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The House Appropriations Committee met for a lengthy meeting on
Saturday to hear and act on bills with fiscal impacts before the next
self-imposed cut-off deadline arrives. Bills must be adopted by their
opposite house fiscal committees by this evening (Monday) in order to
remain alive this session. Among the lengthy list of bills on
Saturday’s agenda were SB 5714, SB 6377 and SB 6673.
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SB 5714 would
create a pilot program for Spanish and Chinese language instruction
in elementary schools. While the bill was heard on Saturday, at the
time this Update was being prepared it had not yet moved from the
Appropriations Committee.
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SB 6377 is a
comprehensive bill to enhance career and technical education
programs. The bill was adopted by the Appropriations Committee on
Saturday afternoon and is awaiting action by the full House.
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SB 6673 is the bill
that would have created the Extended Learning Opportunities program
to assist students who are not on track to meet the state or local
high school graduation requirements. A striking amendment adopted by
the Appropriations Committee eliminates the new program, but leaves
the changes to enhance funding of the Learning Assistance
Program. The bill awaits actions by the full House. SB 6673 is the
type of bill that will likely remain “in play” for the remainder of
this session. The policies in the underlying bill — and the fiscal
implications — will remain hot issues between the House and the
Senate. One of the many major differences between the two house’s
budget proposals is the level of funding provided for struggling
students — and how to provide those funds.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee met today (and continues to meet
at the time this Update was being prepared) to hear and adopt a long
list of bills. Included in today’s list of bills for action were nine
education-related bills: HB 2492, HB 1806, HB 2523,
HB 2679, HB 2722, HB 2811, HB 2809, HB
2870 and HB 3291.
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HB 2492 is the bill
intended to resolve the levy dispute caused by the dissolution of
the Vader School District and to limit future similar
controversies. It would change the date for the determination of the
boundary of a school taxing district from June 1 to September 1 in
determining district tax levies in cases where a school district is
dissolved and merged with another. A striking amendment was adopted
by the Committee today and while the language was unavailable, it
appears that the new bill would change the tax determination date
prospectively, rather than retrospectively, which was included in
the original bill. If this is the case, it is unclear if this will
resolve the dispute surrounding the former Vader School District.
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HB 1806 would
require school districts to adopt an Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
policy — with a sample policy required to be developed by
WSSDA. Original language which would have required districts to have
their IPM programs “certified” by a national organization was
removed, making the certification optional. The bill awaits action
by the full Senate and, if adopted by the full Senate, is sure to be
a bill in dispute with the House.
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HB 2523 would
create the position of world language supervisor at OSPI.
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HB 2679 would
create programs to improve educational outcomes for students in
foster care.
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HB 2722 is the bill
requiring the Center for the Improvement of Student Learning to
convene an advisory committee to create a comprehensive strategic
plan for addressing the achievement gap for African-American
students. Requirements to study the achievement gap for other
minority students are not included in this bill. The House budget
includes language and funding to conduct these studies; however, the
Senate budget does not include similar provisos or funding. This
will be an issue for negotiators to hammer out.
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HB 2811 is the bill
creating the Healthy Student Grant Program for school districts and
community-based organizations to offer innovative instruction and
activities in health, fitness, and nutrition.
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HB 2809 would
require a review of math and science teachers. The Professional
Educator Standards Board (PESB) would be required to report data and
recommendations for strengthening the corps of K-12 mathematics and
science teachers, including a survey of math and science teachers to
identify barriers to teaching. Additionally, PESB would be
required to examine and report upon other states' differential pay
programs for teachers in high-demand subject areas such as
mathematics and science.
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HB 2870 would
direct OSPI to create a training strand through the Summer
Accountability Institutes and January Conference for classified
instructional assistants.
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HB 3291 is the bill
to create the Community Schools Act of 2008. It would provide
assistance and incentives for school districts to use surplus
facilities for coordinated services for children and families. A
striking amendment was introduced and adopted in the Committee this
afternoon; however, it was unclear exactly what the amendment did
(the language, as usual, was unavailable for our
review). Apparently, the amendment made changes to how school
districts would declare property as “surplus.” Although there was
little (if any) testimony against the bill as it made its way
through the legislative process, several legislators became
concerned that school facilities — surplus or not — are not
“community” property, but owned by the schools and financed by the
taxpayers. Therefore, schools have a fiduciary responsibility to
ensure that they have a sufficient return on their investment if the
facilities/property are not being utilized. It is unclear if those
concerns will derail this bill or not.
With tonight’s
fiscal committee cut-off, most of the legislative action for the
remainder of this session moves to the House and Senate chambers as
legislators try to reconcile differences in bills. Remember that in
order to become law, a bill must be adopted by both the House and the
Senate with the exact same language. Bills that have been adopted by
both houses with differing language must be sent back to the original
house for concurrence. If the original house does not concur with the
new language, they can insist on its position and request the other
house back off the changes. The other house then has the option of
backing off or insisting on the new language. This “ping pong” game
continues until one side backs off or a “Conference Committee” is
requested to draft a negotiated compromise. |
