By Otto Fajen, MNEA Director of Legislative Policy
HOUSE PASSES GIFTED TESTING BILL
The House finally passed HB 1757 (Brenda Shields) on February 9. The bill now proceeds to the Senate for its consideration. The bill would establish procedures for school districts to evaluate for gifted students. The bill outlines screening requirements and requires review by trained staff members. The Association believes well-developed criteria and guidelines for identifying and teaching these students are essential. The Association supports the bill.
POLICIES ON ANTISEMITISM
The House perfected HB 2061 (George Hruza) on February 11. The bill would require policies against discrimination and antisemitism in public schools, and public colleges and universities.
HOUSE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The committee heard two bills on February 11:
HB 2335 (Ann Kelley) would modify laws governing school employee training requirements. The bill allows more local control of the annual training schedule for employees with more than three years of experience. The Association supports the bill.
HB 2918 (Scott Miller) would establish the "Cronkite New Voices Act". The bill protects the freedom of press in school-sponsored media by removing prior restraint. The Association supports the bill.
The committee also approved three bills on February 11:
HCS/HB 2710 (Dane Diehl) would create an A-F school report card for public schools based primarily on state-mandated, standardized tests. The Association believes this measure would undermine local control and opposes the bill.
HB 2872 (Cathy Jo Loy) would revise the law regarding reading instruction. The bill clarifies that the existing law restricting "3-cueing" strategies applies only to decoding words, and the components of 3-cueing can be used in other aspects of learning to read. The Association supports the provisions to increase oversight of literacy instruction in educator preparation programs. However, the bill mandates retention in third grade for students with low scores on state-approved reading assessments unless the student is exempted for "good cause".
HCS/HBs 2120 & 1698 (John Black) would revise antibullying requirements for school districts.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
The House General Laws Committee approved HCS/HB 2748 (Bishop Davidson) on February 11. The bill would increase requirements for physical education in schools. Schools would be required to have a period of daily physical education for all students.
The Association believes that regular physical activity provides an active form of learning that encourages a healthy lifestyle and promotes physical, mental, and emotional wellness. This physical activity should be provided through developmentally appropriate physical education classes, recess, and movement activities scheduled throughout the day.
While supportive of the concept of this measure, the Association believes progress on increased physical activity will be best achieved as a part of a broad effort to restore local control and remove other state requirements that conflict with these best practices.
HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The committee heard HB 2896 (Chris Brown) on February 10. The bill would limit the number of governing board members for most of the public four-year institutions and the state technical college who can be selected from the county or city in which the institution's administrative office is located. This change does not affect the University of Missouri or Missouri Western State University.
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE
The committee heard five bills on February 10:
SB 1029 (Rick Brattin) requires school districts to maintain an easily accessible online record of all money the district receives and spends.
SB 1085 (Joe Nicola) prohibits school staff interaction with students regarding social transition. The bill requires a school district to terminate and seek license revocation of any teacher for any violation of the bill. The Association believes this unnecessary and vague language is unfair and will adversely affect teacher recruitment and retention. The Association opposes the bill.
SB 1300 (Rick Brattin) creates and modifies provisions relating to school safety.
SB 1351 (Joe Nicola) changes the term of office for members of the Independence School District school board from six years to three years. The Association supports the bill.
SB 1404 (Rick Brattin) requires school districts and charter schools to notify parents about the use of tutoring programs or services at least half-owned by entities outside the United States.
The hearing on SB 1238 (Nick Schroer) was postponed. The bill mandates instruction on the positive impacts of religion on American history. The Association opposes this unnecessary intrusion on local control of curriculum and instruction.
The committee also approved three bills on February 10:
SCS/SBs 971 & 906 (Curtis Trent) would create a program of public-school open enrollment. The Association believes that public school choice plans with state funding may harm students and our public schools unless essential criteria are in place for implementing, monitoring, and evaluating their effectiveness. The Association opposes the bill based on this concern.
SCS/SB 978 (Nick Schroer) requires school districts and charter schools to provide instruction on human growth and development beginning no later than grade three. The bill includes detailed mandates on the required instruction about human biology related to pregnancy and human development inside the womb. The Association objects to this intrusion of state mandates on local control of curriculum and instruction.
SB 1002 (Adam Schnelting) would move school board elections to the November general election and change all school board terms to four years. Electing school board members at municipal election allows voters to focus on these local candidates and local school issues outside of the November election cycle when the time and attention of voters is taken up by partisan election campaigns and statewide issues. The Association opposes the bill.
PROPERTY TAXES
Both the House and Senate considered omnibus bills pertaining to property taxes this week. The House perfected HCS/HBs 2780 and HB 2668 (Tim Taylor) on February 11. The House Special Committee on Property Tax Reform heard HB 2651 (Tricia Byrnes) on February 10. The Senate Select Committee on Property Taxes and the State Tax Commission heard SB 1517 (Brad Hudson) on February 11.
The Association opposes two provisions contained in each of these bills:
1) The bills would require new construction to be included in rollback calculations. This change would block this proportional new revenue from new taxpayers and require further tax rollbacks on all property. This change will make it harder for local governments in growing areas to meet the needs of all their residents.
2) The bills would also require all local levy elections to be held on November election dates. The municipal election allows voters to focus on these local issues outside of the November election cycle when the time and attention of voters is taken up by partisan election campaigns and statewide issues.
PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES
The House Ways and Means Committee heard HB 2329 (Richard West) on February 9th. The bill would reduce the personal property tax assessment ratio from 33 1/3% to 18 percent over three years. The bill's fiscal note indicates that local governments, including schools, are likely to see significant reductions in local revenues over the next three years as the bill is implemented. The estimated loss could reach $848 million within three years. The Association is concerned that this reduction in local funds will make it harder for schools to maintain the educators and programs their students need and opposes the bill.
To view past issues of the Legislative Update, visit www.mnea.org/legupdate.