The House Tuesday unanimously approved its education budget and the education employee pay raise. By a 105-0 vote, House members approved H.117 (Poole) to appropriate $6.3 billion from the Education Trust Fund.

 

ETF Budget; Fate of School Wi-Fi and PREP in Senate 

The House Tuesday unanimously approved its education budget and the education employee pay raise. By a 105-0 vote, House members approved H.117 (Poole) to appropriate $6.3 billion from the Education Trust Fund. Immediately after, the House approved a 4 percent pay raise for education employees making below $75,000 and 2 percent all others with a unanimous vote on H.121 (Poole).All community college employees would receive a 4 percent increase.To review additional details from last week’s edition, click HERE.

The budget and pay raise bills next move to the Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee. Usually, the committee makes its own adjustments to the proposed budget to address its members’ concerns. Expect the committee to meet next week on the education budget.

School Wi-Fi Offline if Senate Fails to Concur

H.41 (Chesteen), the Alabama Ahead Act, and H.227 (Poole), its $12 million supplemental funding, await only Senate action to become law. The governor returned the bills Tuesday, stripping the last-minute senate amendments to restore them to original form. The House concurred Tuesday and now the Senate must concur.

The bill derailed yesterday when a senator incorrectly said that state funding authority would be given to a state association. However, there is no such provision in the bill. In reality, the Alabama Education Technology Association, which developed the standards-based model through a thorough, cost-analysis for every public school in the state, would serve in an advisory capacity to a nine-member appointed Alabama Ahead Oversight Committee.

Proponents feared the effort was a lost cause last week when the Senate amendments caught House sponsors off-guard and impeded final passage. Local school contracts to draw down E-rate federal dollars expired on March 7, and immediate passage was needed to obtain funding for next year. However, proponents asked the state Department of Education to try to salvage plans by pursuing a deadline extension for the new contracts. Just yesterday, the SDE notified lawmakers that schools were granted an emergency extension to May 6. That change keeps the bills alive. AASB confirmed that the SDE SUPPORTS the two bills and requested the extension for local school systems so H.41/ H.227 could move forward.

The same senator argued the funding for the bill does not go far enough. However, the $12 million is sufficient to address the needs the AETA study identified for every Alabama school. Local school leaders believe that individuals who want additional money allocated should come with a specific proposal in a separate bill rather than tacking additional funding for unspecified plans on these bills.

H.41/H.227 are specifically dedicated to provide high quality Wi-Fiin every public school classroom. Click HERE to see the financial impact by local school systems per senate district.

Please continue your efforts to contact your senator to CONCUR with the governor’s amendments to H.41 (Chesteen), and H.227 (Poole). Given the high-stakes political wrangling, the senate is faced with a choice of all or nothing.

Pare Down PREP Bill

In public hearing Tuesday, the biggest concerns about S.316 (Marsh), the PREP bill, were its mandate for a specific value-added growth model and the evaluation process. The bill would tie the evaluations to awarding tenure.Hoover School board member Craig Kelley shared that this growth model is proving unreliable in other states and that the bill, as drafted, puts the current tenure law, which is working, at risk.

AASB emphasizes the bill language is a step backward because it unnecessarily restricts local boards’ personnel actions under the Students First Act and compromises the reduction-in-force law. The details are important and must be consistent with the hard-fought tenure law provisions enacted in 2011.

The bill does include several provisions AASB could support. The bill would expand the probationary period for teachers to become eligible for tenure from three to five years and would limit tenure protection to certified employees. In addition, it proposes funding a Legislative School Performance Recognition Program; an Alabama Teacher Recruitment Fund; and an Alabama Teacher Mentor Program.It also would create a Teacher Advisement Committee to advise legislators about education policy.

The committee approved the bill by a 5-4 vote as follows:

Voting YES: Senators: Dick Brewbaker (chair); Del Marsh; Jim McClendon; Trip Pittman; and Shay Shelnutt.

Voting NO: Quinton Ross (vice chair); Paul Bussman; Vivian Davis Figures; and Hank Sanders.

Every senator will vote when the PREP bill goes to the Senate floor. Contact your senator to explain why school leaders are opposing S.316 (Marsh).

 

Addressing Fundamental Parental Rights

A public hearing in House Judiciary Committee was cut short, but AASB was prepared to testify Wednesday about concerns to a proposal to add a specific judicial standard (standard a court would apply) for fundamental parent rights in the state constitution. H.112 (Fridy)would constitutionalize current case law. Proponents testified they believe the current standard may be threatened in the future because the courts may change their interpretation.

AASB supports a parent’s right to choose how to educate their children but opposes the current proposal.

It seemingly creates a pathway for parents to challenge every decision made by educators affecting their children enrolled in a public school.Such challenges would be costly and subject to a high legal standard.The mere implication of such a right would drive a wedge between school administrators and parents when collaboration is the goal.

AASB continues to voice its concerns with the bill sponsor.The committee did not take a vote on the legislation following Wednesday’s public hearing.

 

Reject Back Door Voucher

H.84 (Johnson, K) would allow parents to draw 90 percent of a student’s public school funding in a voucher-style program to use for non-public schools or services for special education students. Local school leaders believe the bill, with its $4,800 grant to parents, does little to address needs. However, the $4.8 million loss to programmatic funding and corresponding federal funds for special education will do much to hurt public schools.

The bill would syphon much needed resources from public schools to a student community with significant and costly needs. The bill contains no safeguards for the students, no requirement for an individualized education plan, applies none of the strict accountability requirements required in public schools and contains no penalties for entities that receive those public dollars and fail to perform.

Committee members approved the bill Wednesday, and it next moves to the House floor for consideration.

Urge lawmakers to OPPOSE H.84 (Johnson, K.).

 

Enact State Longitudinal Data System

H.125 (Collins/Baker) is pending final passage in the senate to allow the state to aggregate data from multiple sources for pre-K, K-12, post secondary and higher education and the workforce. As amended, the bill mandates cybersecurity policies in addition to protecting confidential and identifiable student and workforce information.Upon passage, by year-end, state education entities would need to agree on a standard definition for remediation. With a consistent definition, the K-12 community can proactively address remediation, which currently is a moving target. Local school leaders support final passage of H.125 (Collins).

 

 

Bills of Interest

H.218 (Drake) — 3rd grade cursive law — would put in statute that elementary instruction must include cursive writing by the end of third grade. Although already a current standard in Alabama, it was approved by House committee.

H.318 (Williams, P.) — School Security Records — would exempt information and records concerning security measures and equipment used on school property from being open to public inspection.

S.11 (Allen) — Youth Suicide Prevention — would provide the “Jason Flatt Act” to require annual training in suicide prevention. Amended by Senate committee to incorporate current state law.

S.341 (Pittman) — Student Count — would change the funding formula annually to be adjusted by the increase or decrease in enrollment in the preceding two school years.

 

 

2016 Legislative Session

16 Days Remain

 

 

 

Lissa Tucker, AASB Director of Governmental Relations

www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org