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By Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director

TAX CREDIT VOUCHER BILL DEBATE EXPECTED IN HOUSE
The House did not debate House Bill 808 (Carl Bearden) this week. H.B. 808 is the newest version of the tax credit voucher bill. An interesting confluence of interests raises questions about whether the bill will actually come to a vote in the House. Various voucher advocacy groups, such as All Children Matter, have invested heavily in recent electoral campaigns in an effort to create a pro-voucher legislature. Rex Sinquefield of the Show Me Institute, an extremist think tank pushing school vouchers, regressive tax changes and diminished public services, has formed a new venture and hired several lobbyists to push his extreme agenda at the Capitol. House Speaker Rod Jetton created a special committee designed especially to vote the bill out quickly. However, many majority party representatives from rural parts of the state prefer not to have to vote in favor of the bill, since their public education leaders are all strongly opposed to the bill. These representatives fear the likely electoral backlash if they vote for the bill this session due to the immense pressure from majority caucus leaders and the well-funded advocacy groups supporting the bill.

H.B. 808 is the newest version of the tax credit voucher bill. This year, the bill is once again known as the “Betty L. Thompson Scholarship Program.” Serving as this year’s version of the “65% Deception,” the bill would create a 65 percent tax credit for donations to private scholarship funds providing payments for low-income students in unaccredited or provisionally accredited districts to attend private or religious schools or out-of-district public schools. The bill allows up to $40 million per year in tax credits for “contributions” to scholarship funds to be used to fund private and religious school tuition payments for low-income students in St. Louis City and Kansas City.

This bill does nothing to fulfill the state’s primary duty: to establish and maintain quality public schools. The credits would reduce state revenues by a like amount, reduce funds for the affected public schools and force the state to forego real opportunities to help all public school students or to fund specific programs to help struggling students in urban public schools, such as early childhood education or after school programs.

Missouri NEA strongly opposes H.B. 808 and any measure to transfer state funds to private, religious or home schools that are not accountable to all the standards placed on public schools.

SENATE LEADERS PONDER SURGERY OR EUTHANASIA FOR HOUSE PENSION TAX CUT BILL
The House passed House Committee Substitute for House Bill 444 et al. on Feb. 22 by a vote of 129-28. The fiscal note for the perfected HCS shows that, after adoption of several amendments to exempt more pension income, the bill now has an estimated cost, under a revised fiscal note, of about $300 million in 2008, considerably higher than either the original bill or the committee version.

The bill exempts all Social Security pensions from income tax, along with other public employee pensions not eligible for Social Security, such as the Public School Retirement System, and up to $6,000 in income from individual retirement accounts. The fiscal impact will increase rapidly over time as Baby Boomers reach retirement age.

Passage of the House version of the bill would spell imminent budget disaster for the state. While the state is likely to have a significant ending balance of roughly $500 million this fiscal year (F.Y. 07), reasonable revenue and budget assumptions indicate that H.B. 444 would eliminate that balance within 12 months (by the end of F.Y. 08) and leave the state with a huge shortfall in the following budget year (F.Y. 09). Missouri NEA continues to oppose HCS/H.B.444 due to the generally regressive nature of the tax changes and the enormous harm the bill will due to adequacy of state revenues.

In the coming weeks, attention will turn to the Senate for deliberation on the bill. Senate leaders appear to be considering two options: 1) no tax cut at all or 2) passing a tax cut exempting only Social Security income and non-Social Security pensions such as PSRS (with an overall cost of about $120 million per year or less), with some or all of the following features: an eligible income cap of around $75,000, a six-year phase-in period and annual general revenue growth targets.

HOUSE BEGINS DEBATE ON ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION BILL (ABCTE)
The House briefly took up House Committee Substitute for House Bill 620 (Scott Muschany) for debate and then laid the bill over. H.B. 620 requires the State Board of Education to create another alternative teacher certification based on certification by the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) and to establish mentoring standards for beginning teachers and principals. Debate will likely continue later in the week.

Missouri NEA opposes creation of another alternative certification program that lacks adequate requirements to ensure those teachers are properly trained in essential teaching competencies before achieving full certification. Missouri NEA continues to recommend that elementary and early childhood certifications be excluded from any alternate certification and that all alternatively certified teachers should have to pass the Praxis II exam and complete a course of study that covers all key teaching competencies before being given a full teaching certificate.

Also, Missouri NEA supports establishing state teaching standards, so state policy is clear on what teachers are supposed to know and be able to do, how those standards will be assessed, and how mentoring, beginning teacher assistance programs and other professional development will help teachers meet those teaching standards.

MACCE
The Senate Education Committee will hear Senate Bill 111 (Scott Rupp) on Wednesday, March 7. The bill will eliminate the Missouri Advisory Council for the Certification of Educators and establish the Commissioner's Advisory Council on Teacher Quality within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri NEA continues to oppose the elimination of MACCE as this change would create a council with even less autonomy and diminish the participation of higher education institutions. Also, the bill will move the state even farther away from the Missouri NEA’s goal regarding certification standards: the establishment of an independent Professional Standards Board composed of a majority of actual teachers, which would be empowered to set high state standards for teaching and teacher certification.

HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION
The House Higher Education Committee met on Feb. 27 to hear the following bills:

1. House Bill 181 (Therese Sander) requires captioning of electronic video instructional material.
2. H.B. 213 (Jane Cunningham) establishes the "Emily Brooker Intellectual Diversity Act," which defines intellectual diversity for reporting purposes at public higher education institutions. This bill adds a dozen state-level mandates regarding bureaucratic requirements for addressing “intellectual diversity.” Missouri NEA opposes this additional layer of bureaucracy and unneeded intrusion on local control of our public higher education institutions. Also, MNEA is concerned that a rigid mandate to promote “intellectual diversity” could undermine the cardinal value of academia: the pursuit of truth. This proposal is akin to state mandates for “intelligent design” in science instruction, where the proposals mandate presentation of “diverse” views on all subjects, even those where the pursuit of truth has led to the practical certainty of answers to particular academic questions.

JOINT MEETING ON MATH AND SCIENCE
On Feb. 27, the Joint Committee on Education held a joint meeting with the House Special Committee on Student Achievement and the Senate Education Committee to hear a presentation by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce on METS (Math, Engineering, Technology and Science) and State Scholars.

SCHOOL RETIREMENT BILL PERFECTED IN SENATE
The Senate gave first round approval (Perfection vote) to Senate Bill 244 (Rob Mayer). The bill was taken up on the floor and debated. The only amendment to the bill, Senate Amendment 1, was offered by Sen. Maida Coleman and gives additional flexibility to the board of trustees of the school retirement system for St. Louis Public Schools, a separate plan from the Public School Retirement System and the Public Education Employee Retirement System. A Third Reading (final passage) vote on the bill could come as early as March 1.

The companion House version, House Bill 625 (Tom Dempsey), is on the House Perfection Calendar awaiting floor debate. Both bills will enact a five-year extension for two key provisions of PSRS law: the “25-and-Out” option and the enhanced 2.55 percent benefit factor for retirees with 31 years of service or more. These provisions will expire on June 30, 2008, if not re-enacted prior to that date.

Missouri NEA strongly supports both bills. A logical system for teacher retirement must take several factors into account. Teachers and other education employees who have 25 or more years in the profession should continue to have the option of retiring with a fair return for their years of service. At the same time, educators who choose to give more years of service, from 30 to 35 years, should be rewarded with higher levels of retirement benefits.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT COMMITTEE
The House Special Committee on Student Achievement met on Feb. 28 to hear the following bills:

1. House Committee Resolution 24 (Kevin Wilson) requests a review of the special needs student assessment provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act to better serve the special needs student population. The resolution was voted “do pass.”
2. H.B. 771 (Carl Bearden) creates the Superintendent Targeted Achievement Record Program and requires the total compensation package of school administrators to be reported and made available to the public. The bill was voted “do pass.”
3. H.B. 807 (Jane Cunningham) creates a statewide program of public school open enrollment. Missouri NEA continues to have strong concerns that the bill would undermine local accountability for ensuring equitable access to at-risk students and special needs students and may create greater opportunities for inter-district student athletics and activities recruitment. The bill does not fund the true costs to both the sending and receiving districts and has not been demonstrated to serve the best interests of all students and schools. The bill was not voted on, but the committee is expected to vote next week on a House Committee Substitute that combines H.B. 807 with H.B. 590 (Brian Baker), another open enrollment bill heard earlier in the session.

Also, the committee voted out House Committee Substitute for H.B. 827 (Scott Muschany). The bill revises the structure for educational placement and service decisions for students placed by the state in residential care facilities.

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee met on Feb. 28 and heard the following bills:

1. Senate Bill 254 (Gary Nodler) creates the Missouri Legacy Fund to provide college financial assistance. Missouri NEA supports the bill.
2. Senate Joint Reolution 8 (Luann Ridgeway) raises the allowable level of bonded indebtedness for school districts from 15 percent to 20 percent.
3. S.B. 436 (Scott Rupp) modifies provisions relating to the First Steps Program. The bill seeks to remove the sunset on the First Steps Program. Missouri NEA supports removing the sunset on the First Steps Program. However, the bill also seeks to reestablish a version of the private placement preference for Early Childhood Special Education services that was repealed by S.B. 500 in 2005. Missouri NEA strongly opposes reinstatement of this placement preference along with language focusing attention on comparing private placement costs with a district’s average cost of early childhood special education, a figure that has no bearing on any particular student and which focuses attention on comparing the costs of service, not the appropriate placement of early childhood special education students.

S.B. 243 (Rob Mayer) was scheduled but not heard and will be rescheduled for next week. The bill will increase the compulsory school attendance age for all children in Missouri to 17 years of age.

Also, the committee voted out Senate Committee Substitute for S.B. 160 (Scott Rupp). The bill creates a transfer scholarship for students who graduate from two-year institutions and seek to attend four-year institutions. The bill authorizes the use of A+ Schools scholarship funds at Ranken Tech.

CAPITOL ACTION DAYS
MNEA’s Capitol Action Days continued on Feb. 28. MNEA members from Governance District 8 made the trip to the Capitol. Capitol Action Days are a great chance to meet with legislators and discuss Missouri NEA’s priority issues and how to support great public schools.

Capitol Action Days will be on Tuesdays and Wednesdays continuing through the first week of May. Your MNEA calendar includes the dates that members of the MNEA Board of Directors selected for your governance district.

As your Capitol Action Day approaches, please contact Otto Fajen (otto.fajen@mnea.org) by the preceding evening to confirm your plan to attend. If your travel plans change and you are unable to attend on your designated day, please call and speak to Judy Glover at 1-800-832-0236 by no later than 9:00 a.m. of the designated day to let us know of the change. Feel free to contact Otto Fajen by e-mail to arrange to attend a different Capitol Action Day.

Each Capitol Action Day will start with a briefing at 10:00 a.m. to provide you with the most up-to-date information. Participants should meet MNEA Government Relation’s staff in the Capitol on the second floor near the rotunda in the Senate side alcove under the grand staircase.

Legislative Update 2007
Missouri National Education Association
1810 East Elm Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101-4174
(573) 634-3202 or (800) 392-0236

Greg Jung, President
Ben Simmons, Executive Director
DeeAnn Aull, Director of Programs and Public Relations
Leila Medley, Political Director
Otto Fajen, Legislative Director
Judy Glover, Secretary