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STATE
OF THE STATE ADDRESS
Gov. Matt Blunt delivered the State of the State Address
on Jan. 15 at 7:00 p.m. The following page includes
links to the speech in streaming video, MP3 audio, podcast
and text formats:
http://www.gov.mo.gov/sosaddress.htm
Gov.
Blunt spoke about a number of topics, including taxes,
healthcare and education. He called for further tax
cuts, this time on military pensions. Unfortunately,
this proposal will again permanently reduce state revenues
at a time when that revenue is needed to restore public
investment in underfunded services, such as K-12 education,
higher education and health insurance for the working
poor.
Blunt’s
budget will continue to fund the seven-year phase-in
of the Senate Bill 287 (2005) formula for K-12 education.
S.B. 287 locks the $800 million in underfunding of the
old formula in place. This conveniently removed the
proration factor, a dead giveaway that the state is
underfunding education, even by its own funding standards.
Next year’s formula aid will still be 56 percent
determined by the massively underfunded “old”
formula and, yet, if the legislature appropriates the
estimated $121 million needed to fund the third year
phase in, the formula will continue to be “fully
funded.”
MNEA
believes that common sense, data-driven revisions to
the state’s school funding formula are still needed.
The Augenblick adequacy study shows that Missouri’s
current formula was more than $900 million short of
adequate funding when it was last fully funded in F.Y.
2001. The new formula base level funding and at-risk,
special education and ESL aid should be raised to research-based
figures, and the new formula should be funded within
three years.
STATE
FUNDING TO FACILITATE PUBLIC SECTOR BARGAINING
Gov. Matt Blunt recommended nearly $120,000 in renewed
funding for the State Board of Mediation. He eliminated
the SBOM by executive order in 2005 and transferred
its duties relating to bargaining unit determination
and representation elections for public employees to
the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. He
recently rescinded his original executive order and
transferred those powers back to the now non-existent
SBOM. The Association appreciates the recommendation
for renewed funding for the SBOM, though the board is
likely to need more funding than the governor's recommendation,
given the increased workload anticipated following the
Missouri Supreme Court ruling granting collective bargaining
rights to all public employees. Missouri NEA also urges
the governor to appoint qualified and fair appointees
as mandated by law to allow the SBOM to resume its vital
role in supporting public sector bargaining activity.
The State Board of Mediation will become much more important
to teachers and other education employees in this new
era of bargaining rights for all education employees
across the state.
STATE
BOARD OF EDUCATION APPOINTMENT BLOCKED
Sen. Jeff Smith announced on Jan. 15 that he was once
again blocking a pro-voucher appointee to the State
Board of Education. This time, the pro-voucher appointee
was former Rep. Derio Gambaro, who was appointed from
Smith's district by Gov. Matt Blunt. All gubernatorial
appointments to state boards and commissions must be
approved by the Missouri Senate through a process known
as “advice and consent.” Deference is given
to the Senator representing the appointee as to whether
or not to sponsor the appointment, and an appointment
that is not sponsored by the Senator from that district
is traditionally not granted advice and consent by the
Senate.
Twelve
months ago, when Sen. Smith first came into the Senate,
he was faced with a similar challenge when another constituent
Ms. Donayle Whitmore-Smith, a strong voucher advocate,
was appointed by Gov. Blunt to the State Board of Education
from his district. Sen. Smith heard many concerns regarding
that previous appointment from MNEA and the rest of
the public education community and chose to block that
appointment a year ago. On Jan. 15, Sen. Smith expressed
his disappointment that, despite his clear opposition
to the previous pro-voucher appointee, a second pro-voucher
appointee had been selected from his district.
While
some elements of legislation filed in 2007 by Sen. Smith
pertaining to the St. Louis Public Schools have caused
concern to many in public education, the Association
extends its great appreciation to Sen. Smith for again
acting in the best interests of the state in blocking
a harmful, pro-voucher appointee to the State Board
of Education. This is another example of the complexity
of the legislative environment, where an organization
may differ with a legislator on one day on one particular
issue but come together to serve a common goal on another
day.
HIGHER
EDUCATION
The Senate Education Committee and the House Higher
Education Committee met in joint session on Jan. 14
to hear a presentation from Larry Isaak, President of
the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. MHEC is a 12-state
organization dedicated to promoting opportunities in
the member states for cost savings and student access
in higher education and conducting policy research.
Isaak presented data that confirmed the concerns of
many Missourians regarding the chronic lack of investment
in higher education in Missouri. Missouri lags behind
the national average in state investment in higher education
and lags behind in the proportion of adult Missourians
who have some form of college degree.
SENATE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
The Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence
Committee heard Senate Bill 736 (Matt Bartle) on Jan.
15. The bill requires school districts to adopt policies
imposing random testing of student athletes for the
unlawful use of drugs, including anabolic steroids.
Bartle's proposed Senate Committee Substitute limited
the testing to athletes competing in playoffs, but continues
to require random drug testing without probable cause.
Missouri NEA believes mandatory drug or alcohol testing
of either students or employees without probable cause
is an unwarranted and unconstitutional invasion of privacy.
SENATE
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee heard the following Senate
Bills on Jan. 16:
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S.B. 726 (Charlie Shields) creates a quality rating
system for early child care facilities. MNEA strongly
supports this effort to evaluate programs and provide
parents with information that will improve the quality
of early child care and education programs across
the state.
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S.B. 715 (John Loudon) provides $9 million in additional
funds to school districts for a variety of safety-related
expenses. MNEA supports the bill.
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S.B. 804 (Jason Crowell) allows the state auditor
to audit any school district in the same manner as
any agency of the state.
PROPERTY
TAX VOUCHER BILL HEARD IN HOUSE
The Special Committee on Family Services heard House
Bill 1316 (Cynthia Davis) on Jan. 17. The bill declares
a parent's right to make all health care and education
decisions for their minor children and allows for reimbursement
of school property taxes for those who home school or
attend a private school. MNEA went on record in opposition
to this “school voucher by tax rebate” proposal.
FINDING
INFORMATION ABOUT BILLS
To find out more about legislation this session, go
to: http://www.mnea.org/capitol/legissues.htm
This
page contains numerous links, including the NEA Legislative
Action Center, which addresses key education issues
at the federal level, and the Missouri NEA Legislative
Action Center, which will address key education issues
at the state level. This page will contain links to
legislative updates, the MNEA Legislative Platform,
legislative priorities and other policy-related links.
To
find information about a specific bill currently pending
before the Missouri General Assembly, go to:
http://www.house.mo.gov/billcentral.aspx.
Type the bill number (example: HB1000) or sponsor name
in the “search” box to find a link to the
bill. This link will take you to a “home page”
for the bill that provides bill text, bill summaries,
fiscal notes and information on legislative action on
the bill.
MISSOURI
NEA’S COMPREHENSIVE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS PROGRAM
Missouri NEA will depend on a grassroots lobbying effort
led by MNEA and carried out by our Government Relation
Teams and our membership. Our teachers and other staff
must take the initiative to contact legislators about
the key issues affecting public education. Here's what
you can do to support MNEA's legislative agenda:
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Be a part of your local Government Relations Team.
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Take the initiative to contact local legislators now
to discuss our key issues.
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Attend the legislative brunch in your area.
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Attend the Missouri NEA Capitol Action Days for your
governance district. Capitol Action Days begin in
early February and include most Tuesdays and Wednesdays
until the first week of May.
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Receive and read the daily MNEA Daily Legislative
Update 2008 via e-mail while the legislature is in
session from January to May.
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Visit the Missouri Legislative Action Center: http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/state/main/?state=MO
The
Missouri Legislative Action Center is a convenient,
Web-based way to lobby state legislators (and other
elected officials) on key education issues. MLAC uses
a program called CapWiz to make sending an e-mail on
a priority issue quick and easy. As priority issues
move forward this session, the MNEA Daily Legislative
Update will provide links to Action Alerts on the MLAC
Web-site.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS RETURN
MNEA will continue the successful program of Capitol
Action Days begun in 2007. A series of Capitol Action
Days throughout most of the session will allow planned,
face-to-face contact with legislators throughout the
session. Capitol Action Days will be on Tuesdays and
Wednesdays starting with the first week in February
and continuing through the first week of May. Your MNEA
calendar includes the dates the MNEA Board of Directors
selected for your governance district. If you are not
able to attend on these designated days, feel free to
contact Otto Fajen (otto.fajen@mnea.org) 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.
Typical
Capitol Action Day Agenda
10:00
a.m. - Meet for briefing, 2nd Floor Capitol rotunda,
Senate-side alcove under the grand staircase
10:15 a.m. - Visit with your legislator/watch floor
debate
12:00 noon - Invite legislator to lunch
1:00-4:30
p.m. - Committee hearings, floor debate, visiting
legislators
PLAN
TO ATTEND YOUR MNEA LEGISLATIVE BRUNCH
Legislative involvement is close to home at your MNEA
Legislative Brunch. The brunch is a great opportunity
to visit with local area legislators and hear a legislative
briefing.
Area
legislative brunch schedule:
Jefferson
County – Jan. 26, 2008
Kansas City – Jan. 26, 2008
St. Charles – March 8, 2008
St. Louis – March 15, 2008
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