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COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING BILLS
House Bill 2030 (Jenee' Lowe) and Senate Bill 1115 (Joan
Bray) 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 everyday 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 VOUCHER GOES BACK TO COMMITTEE
House Bill 1886 (Dwight Scharnhorst) was taken up briefly
on Mar. 5. Rep. Shannon Cooper noted that the bill was
defective in that sections of the bill were drafted
to the chapter of Missouri law relating to state school
aid, rather than the chapter on tax credits, where tax
credit voucher bills are typically drafted. Rep. Cooper
moved that the bill be sent back to the Special Committee
on Student Achievement, presumably to be correctly redrafted
to the appropriate chapter. The motion to send the bill
back to committee was adopted by a vote of 82-75. Though
the motion to recommit was not supported by the bill’s
proponents, the close vote does not indicate the measure
of support for the bill, since many legislators who
oppose the bill also voted against the motion to recommit,
preferring to take up the bill for a vote without further
delay. The Student Achievement Committee was scheduled
to take the bill up again for the third time on adjournment
on Mar. 6, but the hearing was cancelled. The bill is
expected to be voted back out early next week and taken
up for debate some time next week before the legislature
leaves on spring break.
The
bill 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 bill allows an
unlimited total amount in tax credits for “contributions”
to scholarship funds but arbitrarily limits participation
to 10 percent of disabled students.
The
use of special education students to further the school
privatization agenda is an emerging trend across the
nation. As with school privatization efforts in previous
years, this bill does nothing to fulfill the state’s
primary duty: to establish and maintain quality public
schools. In particular, the bill does 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.
STATEWIDE
SALARY SCHEDULE
The Senate Education Committee met on Mar. 5 to hear
two Senate Bills: S.B. 1092 (Kevin Engler) and S.B.
1152 (Jason Crowell). Both bills would create a state
aid payment to support a statewide salary schedule.
The bills amount to a sort of funding formula revision,
but reward districts that have low salaries, rather
than targeting state aid to districts based on students
and their identified needs under the formula.
Missouri
NEA asks the state to establish fair, adequate and sustainable
taxes, invest adequate state revenue in public schools,
protect local school revenues and support employee rights
through collective bargaining. The Association recognizes
that Missouri’s low national ranking on teachers’
salaries is a symptom of inadequate school funding and
the lack of a good bargaining law for school employees.
Salaries and working conditions for all education employees
should be bargained locally to best meet the needs of
each district, rather than through a one-size-fits-all
state mandate. Local negotiation of salaries and working
conditions is the best way to create great public schools
for every child.
HOUSE
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
heard the following House Bills on Mar. 5:
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H.B. 1676 (Ted Hoskins) requires the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education to establish criteria
for admission or rejection by adjoining accredited
schools of nonresident students from unaccredited
districts. The bill does not specify the criteria
by which such decisions would be made. Without further
clarification, the bill may have the effect of forcing
districts to increase class size by accepting a large
number of nonresident students without providing capital
funding to increase school classroom capacity.
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H.B. 1692 (Clint Zweifel) establishes the Missouri
Preschool Plus Grant Program to serve up to 10,000
students with high quality early childhood education
services. MNEA supports this effort to provide quality
early childhood education services, help close achievement
gaps and promote student success.
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H.B. 1807 (Stanley Cox) renames the State Schools
for Severely Handicapped Children to the Missouri
Schools for the Severely Disabled.
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H.B. 1726 (Ed Robb) requires twins or other multiple-birth
siblings to be placed in the same classroom if the
parent or legal guardian makes a timely request.
The
committee voted H.B. 1807 “do pass” as a
Consent Bill. The committee voted H.B. 1726 “do
pass,” but the motion for consent status failed
since the vote was not unanimously in favor.
SPECIAL
COMMITTEE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
The House Special Committee on Student Achievement heard
the following House Bills on Mar. 5:
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H.B. 2159 (Jason Grill) creates the crime of selling
a fraudulent diploma or transcript.
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H.B. 2191 (Jamilah Nasheed) clarifies that a school
district may participate in the A+ Schools Program
regardless of its accreditation status by the State
Board of Education if the district meets all other
requirements
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H.B. 2226 (Scott Muschany) clarifies that married
taxpayers filing jointly may deduct up to $16,000
in contributions to the Missouri Higher Education
Savings Program from their taxable income.
BUDGET
The House Budget Committee worked this week to draft
various budget bills for state agencies and programs.
The committee will complete initial review work on all
the operating budget bills on Mar. 6. The committee
will then move on to final markup of the committee substitute
versions of those bills. 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. 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.
TAXATION
The House Special Committee on Tax Reform met on Mar.
4 to hear the following House Bills:
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H.B. 2189 (Joe Smith), H.B. 2208 (Rick Stream) and
H.B. 2178 (Jason Holsman) would each exempt any advance
refund received from the federal Economic Stimulus
Act of 2008 from the Missouri individual income tax.
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H.B. 1644 (Robert Onder) allows full deductibility
from state income tax of all federal income tax liability
for corporations without a reduction for tax credits
claimed. The bill would harm the fairness and adequacy
of the state taxes that support public schools and
other vital services. The bill is estimated to reduce
state corporate taxes by $60 million per year. 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. The committee
voted out a House Committee Substitute version of
the bill that also allows full deductibility of federal
income taxes paid on state income tax returns. The
HCS thus constitutes a full repeal of the taxes enacted
in Senate Bill 380 from 1993.
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H.B. 2190 (Jamilah Nasheed) would phase out the Prop
C sales and use tax on the purchase of food over a
six-year period and replace the revenue with a sales
tax on the purchase of beer, wine and liquor.
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H.B. 2112 (Ed Emery) would phase out the state income
tax and replace it with a sales tax. Missouri NEA
strongly opposes this bill as it would massively undermine
the fairness, adequacy and sustainability of Missouri's
state tax structure.
The
House Ways and Means Committee met on Mar. 6 to hear
H.B. 1645 (Robert Onder). The bill repeals the taxes
enacted by S.B. 380 in 1993 by allowing full deductibility
of federal income taxes on state income tax returns.
The bill will reduce state revenues by an estimated
$563 million dollars per year. MNEA strongly opposes
the bill because it will profoundly reduce tax fairness
by giving tax deductions primarily to higher income
individuals and to corporations and will undermine the
adequacy and sustainability of state revenues by the
massive reduction in state income taxes beginning next
year. This bill would cripple the state’s ability
to maintain adequate investment in public education,
health care and other vital services.
FINANCE
TEACHER CERTIFICATION
The House Special Committee on Financial Institutions
heard House Bill 1874 (Jane Cunningham) on Mar. 5 and
voted the bill “do pass.” The bill creates
an alternative certification route for teachers in the
subject areas of banking and financial responsibility.
It requires the state board to certify applicants to
teach banking and financial responsibility if they have
a relevant bachelor’s degree and pass the Praxis
or other exit exam in that subject. Those teachers would
not have access to tenure and will be limited to an
initial professional certificate. MNEA is concerned
that this bill will lower teacher standards by certifying
more individuals who lack training in teaching competencies.
GPO/WEP
The House Special Committee on Tax Reform also voted
out House Concurrent Resolution 11 (Jerry Nolte) and
HCR 16 (Walt Bivins). Both resolutions would send a
message to Missouri’s congressional delegation
urging the repeal of the Government Pension Offset and
Windfall Elimination Provision of the Social Security
Act. Missouri NEA strongly supports both resolutions.
HOUSE
HIGHER EDUCATION
The House Higher Education Committee met on Mar. 4 to
hear the following House Bills:
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H.B. 1596 (Bob May) specifies additional requirements
for proposed land use changes on land owned by the
University of Missouri.
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H.B. 2048 (Jake Zimmerman) establishes the Textbook
Transparency Act to provide additional information
to assist faculty in selecting textbooks for courses.
- The
committee also voted out the following House Bills:
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H.B. 1479 (Jane Cunningham) requires school boards
and governing boards of public colleges and universities
to adopt all school policies by roll-call vote. The
bill passed by a 4-3 vote along party lines.
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H.B. 1869 (Mike Thomson) updates the obsolete reference
to “junior college” in Missouri law to
the term “community college.” The bill
was voted “do pass” as a Consent Bill.
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H.B. 1802 (Kevin Wilson) provides judicial review
of the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s
decisions regarding student participation in activities.
The committee voted out a House Committee Substitute
version which removed the problematic language referring
to student participation as a “right”
rather than as a “privilege.”
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS
Capitol Action Days continued this week. 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 continue through the
first week of May. Your MNEA calendar includes the dates
that 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 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.
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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