Publications: SAC Legislative Bulletin

SAC Legislative Bulletin

April 07, 2006

SAC Legislative Bulletin

The official legislative newsletter for the School Administrators Coalition (SAC) which includes

MASA, MAESP, MASSP, MO-CASE, MUSIC, MO K-8, MARE, MSHSAA, & MAPT

For a complete listing of bill summaries that impact education go to
http://www.mcsa.org/reference

If you can not access this link, simply copy and paste the above address in your browser.

TUITION TAX CREDITS DELAYED AGAIN;

TIMELINE SHORTENS

For the second week in a row, House floor debate on HCS for HBs 1783 and 1479 was postponed. With five weeks left in the session, not taking the bill up in the House has to be considered a positive development for opponents of the bill. This does not mean, by any means, that the bill will not be debated in the House of Representatives.

It is critical that school administrators continue to encourage the education community (teacher leaders, board members, PTA leaders, and community advocates for the public schools) to contact their state representative and urge him/her to oppose HCS for HBs 1783 and 1479. Numerous contacts need to be made with state representatives including as many parents and other community supporters as possible.

HCS for HBs 1783 and 1479 can only be defeated through continued grass roots contacts with state representatives. Please continue your strong efforts.

SCHOOL CHOICE

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee passed HB 1939 sponsored by Rep. Hunter out of committee last week and the bill is now in position to be taken up by the full House of Representatives. HB 1939 would authorize open enrollment and establish procedures for intra- and inter-district transfers including allowing parents to decide which school district their child would attend. School districts would be authorized to deny enrollment requests when class sizes would be compromised. The SAC has a number of concerns and testified in opposition to the bill. The SACs concerns include:

1. In our current mobile culture, many students suffer from movement from school to school and the learning disruptions that accompany such learning environment changes. We think HB 1939 will encourage families to move their students from school to school even more often.

2. There are many reasons why students become unhappy with their school and teachers, especially, in the short term. HB 1939 will allow many families or students to make decisions to change schools when that is not in the students best interests.

3. Eligibility for participation in extracurricular activities for a student can be gained after only ninety days in a new school. In too many instances, this will lead to "recruiting" pressures being placed on high school youngsters to change schools to make the team better rather than to improve the learning opportunity for the student. (A substitute bill was introduced at the hearing which omitted this language. If an open enrollment bill is passed, however, SAC believes that pressure will build quickly from open enrollment students and their families to allow them to participate in extracurricular activities at their school of choice.)

4. In many rural areas of the state, providing transportation to an alternate public school would be neither timely nor economically efficient. In this regard, HB 1939 discriminates against rural students.

5. In some instances in this state, a transfer of several students could have an operational impact on the district of residence and could be a prerequisite to school consolidation.

6. Under the language of the bill, students transferring for "good cause" could be accepted until the third Friday in July. This provision could certainly create class size, instructional materials, and teacher assignment problems among other items for the receiving school district.

Although introduced late, HB 1939 is gathering steam and must be considered a serious threat for passage by the General Assembly. School administrators are urged to contact their state representative and state senator to express their opposition.

SCHOOL START DATE

SCS for SB 1114 is on the Senate Calendar for Perfection awaiting floor debate by the full Senate. SCS for SB 1114 would require the State Board of Education to annually adopt a target school start date. School districts would, then, have the option of adopting a different school start date provided they state the reasons for adopting a different date.

The Senate substitute bill is much better than the original SB 1114 which would have taken local control completely away from school districts by restricting school districts from starting school earlier than the Friday before the last Monday in August unless the public approves by majority vote a petition to establish an earlier date.

The school administrators coalition feels strongly that the establishment of the school calendar including when to start school can best be determined by the local board of education and urges school administrators to contact their state senator and let him/her know about their opposition to the bill.

FUNDING ADEQUACY BILL

APPROVED BY THE SENATE

SS SCS SB 894 sponsored by Sen. Nodler would require districts with levies below the performance levy ($3.43) to annually provide written notice to DESE asserting whether the school district is providing an adequate education to students. Any assertion that the school district is failing to provide an adequate education shall be considered due to a lack of sufficient local effort and not a failure of the state to fulfill its financial obligation to school districts. On Thursday, the Senate passed the bill. The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

STATE SPENDING LIMITATION

The House Budget Committee conducted an extensive hearing on HJR 48 sponsored by Rep. Bearden. After more than seven hours, the committee voted 14 9 to pass HJR 48. HJR 48 would submit to the voters a constitutional amendment which would limit state annual expenditures to a cost of living adjustment factor plus a population growth factor. Coupled with the Hancock amendment, Missouri would then have both a constitutional spending limit and a constitutional revenue limit. Colorado has had similar spending and revenue limits in place for fourteen years known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). The Colorado spending limitations have resulted in a decline in state services, including K-12 education services and teachers salaries. Testimony at the hearing noted that many state costs, including K-12 education, typically grow at a faster rate than the proposed growth factor in HJR 48. Thus, over time, services would be required to be held stagnant or curtailed in order to stay within the spending limitation. This was the experience in Colorado where voters recently approved suspending TABOR to allow that state to move toward recovery. The SAC testified in opposition to HJR 48.

HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee met on Wednesday, April 5, and conducted hearings on the following bills:

1. HB 1901 sponsored by Rep. Muschany which would require the approval of school districts and other taxing entities with sufficient financial interests at stake when tax abatements are proposed by a municipality. The SAC testified in support of the bill.

2. HB 1973 sponsored by Rep. Robb which would amend charter school laws relating to sponsorships and financial accountability. The SAC testified in opposition to efforts to expand the list of eligible charter school sponsors to include additional private institutions.

3. SB 806 sponsored by Sen. Gross which would establish the Founding Documents Protection Act to protect the posting and teaching of certain historical documents.

4. SB 834 sponsored by Sen. Nodler which would amend state special education laws to comply with federal changes to the IDEA.

The House Committee passed two bills, HB 1939 which would authorize open enrollment for intra- and inter-district transfers (see separate article) and HCS HB 2008, an education omnibus bill that includes portions of the following:

1. HB 1901, Rep. Muschaneys tax abatement bill discussed above.

2. HB 1973, Rep. Robbs charter school bill discussed above.

3. HB 1281 sponsored by Rep. Robb which limits the state auditors fees to fifty dollars per hour for registration of bonds.

4. HB 1057 sponsored by Rep. Cunningham which authorizes ABCTE certification for educators.

5. HB 1218 sponsored by Rep. Kraus which requires adoption of an anti-bullying policy.

6. HB 1750 sponsored by Rep. Muschany which revises laws regarding lapse of unaccredited school districts to address the "yo-yo" affect of current law.

7. HB 1062 sponsored by Rep. Cunningham which limits the term of office for members of the Special School District of St. Louis County.

8. HB 2008 sponsored by Rep. Muschany which establishes emergency procedures to address pandemic diseases.

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The Senate Education Committee met Tuesday, April 4, and heard the following bills:

1. SB 994 sponsored by Sen. Dougherty which would alter the special education threshold established in the funding formula adopted last session for school districts with a higher than average student population with elevated blood lead levels.

2. SB 920 sponsored by Sen. Coleman which would establish the Urban Flight Scholarship Program to provide financial assistance to college students who elect to teach in urban or metropolitan districts.

3. SB 921 sponsored by Sen. Coleman which would establish the Missouri Senior Cadets Program to award high school credit to juniors and seniors and to pay three hours of college tuition costs for no more than eight semesters.

HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND FINANCE

The Special Committee met on April 4 and conducted hearings on the following bills:

1. HB 1607 sponsored by Rep. Schneider which would expand the A+ program to include reimbursement for certain accredited private vocational or technical schools.

2. HB 2036 sponsored by Rep. Moore which would establish the Urban Flight Scholarship program. HB 2036 is identical to SB 920.