1-1302-5647-2

STATE OF MINNESOTA

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

FOR THE MINNESOTA BOARD OF TEACHING

In the Matter of the Denial FINDINGS_OF_FACT,

of Renewal of the Secondary CONCLUSIONS_AND

Vocational Teaching License RECOMMENDATION

of Frederick G. Sobota.

The above-captioned matter came on for hearing before Administrative Law

Judge George A. Beck at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 10, 1991 at 500 Flour

Exchange Building, in the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The record closed at

the conclusion of the hearing.

Bernard E. Johnson, Special Assistant Attorney General, 1100 Bremer Tower,

Seventh Place and Minnesota Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, appeared on

behalf of the Minnesota Board of Teaching (Board). Frederick Sobota, 18703 Two

Rivers Road, Avon, Minnesota 56310, appeared representing himself.

This Report is a recommendation, not a final decision. The Minnesota

Board of Teaching will make the final decision after a review of the record

which may adopt, reject or modify the Findings of Fact, Conclusions, and

Recommendations contained herein. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. Þ 14.61, the final

decision of the Board shall not be made until this Report has been made

available to the parties to the proceeding for at least ten days. An

opportunity must be afforded to each party adversely affected by this Report to

file exceptions and present argument to the Board. Parties should contact

Kenneth L. Peatross, Executive Secretary, Minnesota Board of Teaching, Room 608

Capitol Square Building, 550 Cedar Street, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, to

ascertain the procedure for filing exceptions or presenting argument.

STATEMENT OF ISSUE

The issue in this case is whether or not the Licensee has completed the

required 108 clock hours of continuing education activities so as to be

eligible for renewal of his secondary vocational teaching license.

Based upon all of the proceedings herein, the Administrative Law Judge

makes the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Frederick G. Sobota ("Sobota") was issued a secondary vocational

teaching license in construction occupations by the Board of Teaching in 1983.

This license was a two-year entrance license and was then renewed in July of

1985. The license expired July 1, 1990.

2. Each applicant for renewal must demonstrate 108 clock hours of

continuing education credits during the prior 5-year period of licensure in

order to have his or her license renewed.

3. On May 22, 1990, Mr. Sobota submitted his application for renewal of

his secondary vocational license. (Ex. 1). The application stated that Mr.

Sobota had obtained 32 clock hours of course work towards his continuing

educational requirement. For the remaining 76 clock hours, the Licensee

requested credit for the time spent in construction of his home during 1987.

4. By letter dated May 30, 1990 the Department of Education advised Mr.

Sobota that further documentation was needed for part of his clock hour

requirement. Attached to the letter were affidavits for the verification of

self-employment. The letter also stated that "Work building your own home will

not apply, as the rule requires paid work experience, with self employment

verified on the basis of income tax documents and backup business records to

validate a self-employed business existed." (Ex. 2).

5. The Licensee did not return the self-employment affidavit since it

called for verification by Department of Revenue tax records which had not been

generated by the Licensee.

6. Subsequently, the Licensee submitted to the Department a letter dated

June 25, 1990 from Lumber One, a general contractor in Avon, Minnesota. Lumber

7. By letter dated June 29, 1990, the Department of Education advised

Mr. Sobota that the vocational rule required that acceptable occupational

experience must be "paid in money" which then must legally be reported to the

IRS. The Department stated that it therefore must deny credit for hours spent

building Mr. Sobota's home. The letter advised the Licensee of his appeal

rights. (Ex. 4).

8. By letter dated July 26, 1990, the Licensee requested an appeal of

the decision of the Department of Education to the Board of Teaching. (Ex. 5).

9. The Licensee performed approximately 500 hours of work on his new

home during 1987. The work was performed in an approximate 3-months period at

the rate of 40 hours per week. The work included finishing the exterior and

interior of the house including siding the house, shingling the house,

finishing the cabinetry and painting.

10. The Licensee's new house was built by Lumber One, a general

contractor. Ron Stanoch was the foreman. Mr. Stanoch did not supervise Mr.

Sobota's work on the house but did offer him advice. The work performed by Mr.

Sobota, along with that of the general contractor, was approved by the building

code inspectors. Lumber One felt that the Licensee's work on his house was

well done. The bank which financed the Licensee's new home considered the work

done by Mr. Sobota as a part of the construction cost for purposes of

establishing a market value for the house and for determining how much it would

lend to the Licensee.

11. Mr. Sobota was not paid any money for his work on his house and

therefore no W-2 form or 1099 form or barter form was ever generated. Mr.

Sobota did not declare any income for his work on his tax returns.

12. Mr. Sobota did not check with the Department of Education or anyone

else prior to or during his work on his home to see if it could be preapproved

as occupational experience for the purposes of continuing education.

13. Mr. Sobota relied on a Department publication entitled "Vocational

Renewal Clock Hours." That publication stated that "occupational experience"

means "work experience, paid in money, outside of education or teaching, that

demonstrates success in the occupational emphasis areas . . .." It also stated

that "nontaxed backyard experiences or labor tradeoffs would not provide the

necessary business/industrial exposure or public accountability. Neither would

building or remodeling one's own home be considered gainful employment." (Ex.

A).

Based upon the foregoing Findings of Fact, the Administrative Law Judge

makes the following:

CONCLUSIONS

1. The Minnesota Board of Teaching and the Administrative Law Judge have

jurisdiction in this matter pursuant to Minn. Stat. ÞÞ 125.09, subd. 1 and

14.50.

2. The Board has complied with all relevant substantive and procedural

requirements of statute and rule.

3. The Licensee received proper and timely notice of the hearing in this

matter.

4. The Board has the burden of proof to establish that the Licensee's

license should not be renewed under Minn. Rule 1400.7300, subp. 5.

5. Minn. Stat. Þ 125.09, subd. 1(4) provides that the Board of Teaching

may suspend or revoke a teacher's license for failure to meet licensure

requirements.

6. Minn. Rule 8750.7000, subp. 1 provides that an applicant for

relicensure of a regular 5-year vocational license must complete 108 clock

hours of relevant preapproved updating activities during the 5-year period

immediately before the requested renewal.

7. Under Minn. Rule 8750.7200, subp. 4, one of the categories permitted

for the 108 clock hours is upgrading occupational experience.

8. Minn. Rule 8750.4000, subp. 1 defines "occupational experience" as

"work experience, paid in money, outside of education or teaching, that

demonstrates success in the occupational emphasis areas and related areas

9. Under Minn. Rule 8750.4100, occupational experience can be obtained

through self-employment but must be paid occupational experience as verified by

Department of Revenue tax reports of paid income.

10. The Licensee was not paid in money for the work he performed on his

new home.

11. Because the work performed by the Licensee on his new home does not

qualify as occupational experience, he has not acquired 108 clock hours of

continuing education activities within the licensure period 1985-1990 as

required by Minn. Rules 8750.7000 and 8750.7200.

Based upon the foregoing Conclusions, the Administrative Law Judge makes

the following:

RECOMMENDATION

IT IS HEREBY RECOMMENDED: That the Board of Teaching deny the requested

renewal of Frederick G. Sobota's vocational license.

Dated this _12th__ day of July, 1991.

_s/George_A._Beck_______________________

GEORGE A. BECK

Administrative Law Judge

NOTICE

Pursuant to Minn. Stat. Þ 14.62, subd. 1, the agency is required to serve

its final decision upon each party and the Administrative Law Judge by first

class mail.

Reported: Taped. Tape Nos. 10,556 & 10,559.

No Transcript Prepared.

MEMORANDUM

The Department of Education denied Mr. Sobota's application for renewal of

his secondary vocational teaching license in constuction occupations on the

grounds that he had not completed sufficient clock hours of continuing

education. Specifically, it denied credit for the time the Licensee spent in

working on his new house. The Department determined that the Licensee had not

been "paid in money" for this work as required by the definition of

occupational experience. The Licensee therefore lacked the minimum 108 clock

hours which would qualify him for relicensure.

The Licensee argues that there is no dispute concerning the quality,

quantity or type of work which he performed on his home. He believes that the

dispute only concerns the fact that he was not directly compensated for the

work. He argues that the experience he gained was directly relevant to the

education of students, that it was quality work performed within a reasonable

time period which was approved by the building inspectors. He also points out

that his bank felt the work he performed was sufficient to provide a basis for

the loan made. He argues that the structure of the compensation should not

preclude counting the experience he obtained and points out that this

requirement is for relicensure rather than for an original license.

The Board's testimony indicated that the "paid in money" requirement is

consistently enforced and is important for two reasons. First, it is a

definition which is clear and easily enforced. Secondly, being paid in money

in the traditional workplace offers assurance that a job is done in a timely

manner under supervision and is done in a quality manner. Generally, the

Department's policy is to require a W-2 form issued to an employee or a 1099

form which would be issued to a subcontractor for payment. Neither were filed

in this case.

The record indicates that the Licensee has failed to submit evidence of

108 clock hours of continuing education. He was not "paid in money" for the

work he did on his own home and therefore does not qualify under the definition

of occupational experience. The Board has articulated a rationale for the rule

in question and indicated that the rule is consistently enforced. In this case

Mr. Sobota was not supervised by anyone in the construction of his house. Mr.

Stanoch had no authority to remove him from the job or to correct his work. As

the Board points out the value to a student of a teacher's occupational

experience is not the same where that experie

The Licensee is responsible for not obtaining any preapproval for his

proposed occupational experience in 1987. It was only claimed at the time of

license expiration in 1990. Although the Licensee felt that the publication

available to him concerning continuing education was unclear, it does clearly

state that the occupational experience had to be paid in money and that

building or remodeling one's own home would not be considered self-employment

which would qualify for clock hours for continuing education.

G.A.B.