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By Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director

MSTA ANTI-BARGAINING BILL FOR TEACHERS
The House Special Committee on General Laws voted House Committee Substitute for House Bill 2059 (Kevin Wilson) “do pass” on April 1. HCS/H.B. 2059 is now on the House calendar. The Senate Education Committee voted out Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1158 (Rob Mayer) on April 2. SCS/S.B. 1158 is on the Senate calendar. Both bills could be taken up for debate at any time.

Missouri NEA strongly opposes both bills. The bills discriminate against teachers by treating them unfairly, denying them their right to select a single representative with a legal duty to represent all employees.

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. The bills would force teachers to form a representative council, an extra layer of bureaucracy, which would make reaching agreement difficult.

The bills even allow the school board to modify the “agreement” without consulting the council, thus making it unlikely that districts and employees would actually construct binding agreements.

The bills 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 these bills. 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 H.B. 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.

ABCTE PASSES HOUSE, AWAITS GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE
The House passed Senate Bill 1066 (Luann Ridgeway) by a vote of 85-63 on April 16 without amendment and with no real opportunity for debate. A key opponent, Rep. Sara Lampe, was not even recognized to speak on the bill or offer an amendment before debate was cut off, though she was standing and seeking recognition the entire time the bill was debated. Since the bill was approved by the House without changes, the bill is now Truly Agreed To, meaning that it has passed both chambers in the same form and will be sent to the governor for signature or veto.

The bill requires the State Board of Education to certify teachers passing the test established by the American Board for the Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE). The bill also subjects the professional development programs of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to individual approval or denial by the Joint Committee on Education.

Missouri NEA opposes the bill and 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 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.

BUDGET PASSES SENATE
The Senate Third Read and passed the K-12 education budget bill, House Bill 2002 (Allen Icet) and the higher education budget bill, H.B. 2003 (Allen Icet) on April 16. Notable among the Senate changes in H.B. 2002 was the elimination of the $20 million for professional development. This cut was made to send a message to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in response to the department’s objection to the proposed oversight of the professional development expenditures by the Joint Committee on Education (as contained in Senate Bill 1066). Sen. Gary Nodler, Senate Appropriations chair, noted in floor debate that he did not ultimately intend that the professional development funding should be cut, provided that the oversight for those expenditures was approved, which happened later that same afternoon with the final passage of S.B. 1066. The budget bills will be sent to conference next week where conferees will seek to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate positions on the budget.

FATE UNCLEAR FOR OMNIBUS EDUCATION BILL
The House debated House Committee Substitute for House Bills 2040 and 2430 (Rod Jetton) on April 9. A total of 12 amendments were debated and voted on before the bill was laid over late in the evening. It is now unclear whether the bill will be taken up again for perfection or whether the bill is dead now that the special education tax credit voucher has been removed. The HCS included several harmful provisions, especially H.B. 1886 (special education voucher), H.B. 2181 (differential pay) and H.B. 1477 (restricting political contributions by teachers). The bill also includes the MSTA statewide salary schedule and a complex system of state bonus pay for teachers. Missouri NEA continues to oppose the HCS, as amended, due to the inclusion of H.B. 2181 (differential pay) and H.B. 1477 (restricting political contributions by teachers).

HOUSE DEFEATS COURT PLAN CHANGE
The House perfected House Joint Resolution 49 (Stanley Cox) on April 14. However, the HJR was defeated on final passage vote by a vote of 69-83 on April 17. HJR 49 is one of several joint resolutions affecting Missouri’s Non-Partisan Court Plan by increasing the number of governor-appointed members of the Appellate Judicial Commission from three to five.

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 HJR 49 and urges the General Assembly to refrain from any changes in the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan.

IMMIGRATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION
The Senate Pensions, Veterans’ Affairs and General Laws Committee met on April 16 to hear House Bill 1463 (Jerry Nolte). The bill bans all undocumented aliens from attending public institutions of higher education. Missouri NEA opposes this provision. MNEA believes that denial of education services is not a substitute for comprehensive immigration policy reform.

SENATE EDUCATION
The Senate Education Committee met on April 16 and heard three bills:

1. Senate Bill 1191 (Luann Ridgeway) allows Clay County school districts, such as North Kansas City, to enter into agreements for financing of educational facilities with other entities, such as the City of Gladstone, without incurring state aid penalties for paying for the financing out of operating funds.

2. House Bill 1722 (Maynard Wallace) modifies provisions relating to school protection measures. 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.

3. H.B. 1314 (Jane Cunningham) revises several provisions affecting school employees, including a provision to grant civil immunity on job references. Missouri NEA opposes the bill. The bill requires districts to maintain data even on unsubstantiated reports of employee sexual misconduct. It requires districts to report this data to other districts upon request, if the employee waives the right to keep such information confidential. Failure to waive such rights will automatically serve as a “red flag” to a potential employer, even if the information is related to a false allegation or wrongful termination. This “guilty until proven innocent” presumption will be profoundly unfair to education employees. The hearing on H.B. 1314 was not completed due to lack of time and will be completed next week.

The committee also voted out a Senate Committee Substitute for S.B. 1170 (Rob Mayer). This is the Rebuild Missouri Schools bill designed to provide state loan funds to help rebuild damaged school buildings.

HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee met on April 16 and heard the following House Bills:

1. H.B. 1683 (Kate Meiners) revises the definition of “bullying” to include communications over the Internet and prohibit any person from intimidating or harassing another person over the Internet.

2. H.B. 2281 (Jane Cunningham) prohibits school districts from using public funds to pay the voluntary professional association dues of any central office administrator, building principal or school district superintendent.

3. H.B. 2489 (Doug Funderburk) requires school districts to report the total compensation package of each school administrator to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and to post it on the department’s Web site. MNEA supports expanding this provision to create a central information repository within DESE that would provide Web access to board policies, salary schedules and other compensation information and school budgets for every district in the state.

4. H.B. 2537 (Ed Robb) allows two or more adjacent school districts to share a superintendent when at least one of the districts’ accreditation status is “accredited” or “provisionally accredited.”

5. H.B. 2547 (Tim Flook) prohibits the use of school funds by public school administrators, teachers or other personnel to purchase alcohol.

Rep. Jane Cunningham, the committee chair, intended to combine the last four bills heard (relating to school administrators) into a House Committee Substitute, but deferred that until a later meeting as the HCS was not yet drafted.

The committee voted out an HCS for Senate Bill 925 (Rita Days) that adds several House Bills, even though a hearing was not conducted on S.B. 925 which allows school districts to maintain records in electronic formats. The HCS also includes:

1. H.B. 2547 (Tim Flook) prohibits the use of school funds by public school administrators, teachers, or other personnel to purchase alcohol;

2. H.B. 1726 (Ed Robb) allows parents of twins and other multiple-birth siblings to determine whether their children are in the same or different classrooms, provided that, if the placement becomes disruptive to the classroom, building administrators retain the right to change the placement; and

3. H.B. 1676 (Ted Hoskins) requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to establish standards which will be used by districts to determine whether they accept students from unaccredited districts who wish to attend the district on a tuition basis, provided that the receiving district will receive tuition payment from DESE, and DESE will deduct the same amount from the state aid for the sending district.

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
The House Special Committee on Student Achievement met on April 16 to hear Senate Bill 863 (Scott Rupp). The bill allows married taxpayers filing joint returns to deduct a portion of contributions to the Missouri Higher Education Savings Program (MOST) from income. The committee voted out a House Committee Substitute for the bill. The HCS expands the Missouri tax deduction to all “Section 529” higher education savings plans recognized by the IRS code, not just the MOST program.

The committee also voted out a HCS for House Bill 2109 (Rick Stream) that recognizes school participation in the Malcolm Baldridge Quality Improvement Program.

Finally, the committee voted out H.B. 2458 (Timothy Jones). H.B. 2458 is a tax credit style voucher bill targeting low-income students in urban school districts.

SCHOOL RETIREMENT
The Senate Pensions, Veterans’ Affairs and General Laws Committee met on April 15 to vote out several bills, including:

1. House Bill 1972 (Ward Franz) prevents nonprofit educational associations or organizations from having their employees join the Public School Retirement System of Missouri or Public Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri after June 30, 2009. The provisions of H.B. 2489 (Doug Funderburk) regarding disclosure of administrator compensation information were added and the bill was voted out as a Consent bill. The bill was later taken off of Consent status due to an objection by Sen. Yvonne Wilson, as the H.B. 2489 language is controversial and not appropriate for Consent status.

2. H.B. 1973 (Ward Franz) allows teacher and school retirement systems to indemnify and protect trustees and employees. The provisions of H.B. 2489 (Doug Funderburk) regarding disclosure of administrator compensation information were added and the bill was voted out as a Consent bill. The bill was later taken off of Consent status due to an objection by Sen. Yvonne Wilson, as the H.B. 2489 language is controversial and not appropriate for Consent status.

3. Senate Committee Substitute for H.B. 2104 (Jim Viebrock) was voted out as an “omnibus” retirement bill with provisions relating to several retirement systems, including several changes to the laws regarding the Public School Retirement System of Missouri and the Public Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri.

4. H.B. 2204 (Doug Ervin) modifies provisions relating to nomination of beneficiaries for Public School Retirement System of Missouri and Public Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri. The provisions of H.B. 2489 (Doug Funderburk) regarding disclosure of administrator compensation information were added and the bill was voted out as a Consent bill. The bill was later taken off of Consent status due to an objection by Sen. Yvonne Wilson, as the H.B. 2489 language is controversial and not appropriate for Consent status.

CAPITOL ACTION DAYS
Capitol Action Days continued on April 15 with MNEA members from Governance District 9 visiting the Capitol. 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 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.

FINDING INFORMATION ABOUT BILLS
To find out more about legislation this session, go to: http://www.mnea.org/gr/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 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.

Legislative Update 2008
Missouri National Education Association
1810 East Elm Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101-4174
(573) 634-3202 or (800) 392-0236

Chris Guinther , President
Ben Simmons, Executive Director
DeeAnn Aull, Director of Programs and P.R.
Leila Medley, Political Director
Otto Fajen, Legislative Director
Judy Glover, Secretary