June 16, 2011
House Passes School Flexibility Bill
The House on Thursday took up and finally passed Senate Bill 8 (Shapiro), which will give school boards managerial flexibilities that will help save teachers’ jobs. A previous summary of the bill is available here.
During debate on the bill, several amendments were considered -- 21 were added.
The sponsors of the bill will likely request a conference committee to iron out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill, which is likely to occur Monday as both chambers have adjourned until then.
The House amendments would:
- Make technical amendments to the salary schedule portion of the bill. (Eissler)
- Change the nonrenewal deadline for probationary and term contracts from 45 days before the last day of instruction to 10 days before the last day of instruction. (Eissler)
- Allow a district to charge in advance a requestor for the estimated cost of a new public information request if the requestor has not paid for the costs associated with a previous request within the last 180 days. (Miller)
- Repeal the mandatory pay raise for charter school employees that was enacted in 2009. (Shelton)
- Require that notice of nonrenewal must be delivered to a teacher in person or mailed by certified or express mail if the teacher is not present on the date of the hand delivery, with the postmark date determining the date notice was given. (Huberty)
- Require that a district reduce administrator salaries by the same percentage as teacher salaries. (Callegari)
- Allow a school board to terminate or change the terms of a superintendent’s contract when a financial exigency requires a reduction in personnel. A superintendent whose contract has been amended could resign without penalty. (Marquez)
- Require any salary reduction implemented through a furlough to be equally distributed over the course of an employee’s current contract with the school district. (Patrick, Diane)
- Require information about a district’s optional homestead exemption to be presented during the public hearing to consider a district’s proposed salary reduction or furlough plan. (Patrick, Diane)
- Delete the provision allowing districts to require an individual to pay for information produced in response to a prior Public Information Act. (Davis, Yvonne)
- Require the commissioner of education to adopt minimum standards concerning financial conditions that must exist before a school board may declare a financial exigency. (Dutton)
- Clarify that a hearing officer’s determination regarding good cause for a suspension without pay or termination of a probationary, continuing or term contract employee is a conclusion of law that may be adopted, rejected or changed by the school board or a board subcommittee. (Huberty)
- Provide that rules, bylaws and policies adopted by a school board relating to the board’s managerial flexibilities have the force of law in relation to the district, and the school board, individual trustees and each district employee must comply with those rules, bylaws and policies. (Alonzo)
- Require a person seeking a teaching certificate through an alternative certification program to obtain 15 hours of field experience in which the person is actively engaged in instructional or educational activities in the classroom. (Villarreal)
- Expand the list of reasons the commissioner may consider when school districts apply for a flexible school day program to include “a campus or campuses that would benefit from the program.” (Guillen)
- Require an organization for which membership dues are deducted to annually provide written notice to the employee of the total amount of dues deducted by the district for the year. (Crownover)
- Create a “financial exigency and school discipline task force” made up of six legislators and up to 10 nonvoting “public” members who meet certain criteria that must hold at least four public meetings and submit to the Legislature a written report of findings and legislative recommendations related to both topics. (Giddings)
- Allow a district to suspend a teacher without pay pending discharge for good cause for a period not to extend beyond the current school year. (Weber)
The bill was passed on a vote of 81 to 55.
House Votes Out Instructional Materials Bill
The House on Thursday considered and finally passed Senate Bill 6 (Shapiro), the instructional materials bill that would merge separate funds for textbooks, electronic textbooks and technology into one new allotment called the Instructional Materials Allotment (IMA).
The bill would also create a new funding formula that requires the SBOE to set aside 50 percent of the annual distribution from the Permanent School Fund to the Available School Fund to be placed in the IMA.
SB 6 would also make changes to the processes to adopt, review and purchase instructional materials and technological equipment for public schools. A more detailed summary is available here.
Amendments to the bill would:
- Establish a technology lending grant program. (Hochberg)
- Allow the Texas Education Agency to use a projection measure only for the purposes of determining an expected level of improvement in student achievement, not an actual level of student achievement. (Hochberg)
- Attach Rep. Rob Eissler’s regular session legislation that provides for a smoother transition from TAKS to the more rigorous STAAR/EOC system. Some of the provisions in the amendment include:
- Removing the requirement that an EOC exam score count 15 percent of a final course grade. Instead, districts would adopt local policy that addresses whether, and how, scores on EOC exams would be linked with course grades
- Eliminating the cumulative score requirement for EOC exams.
- Providing flexibility by allowing RHSP and MHSP students to opt to meet standards established by the commissioner of education on certain EOC exams in lieu of meeting the current cumulative score requirements.
The House passed the bill on a 138 to 0 vote.
House Names Conferees on Fiscal Matters Bills
The House has finally named its conferees on the two fiscal matters bills, Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2, which are both critical to certifying the state budget adopted during the regular session.
The House conferees on SB 1 will be:
Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie)
Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands)
Rep. Charlie Geren (R-River Oaks)
Rep. John Otto (R-Dayton)
Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio)
The House conferees on SB 2 will be:
Rep. Jim Pitts (R-Waxahachie)
Rep. Myra Crownover (R-Lake Dallas)
Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo)
Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen)
Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon (D-San Antonio)
Conferees on the Senate side were announced earlier this week on SB 1:
Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock)
Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville)
Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen)
Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano)
Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands)
And SB 2:
Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan)
Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock)
Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen)
Sen. Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound)
Sen. Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands)
June 15, 2011
Bills on the Move
The following bills are on the House calendar for Thursday:
SB 8 (Shapiro) would provide management and operational flexibilities to school district boards of trustees. The bill would:
- allow districts to enact salary reductions across all employees;
- allow districts to enact furloughs for up to 6 non-instructional days for as long as a district’s state and local per-student funding remains below 2010-11 levels;
- require a district to use a process for developing a salary reduction plan that includes the involvement of the district’s professional staff and a public hearing on the plan where staff and the community have an opportunity to comment;
- remove the "last in-first out" requirement when implementing a reduction in personnel for terminating continuing contract employees;
- change the 45-day deadline to notify contract staff of nonrenewal to the last day of the spring administration of the state’s standardized tests;
- maintain the current salary schedule but provide that by September 1, 2013, the commissioner must review the state minimum salary schedule and submit to legislative leadership a written report recommending the method to be used to determine the salary schedule;
- allow a board of trustees of a school with an enrollment of 5,000 students or more to appoint a designee to hear nonrenewal hearings;
- allow the commissioner of education to grant a school district a class size waiver if a district receives less state and local funds per weighted student than the previous year;
- allow a board of trustees to declare financial exigency that lasts one year unless the board adopts a resolution continuing the exigency to the next year. The board is not limited in how many years it may adopt a resolution continuing a financial exigency and may terminate the declaration of financial exigency at any time;
- allow a district not to comply with a Public Information Act request if the requester has bills for prior PIA requests that have not been paid;
- void the employment contract of an employee with a voided certification; and
- limit the FitnessGram to those students in a physical education course.
HB 17 (Callegari) would make changes to the minimum salary for school district staff and allow furloughs for those employees.
HB 19 (Aycock) would streamline the due process available for mid-contract terminations resulting from a reduction-in-force (RIF) brought about by a district’s financial exigency declaration. In such cases, teachers would be entitled to protest their RIF termination at a hearing before the school board or, at the board’s discretion, at a hearing before a TEA-appointed independent hearing examiner, with a further appeal to the commissioner and ultimately to the courts. The bill also would expedite nonrenewal hearings before the school board, allowing a school board to designate an independent attorney to conduct the evidentiary hearing, create a hearing record and make a recommendation to the board. HB 19 would also clarify that a financial exigency declaration expires at the end of the fiscal year during which board adopts the financial exigency resolution, unless, by subsequent resolution, the board continues the financial exigency declaration for the next fiscal year(s). The board could terminate the financial exigency declaration at any time. School boards would be required to notify the commissioner of education each time a board adopts a financial exigency resolution.
June 14, 2011
State Budget Summary Available
TASB has created a three page summary that highlights the major budgetary changes for public education during the upcoming 2012-13 biennium that begins on September 1, 2011. You may access this document here.
House Passes Class-Size Waiver Bill
The House considered three bills of interest to school board members:
HB 18 (Eissler) would allow the commissioner of education to grant a school district a class size waiver based on a reduction in state funding per weighted student. A school board would still have to request a waiver and parents would still have to be notified if a waiver is granted. Previous language was stripped that would have required the commissioner to approve all district class-size waiver applications that did not violate certain restrictions. This bill was passed on third reading and now goes to the Senate for committee referral.
HB 20 (Huberty) would move the nonrenewal notice deadline to the 15th day before the last day of instruction. This bill was postponed until Friday, June 17.
HB 21 (Shelton) would eliminate the requirement that a school board terminate the continuing contract of a teacher during a reduction in personnel in reverse order of seniority. This bill was postponed until Friday, June 17.
House Pub Ed Passes Flexibility Bill
The House Public Education Committee took the following actions on Tuesday:
SB 8 (Shapiro), which would provide management and operational flexibilities to school district boards of trustees, was voted favorably out of committee with a few changes. The bill would now:
- allow districts to enact salary reductions across all employees;
- allow districts to enact furloughs for up to 6 non-instructional days for as long as a district’s state and local per-student funding remains below 2010-11 levels;
- require a district to use a process for developing a salary reduction plan that includes the involvement of the district’s professional staff and a public hearing on the plan where staff and the community have an opportunity to comment;
- remove the "last in-first out" requirement when implementing a reduction in personnel for terminating continuing contract employees;
- change the 45-day deadline to notify contract staff of nonrenewal to the last day of the spring administration of the state’s standardized tests;
- maintain the current salary schedule but provide that by September 1, 2013, the commissioner must review the state minimum salary schedule and submit to legislative leadership a written report recommending the method to be used to determine the salary schedule;
- allow a board of trustees of a school with an enrollment of 5,000 students or more to appoint a designee to hear nonrenewal hearings;
- allow the commissioner of education to grant a school district a class size waiver if a district receives less state and local funds per weighted student than the previous year;
- allow a board of trustees to declare financial exigency that lasts one year unless the board adopts a resolution continuing the exigency to the next year. The board is not limited in how many years it may adopt a resolution continuing a financial exigency and may terminate the declaration of financial exigency at any time;
- allow a district not to comply with a Public Information Act request if the requester has bills for prior PIA requests that have not been paid;
- void the employment contract of an employee with a voided certification; and
- limit the FitnessGram to those students in a physical education course.
HB 72 (Eissler), which would require centers for education research to support policy and academic research, was voted favorably out of committee. The bill would require the commissioners of TEA and THECB to co-chair a joint advisory board to adopt policies regarding the establishment a fee schedule to fund TEA and THECB data processing costs; development of a plan to establish access at universities to center research; development of policies regarding state agency and public entity access to research; development of processes for reviewing research proposals; identification of data to be sent annually to each center; and performance of other duties to advise each center.
June 13, 2011
Conferees Named on Fiscal Matters Bills
With the slew of amendments to Senate Bill 1 added by the House last week, the Senate on Monday refused to concur and appointed a conference committee to negotiate a compromise on the House and Senate versions.
The Senate conferees on SB 1 are: Sens. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock), Bob Deuell (R-Greenville), Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen), Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands).
Now that conferees have been named, trustees may contact them to advocate for or against various aspects of the bill. The below amendments will be debated by members of the conference committee and will be stripped out or left in the bill. Contact the members of the conference committee and let them know how various amendments will impact your district.
Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) 512-463-0128
Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) 512-463-0102
Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) 512-463-0120
Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) 512-463-0108
Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) 512-463-0104
A summary for SB 1, which identifies about $3 billion in general revenue necessary to certify the state budget and contains the school finance plan, is available here.
With the amendments added during lengthy debate Thursday night, the bill now:
- Requires that school districts post the following information on the district’s website: annual budget, end-of-year financial report, and checking account transaction register. Districts may not post any salary or stipend check information paid to an employee. Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington)
- Grandfathers an educational aide's eligibility for a tuition exemption as they seek to become certified teachers. SB 1 law states that individuals are eligible for the tuition exemption only if they are seeking certification in one or more areas designated by the TEA to be experiencing a critical shortfall. This amendment allows those who are already receiving this exemption to continue receiving it regardless of whether the certification in an area experiencing a shortfall. Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin)
- Sunsets the new school finance formulas in SB 1 after this biennium, putting pressure on the school finance interim committee to find a long-term solution for distributing state funds to school districts. The amendment also evenly distributes cuts over the biennium for districts that would sustain a larger reduction in funding the first year compared to the second. Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington)
- Allows the board of trustees the opportunity to require payment of funds for student transportation if a school district does not receive an allotment from the state and does not participate in a county transportation system. Rep. Vicki Truitt (R-Southlake)
- Opens the Permanent School Fund Bond Guarantee Program to open-enrollment charter schools that satisfy financial standards. Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (R-Irving)
- Allows school districts to apply to the commissioner for a flexible school day program (i.e. school districts could require longer school days but students attend school for fewer days). Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City)
- Expedites the approval of virtual school network (VSN) courses and requires school districts that submit a course for consideration for the VSN to pay a fee in the amount of $500 per course. Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano)
- Requires the University Interscholastic League to undergo a sunset review. Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton)
- Requires the Texas Education Agency to develop a plan to suspend the administration of the state’s standardized tests for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years. School districts could opt in. Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Canton)
- Allows a district to purchase attendance credits based on the amount of the district’s maintenance and operations tax revenue per student in WADA for which the contract is executed for the 2009-10 school year if the district imposed a debt service tax for the 2009 school year that at a minimum equaled the district’s M&O rate for 2008. Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa)
- Allows school districts to use compensatory education dollars to help pay the costs associated with placing a student in a juvenile justice alternative education program. Additionally, this bill removes current law funding caps on using comp ed funds for disciplinary alternative education programs. Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen)
- Requires the State Board of Education to increase the indirect cost allotment for special programs in proportion to the average percentage reduction in total state and local maintenance and operations revenue. Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen)
- Requires the commissioner to compensate a school district for a tax refund paid in the current year as the result of a property tax appeal for a previous year, if the district is not compensated by an offsetting adjustment to the district’s taxable value and the amount of the refund exceeds ten percent of the district’s net maintenance and operations tax revenue collected during the current year. Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Port Arthur)
- Allows Port Arthur ISD to levy an M&O rate above $1.17, with voter approval, for the sole purpose of paying a property tax judgment of $15 million against the district. This authority expires once the judgment is paid. Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Port Arthur)
- Allows the TRS Board of Trustees to make an additional payment over the next two years to retirees even if it results in the amortization period of unfunded liabilities to exceed 30 years so long as the board has determined the payment can be made while preserving the ability of the system to meet 80 percent of its pension obligations. The funding for this payment would come from earnings on investments that exceed 8 percent. Rep. Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock)
- Allows people over age 21 to take classes through the virtual school network. Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano)
- Increases the equalized wealth and guaranteed yield on copper pennies (pennies levied after the six "golden" pennies above a district's compressed tax rate) from $319,500 and $31.95 respectively to $339,500 and $33.95 for districts that taxed at the maximum rate during the 2010 tax year. This yield increased will only apply for the 2011-12 school year. Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock (R-Killeen)
The Senate also named its conferees on Senate Bill 2, the less publicized but equally critical fiscal matters bill that would restore $34 billion to the state budget bill.
An amendment added by Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin) would appropriate any rainy day funds in excess of the $6.5 billion projected in the fund by August 31, 2013, to public schools through regular program funding. School districts would not be entitled to receive more than current school finance formulas would require.
Rep. Mark Shelton (R-Ft. Worth) offered an amendment that would allow up to $250 million of any Foundation School Program funding that exceeds the amount required to pay schools the state share under the FSP to be allocated to fund various grant programs.
The members of the SB 2 conference committee are:
Steve Ogden (R-Bryan), Chair 512-463-0105
Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) 512-463-0128
Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) 512-463-0120
Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound) 512-463-0112
Tommy Williams (R-The Woodlands) 512-463-0104
Senate Passes Education Bills
The Senate passed two education-related bills regarding the virtual school network and backing charter school bonds on Monday:
SB 30 (Shapiro) would require the state to only fund providers of electronic courses for students who successfully complete the course. The bill would also establish a review system where students can rate classes and provide feedback for other students thinking about taking the course and clarify that funding for courses will be handled through the virtual school network and not between districts.
SB 31 (Shapiro) would allow charter holders to apply for bonds guaranteed by the Permanent School Fund (PSF). Open-enrollment charter schools would have to have an investment grade credit rating by a nationally recognized investment rating firm to qualify. The bill would limit the total amount of charter bonds that could be guaranteed by the PSF to the proportional percentage of students enrolled in charter schools throughout the state compared to students enrolled in all public schools in the state.
The bills now go to the House for committee referral.
House Pub Ed to Hear Flexibility Bill
The House Public Education Committee will meet on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. to consider the following bills:
SB 8 (Shapiro) would provide management and operational flexibilities to school district boards of trustees. Specifically, it would:
• allow districts to enact salary reductions and furloughs across all employees;
• remove the "last in-first out" requirement for terminating continuing contracts;
• change the 45-day deadline to notify contract staff of nonrenewal to 10 days;
• void the employment contract of an employee with a voided certification;
• limit the FitnessGram to those students in a physical education course.
A detailed summary is available here.
HB 72 (Eissler) would require centers for education research to support policy and academic research. The commissioner and THECB could enter data agreements with another agency of this state or an education agency in another state. The bill would require the commissioners of TEA and THECB to co-chair a joint advisory board to adopt policies regarding centers for education research. They would jointly appoint up to 3 additional members to serve one-year terms on the board. The chief executive officer of each institution of higher education that is part of the center would appoint not more than two additional members. Members could be reappointed and would serve at the will of the commissioners. The joint advisory board would meet at least twice a year to establish a fee schedule to fund TEA and THECB data processing costs; develop a plan to establish access at universities to center research; develop policies regarding state agency and public entity access to research; develop processes for reviewing research proposals; identify data to be sent annually to each center; and perform other duties to advise each center.
House to Consider Education Bills
The House calendar for Tuesday includes three bills of interest to school board members:
HB 18 (Eissler) would allow the commissioner of education to grant a school district a class size waiver based on a reduction in state funding per weighted student. A school board would still have to request a waiver and parents would still have to be notified if a waiver is granted. Previous language was stripped that would have required the commissioner to approve all district class-size waiver applications that did not violate certain restrictions. This will be the third reading of this bill.
HB 20 (Huberty) would move the nonrenewal notice deadline to the 15th day before the last day of instruction. The bill would also authorize school boards to deliver a nonrenewal notice in person or by certified mail to the teacher’s address of record with the district. The effective date of the notice would be the mailing date. This will be the second reading of this bill.
HB 21 (Shelton) would eliminate the requirement that a school board terminate the continuing contract of a teacher during a reduction in personnel in reverse order of seniority. This will be the second reading of this bill.
June 9, 2011
House Considers Fiscal Matters/School Finance Bill
The House took up and passed on to third reading the fiscal matters bill, Senate Bill 1, on Thursday that identifies about $3 billion in general revenue necessary for the negotiated state budget passed during the regular session and contains the agreed upon school finance plan that distributes $4 billion in cuts to public schools. A summary for SB 1 is available here.
During debate, amendments were offered to restructure the school finance plan in the bill. The current proposed plan would institute one year of Rep. Rob Eissler’s (R-The Woodlands) 6 percent across-the-board reduction and one year of Sen. Florence Shapiro’s (R-Plano) staggered plan that cuts higher-target revenue districts more than lower-target revenue districts.
The amendment offered by Rep. Susan King (R-Abilene) would have enacted Sen. Shapiro’s plan over both years of the biennium -- benefitting lower-target revenue districts, while Rep. Harvey Hilderbran’s (R-Kerrville) amendment would have enacted Rep. Eissler’s plan both years -- benefitting higher-target revenue districts. Both representatives agreed to withdraw their amendments after much discussion about the fairness of the negotiated plan.
Seen as an opportune chance to revive many bills that died during the regular session, representatives spent most of the day and night attempting to amend SB 1 with legislation from the regular session. About 170 amendments were pre-filed.
The following are successfully attached amendments that affect public education:
- Grandfathers an educational aide’s eligibility for a tuition exemption as they seek to become certified teachers. SB 1 law states that individuals are eligible for the tuition exemption only if they are seeking certification in one or more areas designated by the TEA to be experiencing a critical shortfall. This amendment allows those who are already receiving this exemption to continue receiving it regardless of whether the certification in an area experiencing a shortfall. Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin)
- Sunsets the new school finance formulas in SB 1 after this biennium, putting pressure on the school finance interim committee to find a long-term solution for distributing state funds to school districts. The amendment also evenly distributes cuts over the biennium for districts that would sustain a larger reduction in funding the first year compared to the second. Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington)
- Allows the board of trustees the opportunity to require payment of funds for student transportation if a school district does not receive an allotment from the state and does not participate in a county transportation system. Rep. Vickie Truitt (R-Southlake)
- Opens the Permanent School Fund Bond Guarantee Program to open-enrollment charter schools that satisfy financial standards. Rep. Linda Harper-Brown (R-Irving)
- Allows school districts to apply to the commissioner for a flexible school day program (i.e. school districts could require longer school days but students attend school for fewer days). Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City)
- Expedites the approval of virtual school network (VSN) courses and requires school districts that submit a course for consideration for the VSN to pay a fee in the amount of $500 per course. Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano)
- Requires the University Interscholastic League to undergo a sunset review. Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton)
- Requires the Texas Education Agency to develop a plan to suspend the administration of the state’s standardized tests for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years. School districts could opt in. Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Canton)
- Allows a district to purchase attendance credits based on the amount of the district’s maintenance and operations tax revenue per student in WADA for which the contract is executed for the 2009-10 school year if the district imposed a debt service tax for the 2009 school year that at a minimum equaled the district’s M&O rate for 2008. Rep. Warren Chisum (R-Pampa)
- Allows school districts to use compensatory education dollars to help pay the costs associated with placing a student in a juvenile justice alternative education program. Additionally, this bill removes current law funding caps on using comp ed funds for disciplinary alternative education programs. Rep. Jimmy Don Aycock (R-Killeen)
- Requires the State Board of Education to increase the indirect cost allotment for special programs in proportion to the average percentage reduction in total state and local maintenance and operations revenue. Rep. Jimmy Don Aycock (R-Killeen)
- Requires the commissioner to compensate a school district for a tax refund paid in the current year as the result of a property tax appeal for a previous year, if the district is not compensated by an offsetting adjustment to the district’s taxable value and the amount of the refund exceeds ten percent of the district’s net maintenance and operations tax revenue collected during the current year. Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Port Arthur)
- Allows Port Arthur ISD to levy an M&O rate above $1.17, with voter approval, for the sole purpose of paying a property tax judgment of $15 million against the district. This authority expires once the judgment is paid. Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Port Arthur)
- Allows the TRS Board of Trustees to make an additional payment over the next two years to retirees even if it results in the amortization period of unfunded liabilities to exceed 30 years so long as the board has determined the payment can be made while preserving the ability of the system to meet 80 percent of its pension obligations. The funding for this payment would come from earnings on investments that exceed 8 percent. Rep. Larry Gonzales (R-Round Rock)
- Allows people over age 21 to take classes through the virtual school network. Rep. Jerry Madden (R-Plano)
- Requires that school districts post the following information on the district’s website: annual budget, end-of-year financial report, and checking account transaction register. Districts may not post any salary or stipend check information paid to an employee. Rep. Bill Zedler (R-Arlington)
After 16 hours of debate, the House passed SB 1 to third reading on a vote of 81 to 62.
Fiscal Matters Bill Passes with Notable Amendments
The House considered another fiscal matters bill on Thursday that is key to certifying the state budget.
Senate Bill 2, the less publicized but equally critical fiscal matters bill, would restore $34 billion to the state budget bill that was originally contingent upon SB 1811 passing during the regular session. It is essentially a technical bill that avoids having deficits in both public education spending and Medicaid at the same time.
Two amendments were added that impact public education.
An amendment by Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston), which was further amended by Rep. Donna Howard (D-Austin), would appropriate any rainy day funds in excess of the $6.5 billion projected in the fund by August 31, 2013, to public schools through regular program funding. School districts would not be entitled to receive more than current school finance formulas would require.
Rep. Mark Shelton (R-Ft. Worth) offered an amendment that would allow up to $250 million of any Foundation School Program funding that exceeds the amount required to pay schools the state share under the FSP to be allocated to fund various grant programs, specifically:
- teacher effectiveness and incentive pay programs,
- advanced placement programs,
- educational technology and virtual learning programs,
- dropout prevention and recovery programs, including Big Brothers and Big Sisters,
- early childhood readiness programs,
- purchase of instructional materials,
- the Texas High School Project,
- the Early College High School Initiative,
- science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs.
The commissioner of education will have the discretion to fund some or all of these programs with the excess funds.
The bill will be considered once more on third reading in the House.
June 8, 2011
House to Consider School Finance Plan
The House will take up the fiscal matters bill on Thursday that identifies about $3 billion in general revenue necessary for the negotiated state budget passed during the regular session and contains the agreed upon school finance plan that distributes $4 billion in cuts to public schools. A summary for SB 1 is available here.
There have been rumblings in the Capitol about rural House republicans starting to wonder if the proposed school finance plan subsidizes suburban school districts at the expense of rural districts. Rural republicans and all democrats voting “no” on the fiscal matters bill could pose a threat to the passage of the bill.
The Quorum Report is reporting that meetings are underway to come up with amendments to fix the plan to more evenly distribute the relative pain of the cuts.
The school finance plan included in the bill would enact a 6 percent cut across all districts during the first year of the biennium and then implement Sen. Florence Shapiro’s (R-Plano) school finance plan that would eliminate target revenue over time by reducing spending on higher-wealth districts at a faster rate than lower-wealth districts.
The House will convene Thursday at 10 a.m.
Sales Tax Revenues Up
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs announced today that sales tax revenue for the month of May was $1.95 billion, up 9.9 percent compared to May 2010.
Combs attributed the increase to spending in the oil, gas and manufacturing sectors.
June 7, 2011
House Pub Ed Kicks Out Instructional Materials Bill
The House Public Education met briefly on Tuesday to vote out Senate Bill 6, the instructional materials bill.
SB 6 would merge separate funds for textbooks, electronic textbooks and technology into one new allotment called the Instructional Materials Allotment (IMA). It would also create a new funding formula that requires the SBOE to set aside 50 percent of the annual distribution from the Permanent School Fund to the Available School Fund to be placed in the IMA.
The bill also makes changes to the processes to adopt, review and purchase instructional materials and technological equipment for public schools. A more detailed summary is available here.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
House to Consider Fiscal Matters Bills
The House will take up two fiscal matters bills that identify additional general revenue necessary for the negotiated state budget passed during the regular session.
Senate Bill 1, the fiscal matters bill that would identify about $3 billion in state revenue to apply to the upcoming biennial budget also includes the negotiated school finance plan that distributes $4 billion in cuts to public schools. A summary for SB 1 is available here.
The school finance plan included in the bill would enact a 6 percent cut across all districts during the first year of the biennium and then implement Sen. Florence Shapiro’s (R-Plano) school finance plan that would eliminate target revenue over time by reducing spending on higher-wealth districts at a faster rate than lower-wealth districts.
Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston) is expected to lay out four amendments that would:
- sunset the school finance plan after this biennium and provide for an interim committee to look at school funding issues and whether the plan should be allowed to continue;
- make explicit that the reduction language in the plan refers to both state and local funding;
- attempt to address low-wealth districts’ concerns about funding reductions by smoothing out reductions so that districts would see more or less the same level of cuts from one year to the next; and
- mandate that the state must still fully fund school districts when the state is unexpectedly short on school funding. This would not apply to the upcoming budget because the reductions are planned.
Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington) also said she would be presenting some amendments on the House floor.
SB 2 is also scheduled for consideration. The bill would restore $34 billion to the state budget bill that was originally contingent upon SB 1811 passing during the regular session. It is essentially a technical bill that avoids having deficits in both public education spending and Medicaid at the same time.
June 6, 2011
Senators Pass Flexibility Bill
Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) laid out her school flexibility bill, SB 8, for consideration on the Senate floor on Monday.
The bill would provide management and operational flexibilities to school district boards of trustees. Specifically, it would:
- allow districts to enact salary reductions and furloughs across all employees;
- remove the "last in-first out" requirement for terminating continuing contracts;
- change the 45-day deadline to notify contract staff of nonrenewal to 10 days;
- void the employment contract of an employee with a voided certification;
- limit the FitnessGram to those students in a physical education course.
A detailed summary is available here.
Sen. Shapiro amended the bill to provide a process with which districts must comply before enacting furloughs or salary reductions. Districts must solicit input from employees regarding these actions and hold a public meeting at which the details of the furloughs and salary reductions will be shared.
The bill passed on a party-line vote of 18 to 12.
Senate Education Kicks Out Two Bills
The Senate Education Committee met briefly on Monday to consider two bills. The first, SB 30 (Shapiro), would require the state to only fund providers of electronic courses for students who successfully complete the course. The bill would also establish a review system where students can rate classes and provide feedback for other students thinking about taking the course and clarify that funding for courses will be handled through the virtual school network and not between districts.
Over 9,800 students enrolled in a virtual school network course during the Spring of 2009. Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) referred to the bill as an “education equalizer,” allowing rural districts to provide a variety of courses that they would not otherwise have been able.
The second bill, SB 31 (Shapiro), would allow charter holders to apply for bonds guaranteed by the Permanent School Fund (PSF). Open-enrollment charter schools would have to have an investment grade credit rating by a nationally recognized investment rating firm to qualify. The bill would limit the total amount of charter bonds that could be guaranteed by the PSF to the proportional percentage of students enrolled in charter schools throughout the state compared to students enrolled in all public schools in the state.
Two charter school groups testified for the bill, saying that the acquisition of adequate facilities is one of the biggest obstacles charter schools face. They argue the amount that charter schools pay for bonds is a cost to the charter operator which could be put back into the classroom.
The bills were left pending during the committee hearing, but passed later from the Senate floor.
House Government Efficiency Committee Hears Education Bills
The House Government Efficiency and Reform Committee on Monday heard two education bills regarding vouchers and district staff furloughs and salary schedules.
HB 17 (Callegari) would make changes to the minimum salary for school district staff and allow furloughs for those employees. The bill was voted favorably from committee.
HB 33(Miller, Sid) would create the Taxpayer Savings Grant Program, which institutionalizes a voucher program in Texas. These vouchers would require the state to pay 60 percent of the statewide average operating expenditure-per-student to a private school, but does not require a private school to accept a student with a voucher. The bill was left pending in committee.
The committee also considered HB 30 (Callegari), which would allow furloughs for state employees. The bill was voted favorably from committee.
June 4, 2011
House Appropriations Passes School Finance Plan
The House Appropriations Committee met Saturday morning to consider fiscal matters bills that identify additional general revenue necessary for the negotiated state budget passed during the regular session.
The committee started with Senate Bill 1, the fiscal matters bill that would identify about $3 billion in state revenue to apply to the upcoming biennial budget and includes the negotiated school finance plan that distributes $4 billion in cuts to public schools. A summary for SB 1 is available here.
The school finance plan included in the bill would enact a 6 percent cut across all districts during the first year of the biennium and then implement Sen. Florence Shapiro’s (R-Plano) school finance plan that would eliminate target revenue over time by reducing spending on higher-wealth districts at a faster rate than lower-wealth districts.
The bill was not changed in committee, but Rep. Scott Hochberg (D-Houston) described four amendments that he would be introducing on the House floor.
The first amendment would sunset the school finance plan after this biennium and provide for an interim committee to look at school funding issues and whether the plan should be allowed to continue.
The second amendment would make explicit that the reduction language in the plan refers to both state and local funding.
The third amendment would attempt to address low-wealth districts’ concerns about funding reductions by smoothing out reductions so that districts would see more or less the same level of cuts from one year to the next.
The fourth amendment would mandate that the state must still fully fund school districts when the state is unexpectedly short on school funding. This would not apply to the upcoming budget because the reductions are planned.
Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington) also said she would be presenting some amendments on the House floor.
The committee voted out SB 1 with no amendments.
The committee also passed SB 2, which restores $34 billion to the state budget bill that was originally contingent upon SB 1811 passing during the regular session. It is essentially a technical bill that avoids having deficits in both public education spending and Medicaid at the same time.
The bills could be on the House floor as soon as Wednesday.
June 2, 2011
Senate Finance Passes Fiscal Matters Bill
The Senate Finance Committee took up Senate Bill 1 on Thursday. The bill, otherwise known as the state fiscal matters bill, would identify about $3 billion in state revenue to apply to the upcoming biennial budget and includes the negotiated school finance plan for next biennium.
The death of this bill’s predecessor, SB 1811, is considered to be the impetus for current special session -- and tension apparently lingered.
In a testy exchange between Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) and Sen. Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville), Duncan expressed his frustration with the failure of senators to pass a school finance plan before the regular session ended. Sen. Lucio responded that senators could not be expected to vote for a school finance plan when they did not know how the plan would specifically affect programs and employees in their local districts. Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan) diplomatically changed subjects to prevent the discussion from escalating.
Many showed up to testify, including several superintendents and school board members who generally testified in favor of Sen. Florence Shapiro’s (R-Plano) school finance plan, which comprises the second year of the school finance plan included in SB 1.
The first year of the plan would consist of an across-the-board cut of about 6 percent, as proposed by Rep. Rob Eissler (R-The Woodlands). Many of those testifying on the school finance portion of the bill said the Shapiro plan was a more equitable approach to distributing the $4 billion in proposed education funding cuts.
Paul Trull, Paris ISD superintendent, presented testimony regarding his low-target revenue district, noting that an across-the-board cut to all schools hurts low-wealth districts more than others. “When you’re sucking on mud, why take the mud away,” he said about the proposed school finance plan. “There’s nothing left after that.”
Parents and teachers also testified, mostly on the funding portion of the bill, urging legislators to draw down more of the Rainy Day Fund to reduce the cuts to public education.
In response to those witnesses, Sen. Ogden said that the legislature did not actually cut public education funding but just did not add as much funding as schools feel they are entitled. He noted that those wanting more funding that are testifying against the bill were actually hurting their case because the failure of SB 1 would mean $3.5 billion less for Texas public schools.
In the end, the committee voted 10 to 2 to pass SB 1, which now goes to the full Senate.
The committee also favorably voted out SB 2, a bill that Sen. Steve Ogden described as containing general appropriations for the Foundation School Program and other items that died when SB 1811 was killed.
Senate Ed Passes Instructional Materials Bill
The Senate Education Committee met on Thursday to consider Senate Bill 6, the instructional materials bill, and Senate Bill 8, the school district flexibilities bill.
SB 6 establishes the instructional materials allotment and makes changes to the processes to adopt, review and purchase instructional materials and technological equipment for public schools. This was HB 6 during the regular session. A more detailed summary is available here.
After testimony, much of it in support of SB 6, the committee voted the bill favorably out of committee and sent it to the full Senate.
The committee also heard testimony on SB 8, which would provide management and operational flexibilities to school district boards of trustees. It would allow districts to enact salary reductions and furloughs across all employees. A full summary is available here.
Several trustees traveled to Austin to testify in support of this bill, citing specific examples of how measures in this bill would help save teachers’ jobs.
- Sarah Winkler, Alief ISD vice president -- Each furlough day saves 24 teaching positions.
- Pam Waggoner, Leander ISD trustee -- Two furlough days save 38 teaching positions.
- Karen Ellis, Richardson ISD trustee -- Each furlough day saves 21 teaching positions.
- Mark Williams, Austin ISD president -- One percent salary reduction saves 100 teaching positions.
Other trustees explained that districts do not have many choices at this point.
- Gary Inmon, TASB president-elect and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD trustee, noted that his district has only two options to deal with state public education funding cuts: tax increases and reducing payroll.
- Mark Williams, Austin ISD president, explained that the proposed budget cuts will mean teacher layoffs if no flexibilities are provided, leading to increased class sizes or reduced class offerings.
- Katie Reed, Northside ISD trustee, told senators that cuts are difficult to make when the district is adding 3,000 students.
- John Adams, Dripping Springs ISD board secretary, testified that his district is already lean, as supported by the five-star rating on the comptroller’s school efficiency report, and is now expected to face significant budget cuts.
- Kim Janke, Needville ISD assistant secretary, stressed that his district is already running under an extremely lean administrative budget -- pointing out that his district has an assistant principal that serves two campuses.
In Ellis’ testimony provided to the committee, she noted that Richardson ISD surveyed its teachers and found that 75 percent said they would rather take a furlough day or days in order to save jobs.
The bill was left pending in committee and will be heard Friday at 9 a.m.
Instructional Materials, Personnel Issues Up for Hearing Tomorrow
The House Public Education Committee will meet Friday at 9 a.m. to consider the following bills:
HB 19 (Aycock) would streamline the due process available for mid-contract terminations resulting from a reduction-in-force (RIF) brought about by a district’s financial exigency declaration. In such cases, teachers would be entitled to protest their RIF termination at a hearing before the school board or, at the board’s discretion, at a hearing before a TEA-appointed independent hearing examiner, with a further appeal to the commissioner and ultimately to the courts. The bill also would expedite nonrenewal hearings before the school board, allowing a school board to designate an independent attorney to conduct the evidentiary hearing, create a hearing record and make a recommendation to the board. HB 19 would also clarify that a financial exigency declaration expires at the end of the fiscal year during which board adopts the financial exigency resolution, unless, by subsequent resolution, the board continues the financial exigency declaration for the next fiscal year(s). The board could terminate the financial exigency declaration at any time. School boards would be required to notify the commissioner of education each time a board adopts a financial exigency resolution.
HB 21 (Shelton) would eliminate the requirement that a school board terminate the continuing contract of a teacher during a reduction in personnel in reverse order of seniority.
HB 20 (Huberty) would move the nonrenewal notice deadline to the 15th day before the last day of instruction. The bill would also authorize school boards to deliver a nonrenewal notice in person or by certified mail to the teacher’s address of record with the district. The effective date of the notice would be the mailing date.
HB 18 (Eissler) would require the commissioner to approve all district class-size waiver applications, unless granting the waiver would allow the district to enroll more than 25 students in a K-4 class, result in a district-wide average enrollment of more than 22 students in a K-4 class, or would negatively impact the education of the district’s students. The board of trustees may adopt a policy authorizing the superintendent to apply for class size waivers, as needed. Instead of sending written notification of the class size waiver to the parents of the affected students, the district could prominently post the notice on the district’s website.
HB 6 (Eissler) would establish the instructional materials allotment and make changes to the adoption, review and purchase processes for instructional materials and technological equipment for public schools. The bill also makes changes to the administration of state assessment instruments to public school students. A detailed summary is available here.