The bill to transition to appointed superintendents is ready for final passage in the House next week.

Final Passage Pending for Appointed Superintendents; ETF Budget

 

The bill to transition to appointed superintendents is ready for final passage in the House next week.

It is past time for Alabama to become the 49th state to leave the outdated governance model of electing superintendents behind.

S. 280 (Brewbaker) incorporates elected superintendent requests to provide a generous transition period. Elected superintendents could seek and serve another term under the bill, but should a local board offer and the elected superintendent accept a contract, the transition could happen anytime. All the positions would be elected statewide by 2025, expect one.

The bill expressly states that it can be overridden by a local constitutional amendment. Franklin County is the only local system with a constitutional amendment authorizing an elected superintendent and would not be impacted by change in the code.

 

Inherent Conflict

There is an inherent conflict when superintendents are elected because they must focus on improving student learning and running multi-million-dollar operations and also must wage political campaigns to keep their job. These campaigns not only divide the attention of these leaders; they divide school employees loyalties. School chiefs face challenges from administrators, many of whom are colleagues in the same system, and are expected to be part of the same team.

 

The election cycle brings politics into the boardroom and classrooms every four years. Many elected superintendents advocate for appointed positions, but some hesitate to do so publicly because it may impact their election. Voters elect county school boards and should hold them accountable for hiring the best CEO for schools, not the most popular.

Ask House members to vote YES to S.280 (Brewbaker) this weekend.

 

Education Budget headed to Conference Committee

The Senate approved the education budget, amending the draft approved by Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee a day earlier. The House is expected to non-concur with the Senate version, and a conference committee will work out differences. Included is a spreadsheet reflecting changes, however these figures will likely change in conference committee.

Notable changes from the House version include:

• PreK decreased by $1.5 million
  
• Transportation increased by $2 million
  
• Foundation Program decreased by $2 million
  

 

 

Budget-Related Bills

H.174 (Poole) provides a 2.5 percent pay raise to education employees. Sent to the governor for signature.

H.179 (Poole) provides $41m supplemental appropriated to K-12 this year. Funding from the Advancement & Technology Fund can be used in repairs and deferred maintenance; classroom instructional support; insurance for facilities; transportation; or acquisition or purchase of technology and now as amended, can be used for school security. The bill must return to the House for concurrence.

 

S.21 (Dial) provides a one-time lump sum to education retirees and is pending final passage in the House. The formula provides one dollar for every month in the years of an education retiree’s service. The funding would come from a PEEHIP reserve savings account in the Teachers Retirement System. While that funding source means it will not divert funds in the ETF, it is an unintended cost to a reserve fund for education health insurance.

 

529 plan for k-12 tuition averted

A far more limited 529 plan bill goes to the governor to address guardians for the ABLE program. The ABLE program serves individuals with disabilities. H.251 (Johnson, K.) no longer provides a state income tax deduction as an incentive to save for private school tuition. Thanks to lawmakers who heard local school leaders and stood strong to reject state policy diverting ETF dollars.

 

School Safety: Permissive authority to arm staff?

After hearing extensive testimony Wednesday about the pros and cons of arming select school employees, including representatives from law enforcement and education groups who spoke against the proposal, the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee returned the following day with a substitute proposal giving school boards, subject to state Board of Education regulation, authority to allow employees to carry guns in schools. This permissive authority only could be exercised if recommended the principal, superintendent, chief law enforcement office and approved by the local school boards. In addition, the board would be required to have extensive emergency plans and policies related to use and storage of guns. H.435 (Ainsworth) as substituted is now pending in the house, and there is no Senate counterpart.

AASB urges the Legislature to slow down and vet all school safety measures through the safety task force (to be re-established under H.447 (Collins)and the governor’s safety council. The state needs a comprehensive approach to student safety that looks at facilities, emergency notification, preparedness and student mental health and is coordinated with local law enforcement before asking teachers to make life or death decisions in fast-moving crisis situations.

H.447 (Collins)would reconstitute the Alabama Task Force on School Safety and Security to annually study the educational and safety laws, rules, and policies of the state; the task force would make legislative recommendations and must convene before Aug. 1. This bill is pending final passage in the Senate.

A third approach, H.236 (Pettus)is also pending in the Senate. This bill would authorize a school board to contract with a retired federal or state law enforcement officer with at least 25 years’ experience to serve as an SRO.

 

Education bill updates

H.228 (Standridge) — In God we trust motto — would permit display of the national motto in public buildings, including public schools. Sent to the Governor for signature.

 

S.365 (Figures) – Rosa Parks Day – would allow each county municipality to observe Mrs. Rosa L. Parks Day on first day of December. Pending in the House.

 

S.153 (Melson) — Outside employment— would remove the prohibition against county school superintendents participating in employment outside the school system. Pending final passage in House.

 

S.212 (Orr)— Cyber school — would create a statewide residential Alabama cyber technology & engineering school to be located in Huntsville area with its own board of trustees. Pending final passage in the House.

 

S.323 (Pittman)— ATF option — would add school safety programs as an authorized spending option for the ATF in the Rolling Reserve Act.Pending in Senate.

 

H.166 (Davis) — Marriage and family therapy — Would specify marriage and family therapists may practice in school systems; expands the practice to include the diagnosis of mental and emotional disorders within treatment context.Senate committee adopted and approved a substitute to specify appropriate scope of practice. Pending final passage in Senate.

 

S.391 (Melson)/ H.511(Ingram) — Bible electives — Would allow public schools to offer elective courses on the study of the Bible and display artifacts, monuments, symbols, and text related to the study of the Bible. Introduced in Senate and House.