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MSTA
ANTI-BARGAINING BILL PASSES HOUSE BY SLIM MARGIN
House Committee Substitute for House Bill 2059 (Kevin
Wilson) was given final approval (Third Reading vote)
on April 24 by a narrow margin of 83-67, just one vote
over the 82 vote majority needed for passage. The bill
was perfected earlier in the week by a roll call vote
of 79-61.
While
the passage of this bill in the House is disappointing,
MNEA appreciates the support of members who stepped
up to come to the Capitol to lobby on the issue or to
contact their legislators in support of MNEA’s
position on the bill. Now the bill moves to the Senate
for further debate. Senate Committee Substitute for
Senate Bill 1158 (Rob Mayer), an identical bill, remains
on the Senate informal calendar, but debate on that
bill now appears unlikely. MNEA will need to continue
the lobbying effort to ensure that H.B. 2059 does not
pass in the Senate.
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 mandates 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.
Action
needed:
Your help is needed. If you haven't already done
so, please call, write or e-mail to urge your
state representative and state senator to oppose
SCS/S.B. 1158 and HCS/H.B. 2059, the teacher anti-bargaining
bills. The following link will connect you to
the MNEA Legislative Action Center Action Alert
on S.B. 1158 and H.B. 2059. The action alert contains
a brief summary and an editable message box to
help you send an e-mail to your state representative
and state senator on the issue. http://capwiz.com/nea/mo/issues/alert/?alertid=11232261&type=ST&show_alert=1 |
HOUSE
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
met on April 23 and heard the following House Bills:
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H.B. 2136 (Bob Dixon) allows an income tax credit
for certain donations to public school foundations
that support school districts.
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H.B. 2121 (Jeff Roorda) prohibits school districts
from scheduling a day or a half-day off within five
days of Veterans Day unless the school district also
schedules Veterans Day as a day off.
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H.B. 2481 (Shane Schoeller) establishes a procedure
by which a school district or an initiative petition
may place the issue of open enrollment by contract
before the voters of the district.
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H.B. 2482 (Shane Schoeller) enacts a statewide program
of interdistrict public school choice. MNEA cautioned
that any such plan should be carefully examined based
on the experiences of other states, should anticipate
and deal with possible adverse consequences relating
to school funding, equity of access, transportation,
athletics and activities participation and special
education costs. Also, any plan should be subject
to local governance.
The
committee voted out a House Committee Substitute for
H.B.s 2281, 2489 & 2537. The HCS includes several
provisions relating to school administrators, including
public disclosure of administrator compensation in excess
of $100,000 per year, disclosure of post-retirement
employment of administrators, allowing more than two
districts to share a superintendent and raising the
Public School Retirement System final salary yearly
increase to 20 percent, except for central office administrators.
The HCS also includes language requiring the Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education to create a central
repository of school district financial and policy information.
The provision is based on language offered by MNEA,
though it lacks some of the specificity regarding reporting
of detailed compensation information and relies on DESE
to set standards for what information is to be included.
STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT
The House Special Committee on Student Achievement met
on April 23 and heard three bills:
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House Bill 1748 (Sara Lampe) lowers the age for beginning
school from seven to six years and requires full-day
kindergarten at all public schools. MNEA went on record
in support.
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Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bills 1225
& 1226 (Bob Mayer) allows school boards to identify
a designee to bind the school district during certain
special education due process hearings.
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Senate Bill 762 (Yvonne Wilson) revises the definition
of “bullying” as used in school district
antibullying policies to include cyberbullying and
electronic communications. MNEA supports the bill.
The
committee then voted out House Committee Substitute
versions of both S.B. 762 and SCS/S.B.s 1225 & 1226.
Each HCS adds the provisions mandating disclosure of
administrator compensation, language regarding educational
services for students placed by the state in private
residential care facilities, authority for differential
and “merit” pay for teachers, provisions
to restrict use of dues or other fees of a teacher organization
for political contributions and a requirement that school
board vacancies be filled by special elections rather
than by appointment by the remaining board members.
BUDGET
BILLS IN CONFERENCE
The budget bills sent to conference on April 21 included:
the K-12 education budget bill, House Bill 2002 (Allen
Icet); and, the higher education budget bill, H.B. 2003
(Allen Icet). Notable among the Senate changes in H.B.
2002 was the elimination of $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). The conference committee has recommended
a $5 million cut to the professional development funding
for next year. MNEA opposes this cut and urges restoration
of the full $20 million appropriation for state professional
development expenditures. The budget bills must be approved
in final form by both chambers no later than May 9.
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 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.
MNEA
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).
PSRS
SALARY INCREASE CAP
The House Special Committee on General Laws Committee
met on April 22 to hear Senate Bill 994 (Jason Crowell).
The bill will raise the cap on annual increases in final
average salary used for calculating Public School Retirement
System retirement 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 supports Sen. Crowell’s legislation to reverse
that unnecessary cap on PSRS pensions. The committee
discussed the bill later in executive session but did
not take a vote on the bill.
SMALL
SCHOOL GRANTS PASSES HOUSE
The House perfected House Committee Substitute for House
Bill 1704 (Maynard Wallace) on April 23 and finally
passed the bill on April 24. The bill revises the Small
Schools Grant program to increase the funding from $15
million to $20 million and provides a gradual phase
out of the funding as a district’s pupil count
increases from 350 to 450, rather than the current law
which abruptly cuts off the grant when a district’s
pupil count exceeds 350. MNEA supports the bill as a
small step to improve adequacy and equity of school
funding.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS
Capitol Action Days continue on April 29 with MNEA members
from Governance District 6 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 rest
of session. Your MNEA calendar includes the dates that
MNEA Board of Directors members 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 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.
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