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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BILLS
Rep. Jenee' Lowe filed House 2030 last week. Sen. Joan
Bray filed Senate Bill 1115, a companion bill, on Feb.
11. The bills would establish a good collective bargaining
law for the roughly 400,000 public sector employees
working in Missouri. Missouri’s public sector
employees have reclaimed their constitutional bargaining
rights with a recent Missouri Supreme Court ruling on
May 29, 2007. Missouri NEA strongly supports both bills.
Public education is an important portion of public
sector employment. Collective bargaining in schools
is about working together to provide great public schools
for every student.
Important decisions affecting our schools are best
made at the local level. Nothing is more “local”
than a collective bargaining process that gives a voice
to the educators who work most closely with students.
Collective bargaining is a fair process that promotes
shared decision making and results in agreements that
are binding for both educators and school boards. The
Supreme Court’s decision allows public school
employees the same rights as everybody else. Collective
bargaining creates a clear, fair process for educators
to engage in decision making with employers and reach
agreements that are legally binding.
Local educators are the experts on what students need
and how to attract and retain highly qualified teachers.
Collective bargaining directly involves employees who
work with children every day in mutual problem solving
with school district administrators.
MNEA will need a strong effort from members throughout
the session to educate Missouri legislators that collective
bargaining in schools is about working together to provide
great public schools for every student.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
VOUCHERS
The House Student Achievement Committee heard House
Bill 1886 (Dwight Scharnhorst) on Feb. 13 and quickly
voted the bill “do pass” after the conclusion
of the hearing. The Senate Pensions and General Laws
Committee heard a similar bill, Senate Bill 993 (Jason
Crowell), on the same day. These bills would create
a tax credit voucher for special education students
to attend private or religious schools. The bills would
create an 80 percent tax credit for donations to private
scholarship funds providing payments for disabled students
to attend private or religious schools or out-of-district
public schools.
The bills allow an unlimited total amount in tax credits
for “contributions” to scholarship funds.
As in previous years, this bill does nothing to fulfill
the state’s primary duty: to establish and maintain
quality public schools. In particular, the bills will
do nothing to build the capacity of public schools across
the state to offer high quality programs to disabled
students. The credits would reduce state revenues by
nearly a like amount and force the state to forego real
opportunities to help all public school students or
to fund specific programs to help disabled students
attending public schools.
Missouri NEA strongly opposes any measure to transfer
state funds to private, religious or home schools that
are not accountable to the standards placed on public
schools. With the growing efforts of extreme, out-of-state
interest groups such as All Children Matter, these new
efforts to enact tax credit vouchers present an extra
challenge. MNEA needs active participation of members
speaking to legislators, fellow educators and the public
on the importance of this issue to all Missourians.
Action needed: Please call, write or e-mail to urge
your state representative to oppose H.B. 1886, the new
special education tax credit voucher proposal. The following
link will connect you to the MNEA Legislative Action
Center Action Alert on H.B. 1886. The action alert contains
a brief summary and an editable message box to help
you send an e-mail to your state representative on the
issue. http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/issues/alert/?alertid=10968051&type=ST.
ABCTE MANDATE
The Senate Education Committee heard Senate Bill 1066
(Luann Ridgeway) on Feb. 13. The committee voted the
bill “do pass” on Feb. 14. S.B. 1066 requires
the State Board of Education to create another alternative
teacher certification based on certification by the
American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence.
A companion bill, H.B. 1911 (Scott Muschany), was heard
by the House Special Committee on Student Achievement
on Feb. 13, and the bill was voted “do pass”
on completion of the hearing.
Missouri NEA remains concerned that the bill would
grant a full professional certificate to an ABCTE teacher,
rather than an alternative certificate which allows
a teacher to be employed on a renewable basis in an
employing district upon maintaining successful teaching
evaluations and leading to a professional certificate
after passing the Praxis test and demonstrating teaching
competencies. The state board should retain authority
to supervise and revise any teaching certification.
Missouri NEA continues to recommend that elementary,
early childhood and special education 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 professional teaching certificate.
Missouri NEA also supports establishing state teaching
standards, so that 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.
Action needed: Please call, write or e-mail to urge
your state senator to oppose S.B. 1066, the ABCTE mandate
bill. The following link will connect you to the MNEA
Legislative Action Center Action Alert on S.B. 1066.
The action alert contains a brief summary and an editable
message box to help you send an e-mail to your state
senator on the issue.
.http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/issues/alert/?alertid=10968031&type=ST
EMPLOYEE REFERENCES AND INFORMATION
The Senate Education Committee adopted a Senate Committee
Substitute and voted Senate Bill 713 (Michael Gibbons)
“do pass” on Feb. 14. The bill grants civil
immunity to school district employees who give references
regarding former school employees applying for a job
in another district. The bill limits the immunity to
information affecting the safety and well-being of students.
Missouri NEA has concerns with the language of the bill,
which appears to be too broad in granting such immunity.
As drafted, the bill appears to grant immunity in all
such cases, even if the employee giving the reference
violates a district confidentiality agreement regarding
a former employee. Missouri NEA recommends that any
such immunity should be narrowly worded to refer to
specific, adjudicated offenses by employees.
STATE SUPPORT FOR EARLY CHILD CARE
The Senate Education Committee heard Senate Bill 779
(Jeff Smith) on Feb. 13. The bill would expand the Missouri
Preschool Project with an additional program to provide
quality early child care to 5000 three and four-year-olds
living in low-income households in unaccredited and
provisionally accredited school districts. Missouri
NEA strongly supports the bill as an important effort
to promote more universal access to quality early child
care.
TAX CUTS FOR CORPORATIONS AND THE WEALTHY
The House Special Committee on Tax Reform heard several
bills on Feb. 12, including House Bill 1340 (Scott Muschany).
The bill would significantly harm the fairness and adequacy
of the state taxes that support public schools and other
vital services. H.B. 1340 would allow full deductibility
of federal income tax on state income tax returns. This
measure would ultimately reduce state revenues by over
$400 million per year.
Missouri already has an essentially “flat”
income tax for all but the lowest 20 percent of taxpayers,
since the same rate is applied to all income over $9,000.
The federal income tax, however, is “progressive,”
meaning that the rate is higher for higher incomes and
thus based more on a taxpayer's ability to pay. Allowing
full deductibility of federal income tax liability will
actually make the state income tax “regressive,”
since the increasing deduction will reduce the effective
state tax rate, but only for higher income taxpayers.
Ironically, the bill may also export as much as $100
million per year from Missouri taxpayers back to the
federal government, since the decrease in the federally-deductible
state income tax will increase the federal tax for those
wealthy individuals who see a state income tax reduction.
The committee also voted H.B. 1551 (Bryan Stevenson)
“do pass.” The bill would eliminate the
corporate income tax. This measure will ultimately reduce
state revenues by at least $100 million per year and
perhaps considerably more. The fiscal impact is difficult
to determine because the state has weakened its tax
reporting requirements on corporate franchise and income
taxes. Missouri already has the lowest effective corporate
income tax rate in the country, relative to the federal
corporate tax on activity allocated to our state, among
the 46 states that actually have a corporate income
tax. Corporations benefit from public investments and
public services in Missouri, just as individual citizens
do, and it is only fair that corporations doing business
in Missouri also help support those investments. MNEA
strongly opposes this unfair tax change that would undermine
the revenue that supports public education and healthcare
services Missourians need.
Missouri NEA believes the taxes that support great
investments, such as our public schools, should be fair,
adequate and sustainable. Also, MNEA strongly opposes
this unfair tax change that would undermine the revenue
that supports public education and healthcare services
Missourians need.
PROTECTING MISSOURI’S FAIR AND IMPARTIAL
COURTS
The House Special Committee on General Laws continued
its hearing on Feb. 12 on two joint resolutions affecting
Missouri's Non-Partisan Court Plan:
House Joint Resolution 49 (Stanley Cox) increases the
number of governor-appointed members of the Appellate
Judicial Commission from three to five, while HJR 52
(Jim Lembke) would abolish the nonpartisan commission
entirely and establish a partisan process for selecting
appellate judges.
The Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan is essential for
the state to select qualified judges in a way that limits
partisan politics in the selection process. This non-partisan
plan is so effective that a majority of states have
adopted the “Missouri Plan.” Fair and impartial
courts are vital to democracy and the preservation of
our rights, including the fundamental right of access
to a great public school. MNEA opposes both joint resolutions
and urges the General Assembly to refrain from any changes
in the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan.
BUDGET
The House Education-Appropriations Committee continued
to hear presentations and discuss priorities for funding
for the fiscal year 2009 budget that will go into effect
for next school year. The committee will work on a final
report to the budget committee. The budget committee
asked all subcommittees to prepare a prioritized list
of items to cut. The budget committee will then draft
the various budget bills for the state agencies and
programs. The budget committee is apparently operating
under the assumption that at least $250 million in proposed
expenditures from the governor's budget proposal will
have to be cut in order to construct a balanced budget
based on current revenue expectations for the coming
fiscal year. It is not yet clear how much, if any, of
the $250 million in needed cuts will come from education
funding. MNEA will continue to advocate for adequate
and equitable funding for all school districts and improved
support for services such as early childhood education
that help students be successful in school.
PSRS SALARY INCREASE CAP
The Senate gave initial approval (Perfection vote) to
Senate Bill 994 (Jason Crowell) on Feb. 13. The bill
will raise the cap on annual increases in final average
salary used for calculating Public School Retirement
System benefits from 10 percent to 20 percent. This
bill would undo the lower cap enacted in 2007. MNEA
opposed the lower cap that was enacted last session
and strongly supports Sen. Crowell’s legislation
to reverse that unnecessary cap on PSRS pensions.
SCHOOL SAFETY
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
heard House Bill 1722 (Maynard Wallace) on Feb. 13.
The bill extends employee immunity to all school board
policies, not just the discipline policy. The bill also
broadens the reporting of acts of school violence under
the Safe Schools Act, allows school boards to commission
certified law enforcement officers for local violations
and certain crimes committed on school premises, at
school activities or on buses and makes many other changes
related to school safety. Missouri NEA generally supports
the provisions in the bill and will work with the sponsor
to ensure the bill is a positive step in support of
safe schools.
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The Senate Education Committee voted “do pass”
on the following Senate Bills on Feb. 14:
1. S.B. 762 (Yvonne Wilson) modifies the definition
of “bullying” in a public school’s
“anti-bullying” policy to include cyberbullying.
Missouri NEA supports the bill.
2. S.B. 1047 (Carl Vogel) includes nonpublic special
education students served by a district in the definition
of special education pupil count in the foundation formula.
This bill will ensure that the formula aid for a district
reflects the additional special education services provided
to nonpublic school students under the federal Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act. Missouri NEA supports
the bill.
CAPITOL ACTION DAYS
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 and will continue
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.
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
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 contains 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: H.B.1000) 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.
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:
St. Charles – Mar. 8, 2008
St. Louis – Mar. 15, 2008
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