Volume 36, No. 13
April 16, 2010
Governor to Act on Budget by April 22
The Legislature transmitted the final education budget, H.274, to the governor Monday. Gov. Riley is expected to sign the budget and has until Thursday, April 22 to either sign or veto the budget as passed by the Legislature. That is the final legislative day scheduled for the regular session when the Legislature will adjourn sine die.
P.E. Bill Passes with Exceptions Restored
Wednesday, the Senate gave final passage to H.105, sponsored by Rep. Ken Guin in the House and Sen. Rodger Smitherman in the Senate. The bill requires every student in grades K-8 to take 30 minutes of daily physical education. Although the Senate committee had stripped the exception language, Sen. Smitherman worked a compromise to restore exception language for JR ROTC, marching band and special education students according to their Individual Education Plans (IEP). An exception for dance is also included. The bill did cause a flurry of activity on the Senate floor as senators heard school leaders’ concerns about the importance of these exceptions. By eliminating the potential threat to those programs, lawmakers paved the way for a compromise. H.105 next goes to the governor for his consideration.
Supplement is not a Salary
Bill Confuses a Simple Issue with a Price
The shenanigans it took for the House Education Committee to pass H.712 Tuesday would be amusing were the potential consequences not so grave. Bill sponsor Rep. Elaine Beech intended to find a way to ensure students have a coach in time for summer practice. Instead, H.712 ties school leaders’ hands in their effort to provide extra-curricular school offerings by providing added security to supplemental assignments. The committee had to meet three times over the last week to accomplish passage. The public hearing was held after the bill had been withdrawn from the agenda Tuesday, then suddenly put back on five minutes before the committee met. Only four committee members were present to hear discussion and the committee adjourned. The bill passed only by special permission of the House for the committee to meet as the full House was in session, an unusual occurrence.
H.712 attempts to give tenure-like protection to employees with supplemental contracts by requiring notice of supplementary contract non-renewal by the end of the school year. Supplemental assignments can change each year. They are not permanent, never have been and never will be. The Alabama Supreme Court recently ruled to confirm the distinction between a teacher on salary and an additional supplementary position.
Educators are hired to teach. A teacher also may receive a pay “supplement” to fulfill the usually seasonal assignment. When schools have the capacity, funding and demand to provide an extra program, the principal taps the creative talents of teaching staff to provide leadership for the supplemental activity.
The Alabama Association of School Boards, School Superintendents of Alabama, Council of Leaders for Alabama Schools and state Department of Education opposed the bill in committee.
The bill would require notice for supplemental assignments which intrudes on a school-level decision at a disturbing level. It ties a school principal’s hands in deciding who may be best for a sport, drama or other extracurricular event with an arbitrary deadline that is not in sync with school planning.
Providing employee supplements is a byproduct of something much more important, offering extra-curricular activities to students. H.712 confuses the primary purpose of supplements by trying to rewrite the law to give employees a right to supplemental salaries in the form a guarantee for the following year. Students may not have enough interest or be too few in number to have a debate team or golf team. With this bill, a debate or golf supplement must be paid into a salary the following year regardless. Importantly, the state education budget does not fund supplements; those assignments are paid with local dollars.
Teachers already receive notice before the end of the school year regarding their teaching position so that if they are not rehired, they have enough time to look for another job. Requiring notice by the end of a school year for supplementary positions could lead to pink slips for all supplemental contracts just to preserve flexibility to make the right decisions. This bill would be the first step on a slippery slope to extend tenure-like protection to football coaches. Are you ready for that?
Safe Spaces or Hallways May Be Required
for all New School Construction
The Senate FTE committee Wednesday approved H.459, a bill to require any new school construction to include an approved safe space or hallway. The Alabama Building Commission would determine standards. The requirement would apply to any new contract awarded after the law becomes effective. The bill also allows school boards to submit an application to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a safe-rooms grant. The stringent standards in the FEMA grant and limited federal dollars available make that resource a very distant prospect for most systems. According to the state Department of Education, the bill could increase the cost of any new school construction by $4 to $6 per square foot.
BRAC Bond Issue Approved
The Legislature Wednesday approved a $175 million APSCA bond issue to be available, with certain requirements, to school systems in North Alabama impacted by Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). Up to 15,000 new jobs will be located in the area, and the Department of Defense estimates close to 9,000 students need to be accommodated. Once 7,000 new BRAC-related jobs are created, school systems must show the number of BRAC residences in their system and provide a local monetary match to qualify for proceeds of the bonds. School systems where sales taxes have been raised by half-cent or equivalent property tax since 2008 or have a 9-cent sales tax where local discretionary dollars can be earmarked as a match are already eligible to participate. The formula would distribute the bonds based on the percentage of total BRAC jobs within a school system to enable school construction and/or renovation of existing facilities to accommodate the influx of students. S.442 next goes to the governor for signature.
Personal Liability for Fiscal Mismanagement
H.827 would hold the superintendent and individual school board members personally liable for the mismanagement of local board funds. The bill was only introduced this week and has no chance of passage.
Education-Related Bill Status
PACT Solvency: S.162 would provide $236 million from the ETF (money currently earmarked for debt service) to guarantee student tuition will be paid for PACT participants. K-12 could only support a solution that ensures that the Education Trust Fund does not write a blank check for the PACT program, as provided by the tuition cap and constitutionality language.
The Senate did not concur with the amendments added in the House. The amendments cap tuition increases for higher education and stipulate that if any part of the bill is contested in court and found unconstitutional, the whole bill fails. Conferees named include: Rep. Craig Ford, Rep. John Rogers, Rep. Todd Greeson, Sen. Ted Little, Sen. Zeb Little and Sen. Lowell Barron. The House and Senate must concur with the conferees’ recommendation.
PSF Flexibility - H.724: would allow local school boards the authority to use unencumbered Public School Fund dollars for operating expenses in 2011 only. H.724 is pending the governor’s signature.
PSCA Bond Issue - H.743: would authorize a $66.5 million PSCA bond issue. Dollars would flow to fleet renewal. It would be issued only in the event no federal job relief comes. The likelihood of congressional action is waning. H.743 is pending the governor’s signature.
Alternative ADM - H.43: would permit an alternative method to calculate state-funded teacher units in cases of emergencies. H.43 is pending the governor’s signature.
School Security Officers Armed- S.140: would authorize security personnel, employed by a local school board, to carry firearms. The bill outlines training requirements. S.140 is pending final passage in the House.
PSCA Bond - S.512: would authorize the Alabama Public School and College Authority (PSCA) to issue and sell bonds made available to the state under the provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and other acceptable governmental programs including Qualified Zone Academy Bonds. The bill would allow the “negotiated sale” of bonds as well as competitive bidding and public auction as a means of selling the bonds. The state finance director requested additional flexibility because of an ongoing lawsuit that may negatively impact the transaction.
U.S. Congress to Rethink and Reauthorize
The “No Child Left Behind” Laws
Formally known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the law’s reauthorization will shape the nation’s protocol, expectations and penalties for public education in the country. While there are positive signs the law will move from punitive sanctions found in NCLB to a more supportive model, AASB is deeply concerned about a change proposed for Title I funding. The proposal would replace the current funding formula with a competitive grant process for schools to receive federal education funding. Small and rural schools have the most at stake.
House Joint Resolution 932 was approved by the House and Senate Wednesday and requests the Alabama Congressional delegation to support ESEA’s current funding formula. The request is critical because the proposed change endangers Alabama schools’ ability to receive federal funds. The joint resolution was supported by AASB, SSA, CLAS and AEA and reflects the entire K-12 community.
As we have seen with the Race to the Top grants, competitive grants are far more subjective than a straightforward funding formula. Educators fear the change will reward only those who have the time and resources to perfect their grant-writing skills. The school systems in most need of the federal dollars are the areas least able to propose a slick grant proposal. Alabama’s K-12 community has grave concerns about the direction the federal proposal is heading and the potential to negatively impact Alabama’s schools with little capacity for grant writing. Currently, 5,800 education personnel are paid with federal Title 1 funding, and those dollars could be at stake.
The joint resolution urges Congress to reauthorize ESEA based on its current funding formula, not through competitive grants.
School board members strongly urge Alabama’s congressional delegation to work to preserve the Title I formula and oppose the move to competitive grants. Protect Alabama students from the loss of federal funding with the new proposal.
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Local school boards work with legislative leaders to accomplish the public’s highest priority – educating our children.
The Legislature will meet April 21, 22
2 Days remain in the
Regular Legislative Session
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