| By
Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director
Number
5
Feb. 6, 2009
CHARTER
SCHOOLS
The Senate Education Committee began the hearing on
Senate Bill 64 (Scott Rupp) regarding charter schools
on Feb. 4. The committee heard extensive testimony from
proponents and from opposition witnesses who will not
be available when the hearing on the bill resumes at
next week’s regularly scheduled hearing. The bill
makes several changes regarding charter schools, including
the following:
-
Allows charter schools in unaccredited and provisional
districts and any district with performance evaluations
consistent with such classifications;
-
Allows certain private four-year colleges and universities
to sponsor charter schools;
-
Allows the mayor of St. Louis City to sponsor a
charter school;
-
Requires
the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
to ensure each charter sponsor meets five standards
or withhold the 1.5 percent sponsor funding; and
-
Allows
drop-out prevention or recovery charter schools
to enroll nonresident pupils from the same or an
adjacent county.
Missouri
NEA believes that public charter schools should be accountable
for student learning, staff member qualifications and
financial integrity. Current Missouri law is inadequate
to ensure that accountability. The MNEA opposes expansion
of geography and sponsors at this time and, thus, opposes
S.B. 64. The legislature should first provide the additional
funding needed to conduct a detailed study of the performance
of Missouri public charter schools thus far. This study
is a critical step to help the legislature learn from
the charter school experience and make appropriate revisions
to the law. Current charter school law must also be
revised to establish clear, rigorous standards on sponsorship
accountability. The sponsor’s standards language
in S.B. 64 alone would make a good first step, though
the language should go even farther and speak more specifically
to the standards by which sponsors will evaluate, discipline
and, if necessary, terminate charter schools.
QUALITY
RATING SYSTEM FOR EARLY CHILD CARE
The Senate Health, Mental Health, Seniors and Families
Committee met on Tuesday, Feb. 3 and heard several bills,
including Senate Bill 4 (Charlie Shields). S.B. 4 establishes
a quality rating system for child care facilities. 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.
HOUSE
PASSES MORE BUSINESS TAX CREDITS
The House spent about five hours on Feb. 4 debating
and amending House Bill 191 (Tim Flook) relating to
business tax credits. The afternoon debate forced the
cancellation of many committee meetings, including the
House Appropriations-Education Committee meeting. H.B.
191 lifts or raises the cap on several business tax
credits and reinstates some that have expired. The exact
impact of these tax credit changes is unknown, since
some currently capped programs, such as the Quality
Jobs Program, would no longer have any limit on the
amount of tax credits.
MNEA
strongly urges the legislature to maintain limits on
all tax credits and to ensure that all tax credit programs
are transparent, properly documented and accountable
for meaningful results in return for the public investment
of the tax expenditures given. The bill was perfected
late in the afternoon Feb. 4, and was given final passage,
also known as Third Reading, on Feb. 5 by a vote of
141-19. The emergency clause was also adopted.
TAXATION
The state needs a fair, adequate and sustainable tax
policy to fund investment in public schools and other
vital services.
The
House Tax Reform Committee met on Feb. 4 and heard several
relevant House Bills, including:
-
H.B. 87 (Maynard Wallace) exempts motor fuel purchased
for school buses from the state motor fuel tax.
Missouri NEA supports this bill, since it eliminates
the inefficiency of imposing a tax on a publicly-funded
entity and because it will allow school districts
to use the tax savings to support other expenditures
that will help provide educational opportunities
to students. At the same time, the Association recognizes
that the state faces a massive drop in funding for
road and bridge expenditures and urges the legislature
to fashion a comprehensive solution to that problem
that does not decrease state funding to public education
or other vital public services. H.B. 112 (Brian
Munzlinger) is essentially the same as H.B. 87 and
was also heard during the same hearing.
-
H.B. 348 (Mark Parkinson) offers a state income
tax deduction for home schooling expenses. The MNEA
noted concerns about the fairness of the proposal
in singling out only home schooling expenses and
also concerns about the impact of any such tax deduction
on the adequacy and equity of the state revenues
that support the state’s primary duty: adequate
and equitable funding of public schools.
The
House Ways and Means Committee met on Feb. 5 to hear
several bills, including H.B. 178 (Bryan Stevenson)
which phases out the Missouri corporate income tax.
This measure will ultimately reduce state revenues significantly,
perhaps by as much as $350 million per year. Missouri
already has the lowest effective corporate income tax
rate in the country, relative to the federal corporate
tax on corporate 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.
HOUSE
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
heard the following House Bills on Feb. 3:
-
H.B. 222 (Brian Yates) changes the election procedures
for school board members of the Kansas City Missouri
School District. The bill imposes a term limit of
two four-year terms for board members and requires
that the current subdistrict members be elected
district-wide, though they must still live in the
subdistrict. MNEA testified in opposition to the
bill. The Association is concerned that requiring
all board members to run costly, district-wide elections
may discourage otherwise interested and qualified
low-income citizens from seeking to serve on the
school board. Also, the imposition of arbitrary
term limits is as troubling for school board members
as it is for legislators, since it takes away a
voter’s chance to elect the representative
of their choosing and undermines institutional memory
and expertise on the school board.
- H.B.
289 (Maynard Wallace) requires the designation of
an agent for a binding signature on a special education
placement settlement and makes the five-business-day
notice applicable to all special education due process
hearings. This bill is a federal compliance bill requested
by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
In
addition to hearing the two new bills, the committee
also voted on the two bills heard last week: H.B. 96
(Maynard Wallace) regarding school safety and H.B. 242
(Gayle Kingery) allowing school districts the option
to change to a four-day per week school calendar.
The
committee unanimously approved House Committee Substitute
for H.B. 96 which contained three changes from the original
bill:
-
The
language allowing school districts to commission
law enforcement officers was limited to the Blue
Springs School District and requires local law enforcement
approval;
-
Additional language provides for transferring records
regarding potentially violent students to private
schools upon request; and
-
Technical corrections regarding investigating child
abuse allegations and employee liability for medical
procedures, as suggested by MNEA, were also incorporated.
The
committee also approved HCS/H.B. 242 (Gayle Kingery)
authorizing districts to schedule a four-day school
week. Debate centered on the possibility that the four-day
week would result in fewer total hours of instruction,
and the HCS provides that a district switching to four
days per week must revert to the longer schedule if
student performance drops for two successive years on
two or more indicators. Language was also amended to
provide that districts will not need to make up days
lost due to inclement weather unless the lost days bring
the district below 1044 total hours of instruction for
the year.
BUDGET
The House Appropriations-Education Committee heard testimony
on Feb. 3 from the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education staff concerning the detailed recommendations
on K-12 spending in the governor’s proposed budget.
The committee heard explanations of the programs and
proposed budget changes for roughly the first half of
the DESE budget. The committee planned to reconvene
on Feb. 4 to allow committee members to ask questions
on the programs already presented and to hear presentations
on the remainder of the DESE budget, but the hearing
was cancelled due to extended House floor debate on
House Bill 191 (Tim Flook).
HEALTHCARE
The Senate Progress and Development Committee met on
Feb. 4 to hear Senate Bill 18 (Joan Bray). The bill
would create a single-payer healthcare system for all
Missourians. No fiscal note was available, but the bill
would certainly have an immense cost in state revenues,
though it would be partially offset by a massive reduction
in employer expense on health insurance across the state.
Missouri
NEA went on record in strong support of the bill. The
Association supports universal health care for all students,
staff and all other Missourians as a basic right. The
single payer option is one of several available options
and is likely to be a significant part of the ultimate
solution to health care coverage for all Missourians.
Reforms to health care should be guided by the goals
of universal coverage, minimizing employer impact and
ensuring that all parts of the health care provider
system are accountable for making health care better,
safer and less costly.
EQUAL
RIGHTS AMENDMENT
The Senate Rules Committee heard Senate Concurrent Resolution
3 (Jolie Justus) on Feb. 3. The SCR would ratify the
Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Thirty-five
of the required 38 states have ratified the amendment.
Missouri NEA spoke in strong support of this measure
to assure that equal rights under the law should not
be abridged on the basis of gender.
MISSOURI
NEA’S COMPREHENSIVE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS PROGRAM
Missouri NEA needs a vigorous grassroots lobbying effort
this session. Our members must take the initiative to
contact legislators about the key issues affecting public
education. Here’s what you can do to support MNEA’s
legislative agenda:
-
Be a part of your local Government Relations Team.
-
Take the initiative to contact local legislators
now to discuss our key issues.
-
Attend the legislative brunch or dinner in your
area.
-
Attend the Missouri NEA Capitol Action Days for
your governance district. Capitol Action Days begin
on Feb. 11 and include most Wednesdays until the
first week of May.
-
Receive and read the daily MNEA Daily Legislative
Update 2009 via e-mail while the legislature
is in session from January to May.
FINDING
INFORMATION ABOUT BILLS
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.
CAPITOL
ACTION DAYS RETURN
MNEA Capitol Action Days will allow planned, face-to-face
contact with legislators throughout the legislative
session. The first Capital Action Day is next week,
on Feb. 11. Capitol Action Days will generally be on
Wednesdays starting with the first week in February
and continuing through the first week of May. Your MNEA
calendar includes the dates the MNEA Board members selected
for your governance district. If you are not able to
attend on these designated days, feel free to contact
MNEA Legislative Director Otto Fajen at otto.fajen@mnea.org
to let him know when you can attend on another Capitol
Action Day. 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
PLAN
TO ATTEND YOUR MNEA LEGISLATIVE BRUNCH OR DINNER
Legislative involvement is close to home at your MNEA
legislative brunch or dinner. The event is a great
opportunity to visit with local area legislators and
hear a legislative briefing. Area legislative brunch
schedule:
St.
Charles - Feb. 26, 2009
Kansas City - Feb. 28, 2009
Jefferson County - Mar. 7, 2009
St. Louis - Mar. 21, 2009
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