance of the services of an administrator or teacher, as
provided by law;
8. “Teacher” means a person defined as a teacher shall have the
same meaning as provided for in Section 1-116 of this title; and

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9. “District evaluation rating” means the rating issued based
on the components of the TLE as set forth in subsection B of Section
6-101.16 of this title.
SECTION 4. This act shall become effective July 1, 2026.
SECTION 5. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
Passed the Senate the 3rd day of March, 2026.

Presiding Officer of the Senate

Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2026.

Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives