Publications: SAC Legislative Bulletin

SAC Legislative Bulletin

April 17, 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.

SESSION MOVES TO FINAL MONTH

The Second Session of the 93rd General Assembly has moved into its final four weeks before adjournment on Friday, May 12 at 6 p.m.

Several bills strongly opposed by the School Administrators Coalition (SAC) are pending in both the House of Representatives and Senate and are likely to be taken up for floor debate this week. In the House of Representatives, these include HCS for HBs 1783 and 1479 (tuition tax credits), which has been pending for several weeks on the House calendar and which still could be taken up at any moment.

HB 1939 sponsored by Rep. Hunter which would authorize open enrollment for public school students in any Missouri public school and establish procedures for both intra-district (within the school district) and inter-district (between public school districts) transfers at the behest of parents rather than the school district. SAC is opposed to HB 1939 for the following reasons:

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.

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 House hearing on the bill 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 have to 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.

SCS for SB 1114 co-sponsored by Sens. Goodman and Loudon 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.

Several other education related bills that are not opposed by SAC are, also, in position for consideration in either the House or Senate and could become the vehicle for attaching undesirable amendments over the final weeks of session. If that occurs, SAC will utilize emails to inform members what has occurred and what needs to happen.

TUITION TAX CREDITS

Another week has passed and HCS HB 1783 and 1479 has not been taken up for debate on the House floor. With only four weeks left in the session, each passing day makes it more critical for the bill to be debated in the House of Representatives if it is to have any chance for floor time in the Senate. School administrators must continue to share their concerns to ensure the bill does not regain momentum.

TAX INCREMENT FINANCING BILL

PASSES THE SENATE

The Senate debated and passed tax increment financing legislation this week. The bill will now go to the House for action. SS SCS SB 832, sponsored by Sen. Griesheimer, was amended on the Senate floor to remove the earlier proposed prohibition on the use of tax increment financing for the development of vacant land for predominantly residential purposes and to remove the allowance for referendum petitions in opposition to tax increment financing projects in those municipalities that do not currently possess such authority. Municipalities would, instead, be required to adopt a tax increment financing project by a two-thirds majority when the TIF commission denies approval of the tax increment financing proposal. The bill replaces the term "blighted area" with the term "distressed area" but does not alter the definition to provide greater definition or restriction. The two strongest provisions in SB 832 were the proposed restriction on the use of tax increment financing for residential development and the voter referendum provision. Both have been eliminated from the bill that was passed. The bill may undergo substantial revision in the House which has previously passed HCS for HB 1070 sponsored by Rep. Johnson which would provide greater restrictions on the use of tax increment financing.

SENATE FLOOR ACTION

On Thursday morning, the Senate gave final approval to two education bills:

1. SS SCS SB 912 sponsored by Sen. Goodman which would establish the Missouri virtual school program with governance and oversight provided by DESE. SS SCS SB 912 is identical to HCS HB 1275 which has passed the House and is before the Senate Education Committee where a hearing was conducted on April 11, 2006. The Senate Education Committee could vote on HCS HB 1275 this week.

2. SJR 31 sponsored by Sen. Ridgeway which would place before the voters the question of whether the bonded indebtedness limit applicable to school districts should be increased from fifteen percent to twenty percent. SJR 31 will now be forwarded to the House for action. The companion House resolution, HJR 41, was filed early in the session but has not yet been assigned to a committee. Thus, if a measure is to be passed this session and approved for placement on the ballot, it will have to be SJR 31.

HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND FINANCE

The committee met on April 12 and heard SB 894 sponsored by Sen. Nodler which would require districts with a levy less than $3.43 to annually declare to DESE whether they are providing an "adequate" education to students. If a district declares that it is not providing an adequate education, the bill attributes the inadequacy to lack of local tax effort. The committee plans to vote on SB 894 next week.

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

The committee met on April 12 and voted the following bills do pass:

1. HB 1449 sponsored by Rep. Wright which would exempt a substitute or part-time teacher employed within one year of the teachers retirement from an additional background check. The committee adopted a substitute that removes the requirement for districts to share background check reports. The SCS was voted Do Pass as a Consent Bill.

2. HB 1732 sponsored by Rep. Fraser which would revise the criteria for the self-administration medications in public schools. The bill was voted Do Pass as a Consent Bill.

HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

The committee met on April 10 and heard the following:

1. HB 1385 sponsored by Rep. Yates which would allow instructional coaches to be eligible to participate in Career Ladder.

2. SCS SB 580 sponsored by Sen. Shields which would require collaboration between DESE, the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Economic Development in order to achieve a more efficient and effective education system.

3. SCS SB 769 sponsored by Sen. Mayer which would permit school districts meeting certain criteria to make a one-time additional transfer from the incidental fund to the capital projects fund. The committee adopted an amendment to allow greater flexibility to the Caruthersville School District due to the recent tornado devastation. The bill was voted Do Pass as a Consent Bill.

4. SB 1004 sponsored by Sen. Days which would remove the sunset from the changes to Early Childhood Special Education placement. The bill was amended by Rep. Cunningham to reinstate Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) placement preference and cost limitation language. The bill was then voted Do Pass.

5. SB 1085 sponsored by Sen. Kennedy which would modify provisions relating to the self-administration of medication by students. The bill was voted Do Pass as a Consent Bill.

6. SB 806 sponsored by Sen. Gross which would establish the "Founding Documents Protection Act". The bill was voted Do Pass as a Consent Bill.

7. SB 834 sponsored by Sen. Nodler which would revise special education hearing policy to comply with revisions to the federal IDEA. The bill was voted Do Pass as a Consent Bill.