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SPECIAL
EDUCATION VOUCHER
House Committee Substitute #2 for House Bill 1886 (Dwight
Scharnhorst) was voted “do pass” by the
House Rules Committee on Mar. 11. The bill was taken
up briefly on Mar. 13, to prevent the drafting and distribution
of more amendments. No substantive debate took place,
and the bill was laid over. The debate and vote on the
bill will not occur until after the legislature returns
from spring break on Mar. 25.
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.
MSTA
ANTI-BARGAINING BILL FOR TEACHERS
The Senate Education Committee heard Senate Bill 1158
(Rob Mayer) on Mar. 12. The Missouri State Teachers
Association urged Sen. Mayer to file the bill. S.B.
1158 discriminates against teachers by treating them
differently, denying them their right to select a single
representative with a legal duty to represent all employees.
Missouri NEA spoke in strong opposition to the bill.
An
effective bargaining process must have a unified employee
voice. Piecing a bargaining team together from various
groups builds a communications gap into the process
and leaves teachers scrambling for a cohesive voice.
S.B. 1158 would force teachers to form a representative
council, an extra layer of bureaucracy, which would
make reaching agreement within the employee group nearly
impossible.
More
importantly, the bill fails to provide a ratification
step for teachers in the agreement process. Once the
“council” reaches an agreement, the teachers
represented by the council do not get to vote to approve
or reject the agreement. This bill would make collective
bargaining a more difficult and less effective process
for teachers than for other employees, and it leaves
them, once again, with fewer rights than other public
employees. Unlike an elected representative, whose right
to represent employees can be removed if it fails to
represent them fairly, the council cannot be held accountable,
disbanded or replaced with an elected representative
organization, even if the council is totally dysfunctional.
Of
the 35 states where teachers bargain collectively, no
state uses a process similar to the one proposed in
S.B. 1158. The bargaining model that has proven effective
over time in state-after-state is the exclusive representation
model. In a historic decision in May 2007, the Missouri
Supreme Court restored the right of all public employees
(including teachers) to bargain collectively with employers.
MSTA fought against collective bargaining for years
and filed a brief last year urging the Supreme Court
to deny teachers a voice in the collective bargaining
process,
Missouri
NEA believes that House Bill 2030 (Jenee` Lowe) and
S.B. 1115 (Joan Bray) will treat all employees affected
by the court decision fairly. H.B. 2030 and S.B. 1115
were built on consensus among public employee groups,
including teachers. Missouri NEA believes every child
has the basic right to attend a great public school,
and nothing should dilute the voice of teachers in how
that is accomplished.
LEGISLATIVE
ACCOUNTABILITY DODGE
The House perfected House Joint Resolution 41 (Jane
Cunningham) on Mar. 11 with virtually no opportunity
for debate or amendment. The HJR was taken up for Third
Reading on Mar. 13, but was laid over following extensive
debate without a final vote. The Joint Resolution, if
passed by both chambers and approved by statewide vote,
would prohibit a state court from instructing or ordering
the state legislature or any local government to levy
or increase taxes. The amendment would also prohibit
any Missouri court from instructing or ordering the
state or any local government on how to spend, allocate
or budget fiscal resources.
The
HJR is an obvious attempt to avoid accountability for
the failure to meet the constitutional demand to adequately
and equitably fund public education. As an alternative,
MNEA calls on the General Assembly to promote legislative
accountability and place on the statewide ballot a constitutional
amendment requiring the legislature to annually declare
whether public education and other constitutionally
required services are adequately funded and providing
that, if such services are determined to be inadequately
funded, the inadequacy shall be presumed to be due to
lack of state funding.
By
continuing to pursue a strong, anti-tax policy, House
leaders seem determined to ensure that the state lacks
the resources to make the public investment Missourians
expect and which the Constitution demands. This policy
will permanently cripple the funding of K-12 and higher
education, health care and other state-supported services
and sentence Missouri to permanent, bottom-tier status
in the nation. HJR 41 would undermine the fundamental
balance of governmental powers and leave the people
of Missouri with no legal recourse to hold the legislature
accountable for failure to live up to its constitutional
obligations. Missouri NEA strongly opposes HJR 41.
SENATE
EDUCATION
In addition to hearing S.B. 1158, the Senate Education
Committee heard the following Senate Bills on Mar. 12:
1.
S.B. 839 (Kevin Engler) prevents a state aid penalty
based on lease purchase of property for a certain school
district. The bill was voted “do pass” as
a Consent Bill.
2.
S.B. 1225 (Rob Mayer) allows school boards to identify
a designee to bind the school district during certain
special education due process hearings.
3.
S.B. 1226 (Rob Mayer) modifies provisions relating to
special education due process hearings.
The
committee combined S.B.s 1225 and 1226 into a Senate
Committee Substitute and voted the SCS “do pass”
as a Consent Bill.
The
committee also voted SCS/S.B. 804 (Jason Crowell) “do
pass.” The bill allows the state auditor to audit
school districts if requested by the district.
HOUSE
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
met on Mar. 12 to hear the following:
1.
House Concurrent Resolution 26 (Bob Dixon) encourages
the governor and the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education to secure additional funding for fine arts
education in Missouri. MNEA went on record in support.
The HCR was voted “do pass.”
2.
H.B. 1745 (Sara Lampe) requires school districts to
establish special programs or services for students
who are identified as academically gifted. MNEA went
on record in support. The bill was voted “do pass.”
The
committee also voted out a House Committee Substitute
for House Bill 1676 (Ted Hoskins) to require DESE to
establish criteria for the 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,
but the HCS provides that a district shall have an appeals
process on standards determinations by DESE. The bill
was voted “do pass” as a Consent Bill.
The
committee reconsidered its vote on H.B. 1726 (Ed Robb).
The bill 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 bill was
again voted “do pass,” and the motion for
Consent status failed again 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. 12:
1.
H.B. 2040 (Rod Jetton) creates a state aid payment to
support a statewide salary schedule. Missouri NEA spoke
for informational purposes to urge the committee to
consider addressing the issue by ensuring the school
aid formula is adequate for all districts and ensuring
employees are allowed to participate in determining
salaries, benefits and other working conditions through
collective bargaining.
2.
H.B. 2111 (Scott Muschany) allows charter schools in
any provisionally accredited school district that operates
a K-12 educational program and serves at least 2,000
students. The bill includes other provisions relating
to charter schools. Rep. Muschany offered a proposed
House Committee Substitute which removes the expansion
of areas where charter schools may be established. Other
concerns raised by Missouri NEA were also addressed,
including revisions to the study required in law to
evaluate the successes and failures of existing charter
schools so that policy makers know how charter schools
are currently working and enact clear standards for
how sponsors of charter schools will approve, oversee
and evaluate charter schools.
3.
H.B. 2213 (Will Kraus) requires the governor to annually
issue a proclamation designating the second week of
September as Parent and Family Involvement in Education
Week. The bill was voted “do pass” as a
Consent Bill.
The
committee was also scheduled to hear H.B. 2109 (Bob
Dixon), but the hearing was cancelled. The bill encourages
school districts to participate in the federal Baldrige
Continuous Quality Improvement Program.
QUALITY
RATING SYSTEM FOR EARLY CHILD CARE
The Senate perfected Senate Substitute for Senate Committee
Substitute for Senate Bill 726 (Charlie Shields) on
Mar. 11. Missouri NEA 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. Sen. Scott Rupp
offered an amendment to specify that any licensed child
care program accredited by the National Association
for the Education of Young Children shall receive the
highest rating under the system. The amendment was adopted.
To
lower the bill’s cost, Sen. Shields offered a
proposed Senate Substitute that removed the increase
to the income eligibility threshold for state child
care subsidy contained in the SCS. Sen. Jolie Justus
offered an amendment to put the child care subsidy provision
back in the bill, but the amendment was defeated. Sen.
Jeff Smith offered an amendment to add a scaled down
version of his S.B. 779 to the bill. The amendment would
expand the Missouri Preschool Project with an additional
program to provide quality early child care to 1250
three- and four-year olds living in low-income households
in unaccredited and provisionally accredited school
districts. The amendment was adopted. Missouri NEA supports
the amendment as an important effort to promote more
universal access to quality early child care.
SCHOOL
SAFETY
The House perfected House Bill 1722 (Maynard Wallace)
on Mar. 10. 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. It 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. The only floor amendment,
offered by Rep. Rachel Bringer, provides that a criminal
background check and fingerprinting for a school employee
shall be valid for one year and transferrable between
school districts.
BUDGET
The House Budget Committee completed work this week
in amending the various budget bills for state agencies
and programs. Floor debate on the budget bills will
occur when legislators return from spring break.
The
committee began considering amendments on all operating
budget bills on Mar. 11. Many of the proposed amendments
relating to higher education funding sought to take
some of the proposed increase to the Access Missouri
higher education scholarship program and use it for
a variety of other purposes, including the Prepare to
Care healthcare scholarship program, but no reductions
to Access Missouri were approved by the committee.
Relatively
few changes to K-12 education were made by the committee.
One committee addition was $62,500 in general revenue
to fund a study of charter school sponsor accountability.
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
helps students be successful in school.
TAXATION
The House Special Committee on Tax Reform met on Mar.
11 to hear House Bill 2333 (Therese Sander). The bill
would exempt any advance refund received from the federal
Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 from the Missouri individual
income tax. Three similar bills were heard in the committee
last week.
HOUSE
HIGHER EDUCATION
The House Higher Education Committee met on Mar. 11
to hear House Bill 1577 (Vickie Schneider). The bill
would allow A+ Schools student scholarship funds to
be used at qualifying private technical and vocational
schools. The bill primarily would allow A+ Schools scholarships
to be used at Ranken Tech.
PSRS
The Senate Pensions, Veteran’s Affairs and General
Laws Committee met on Mar. 12 to hear four bills requested
by the Board of Trustees of the Public School Retirement
System. The bills were scheduled to be heard on Feb.
27, but the hearing on those bills was cancelled to
allow time for other bills. The bills related to PSRS
include:
1.
S.B. 1153 (Jason Crowell) prevents nonprofit educational
associations or organizations from having their employees
join PSRS or PEERS after June 30, 2009.
2.
S.B. 1154 (Jason Crowell) allows teacher and school
retirement systems to indemnify and protect trustees
and employees.
3.
S.B. 1155 (Jason Crowell) allows the PSRS Board to combine
funds for teacher and school employee retirement systems
for investment purposes only.
4.
S.B. 1156 (Jason Crowell) modifies numerous provisions
relating to teacher and school employee retirement systems,
including the provisions of the preceding three bills
plus other technical provisions requested by the board.
After
the hearing, the committee combined the four bills into
a Senate Committee Substitute and then voted the SCS
bill “do pass” as a Consent Bill.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS
With the upcoming spring break followed by a shortened
week following the Easter holiday, Capitol Action Days
will resume on April 1, 2008.
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 continuing 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 also 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: 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.
Louis – Mar. 15, 2008
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