HB 1–House and Senate Ed Update–Still following the money

Texas Legislature

Update: 3/23/11

 

House budget guts public schools, sacrifices future

The budget approved by the House Appropriations Committee would make devastating cuts to the public schools and should be rejected, Texas State Teachers Association President Rita Haecker said today.
“House budget writers still don’t get it. Texas taxpayers are not going to stand for the public schools being gutted, which is what this bill would do,” Haecker said.
“Texas’ classrooms already are under-funded. This bill would cost thousands of school employees their jobs, cram tens of thousands of kids into overcrowded classrooms, close neighborhood schools and sacrifice Texas’ future for political expediency,” she added.
TSTA urges the Legislature and the governor to do what’s right for Texas children and taxpayers. They need to spend all the Rainy Day Fund and find new revenue to adequately and equitably fund a school finance system that is broken.
The $10 billion structural deficit in the public education budget, the result of lawmakers not fully paying for the 2006 school property tax cuts, will only worsen if it is not addressed now.

Committees hear wide range of bills, including charters

The House Public Education and Senate Education committees on Tuesday heard bills on a long list of issues, including charter expansion, bullying and due process rights for teachers. Most of the measures were left pending, including the charter bills, which TSTA went on record against before both committees.

Several proposed charter bills would allow from 10 new charters a year to an unlimited number of new, open enrollment charters to be granted by the State Board of Education, would allow holders of existing charters to expand their number of campuses if 90 percent of more of their current campuses are rated as acceptable or better, and would provide more avenues for closing low-performing charters or charters mismanaging state funds. The current cap on the number of open enrollment charters is 215.
The charter bills include HB936 by Rep. Patricia Harless, HB1311 by Rep. Mark Shelton, HB1603 by Rep. Bill Zedler and SB127 by Sen. Dan Patrick
In written testimony filed with both committees, TSTA noted that the Texas Education Agency historically has been constrained by a budget that has not allowed for proper oversight of the charter schools that Texas already has. TEA’s ability to monitor an ever-increasing number of charter schools would be even more problematic in light of the state’s current fiscal crisis. The state needs to be able to maintain more control over charters, and TSTA is concerned that this would be impossible with anticipated cuts to the public education budget. Allowing charters to expand at the will of the charter-holder will invite abuse of the charter system.
TSTA would be in favor of an interim study that looks specifically at charter schools, how they are operating and what could be made better. Expanding charters while school districts are contemplating the closure of some traditional and possibly losing as many as 100,000 public school employees would be irresponsible.
TSTA also registered opposition to SB597 by Sen. Shapiro, which would allow the state education commissioner to grant bonds to be guaranteed by the Permanent School Fund to open-enrollment charter schools
In the House Public Education Committee hearing, TSTA testified against the following bills, which would diminish due process rights for teachers:

• # HB 1610 by Rep. Larry Gonzales, relating to employment termination procedures applicable to a teacher convicted of a felony.  TSTA Governmental Relations Specialist Portia Bosse testified that this bill, as drafted, would circumvent an educator’s due process rights if a contract was void by operation of law for any discovered felony conviction.  Bosse told the committee that allowing dismissal for any felony would be unjust. She also reminded the committee that SBEC currently takes care of teachers with felony convictions discovered through the fingerprinting process.

• # HB 2540 by Rep.Randy Weber, relating to the right to a hearing before an independent hearing examiner of a public school teacher suspended without pay.  This bill would mandate that any appeal would be only after 20 days of suspensions.  Any suspension shorter than 20 days would not be entitled to a hearing examiner.  Bosse testified against the bill and cautioned the committee that a teacher has a property interest in a contract and it would be a violation of due process rights to hinder the ability to appeal to an independent hearing examiner.

TSTA went on record in support of the following bills, which also were heard by the House committee:

• HB 1335 by Rep. Alma Allen, relating to certain resources available to teachers of a public school student with a disability.
• HB 1462 by Rep. Dan Huberty,  relating to the inclusion of professional staff who educate students with disabilities on district-level and campus-level planning and decision-making committees.
• HB 2971 by Rep.Todd Smith, relating to the confidentiality of documents evaluating the performance of public school teachers and administrators.

TSTA took no position on the following bills:

• HB 2380 by Rep. Mark Shelton, relating to employment by school districts of certain persons under probationary contracts.  This bill would require a district to put exiting employees on  probationary status if they changed their category of employment.  Bosse expressed concern that it might force probationary status on lateral moves or demotions.  The author of the bill is willing to work to change the bill’s language. He said it was not his intent to cause probationary status in lateral moves or demotions.
• HB 1682, by Rep. Randy Weber, relating to prohibiting school districts from requiring or coercing school district employees to make charitable contributions.
• HB 2365 by Rep.Rob Eissler, relating to certain responsibilities of education research centers and to a joint advisory board for education research centers.
• HB 2366 by Rep.Vicki Truitt, relating to the authority of an open-enrollment charter school operated by a municipality to give a preference in admissions to children of employees of the municipality.
• HB 2539 by Rep. Randy Weber, relating to the authority of school districts to suspend teachers without pay pending discharge.
• HB 2877 by Rep. Jimmie Don Aycock, relating to required sale or lease of unused or underutilized school district facilities to charter schools.
• HB 398 by Rep. Jim Jackson, relating to the eligibility of employees convicted of certain offenses to provide services under a contract with a public school.
• HB 1268 by Rep. Jim Murphy, relating to the computation of public high school grade point averages.
• HB 1539 by Rep. Scott Hochberg, relating to state ownership of school textbooks.
• HB 1555 by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, relating to the first day of instruction in certain school districts that provide additional days of instruction financed with local funds.
• HB 291 by Rep. Jim Jackson, relating to requiring a public hearing in the geographical area proposed for an open-enrollment charter school.
• HB 6 by Rep.Rob Eissler, relating to the foundation curriculum, the establishment of the instructional materials allotment, and the adoption, review, and purchase of instructional materials and technological equipment for public schools.

The Senate Education Committee heard three bills, which TSTA supports, to crack down on bullying in the public schools.

• SB42 by Sen. Zaffirini would amend the bullying statute to include bullying through electronic means. SB 205 by Sen. Whitmire would require each school district to adopt a policy prohibiting bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, and intimidation consistent with the district student code of conduct.
• SB242 by Sen. Davis would allow for staff development training by districts, which must include training in the prevention, identification, response and reporting of incidents of bullying.  The bill allows districts to transfer a student engaging in bullying to another classroom on the campus or to another campus in the district, requires educators to keep a request for transfer confidential, defines bullying and cyber bullying, requires a school district to provide annual training for district employees who have significant contact with students, and requires districts to report instances of bullying to TEA.

The Senate committee also heard SB738 by Sen. Shapiro to allow every ISD to convert into a home-rule school district. TSTA expressed several reservations about this measure, including fear that one section could authorize a taxpayer-paid voucher program for private schools.

SB738 states that elementary class size limits and educator certification requirements do not apply to home-rule school districts, that the commissioner may grant to a home-rule school district a waiver of certain prohibitions, restrictions, or requirements to which the district is otherwise subject (almost the entire Texas Education Code), and allows certain ISDs, on the vote of a majority of the board of trustees, to appoint a charter commission to frame a home-rule school district charter.

Further, the bill authorizes the commissioner to order a board of trustees of certain ISDs to grant a charter for certain campuses, and empowers the superintendent of a school district to create an in-district charter. The bill also states that the amount of funding for a campus or program granted a charter under this subchapter may not be less, on a per student basis, than the amount of funding for any regular campus in the school district in which the campus or program is located. Senator Shapiro amended the bill to delete the section that allows the commissioner to grant home-rule charters a waiver from almost the entire Texas Education Code. Sen. Shapiro also tightened up the ability of ISDs to easily become home-rule charters, granting that ability mostly to certain ISDs that have remained exemplary for the two years prior to their attempted conversion.

TSTA opposed SB738 with the following testimony:

• “TSTA opposes any weakening of teacher salary and contract rights and certification standards, which this bill also would allow. Instead of making it easier for districts to fire teachers or cut their pay, the Legislature should be making sure that districts have first exhausted all cost-cutting remedies. Teacher certification is designed to protect the students, to assure that our young people get the best classroom education possible from professionals who not only know what they are talking about, but also know how to effectively convey that knowledge to their students.
• “TSTA doubts that local taxpayers will like the provisions of SB738 that would remove the authority of their elected school board members over the granting of home rule charters. We believe that decision should be made by elected officials, not by superintendents who don’t directly answer to taxpayers.
• “Finally, TSTA fears that Section 12.067 is so vaguely worded that it would allow for the creation on a local basis of private school voucher programs, which would be paid for with taxpayer dollars. TSTA is a longtime opponent of diverting valuable tax dollars from the public schools to help enrich private school operators. It makes even less sense during a budgetary emergency.”

The Senate panel also heard:

• # SB49 by Sen. Zaffirini to require a school district to provide the parents of a student removed to a disciplinary alternative education program with written notice of the district’s obligation to provide the student with an opportunity to complete coursework required for graduation. The notice must: (1) include information regarding all methods available for completing the coursework; and (2) state that the methods are available at no cost to the student;
• # SB290 by Sen. Watson to require instruction in personal financial literacy in each mathematics course in kindergarten through grade eight;
• # SB518 by Sen. Shapiro to require SBEC to ensure that a person seeking to teach a subject in the foundation curriculum above the fifth grade level is required to hold a certificate that indicates the person’s mastery of the specific subject taught. The bill requires TEA to develop and implement a high school readiness pilot program. The bill also requires ISDs to identify students enrolled at the sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level who are at risk of dropping out of school, or who are likely to become at risk of dropping out of school, as determined in accordance with rules adopted by the commissioner. The bill requires the commissioner to develop an accountability system to ensure that compensatory education funding used for the benefit of students enrolled at the sixth, seventh, or eighth grade level who are at risk of dropping out of school is efficiently spent on effective interventions.
• SB 949 by Sen. Ellis to allow districts with student enrollment of 190,000 or more to start school before the mandatory start date with local funds if the campuses are undergoing comprehensive reform, as determined by the board of trustees, or a majority of the students at the campus are educationally disadvantaged.

Still Following the Money

The figures haven’t changed much since our last report, but the legislative budget-writing process has moved forward another step in both the House and the Senate.

HOUSE

• The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a revised version of House Bill 1, the general appropriations bill for 2012-2013, for debate by the full House. Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said he plans to start that debate next Friday, April 1. (Yes, that’s April Fool’s Day, and although HB1 could be labeled a cruel joke on the people of Texas, Pitts apparently was serious about taking it to the House floor that day.)
• The committee version of HB1 would cut the Foundation School Program by about $8 billion, based on the funding that is needed to meet anticipated school enrollment growth of 170,000 over the next two years. That is about $2 billion less than the almost-$10 billion cut in the original version of HB1. The main difference is the $3.2 billion in money from the Rainy Day Fund that the governor and House budget writers agreed to spend. Some $2 billion of that Rainy Day amount went to public education. Gov. Perry has said he will refuse to spend any more money from the Rainy Day Fund, although it is projected to have a record balance of $9.4 billion during the upcoming budget period.
• This bill still would result in thousands of public school employees losing their jobs and tens of thousands of school kids being crammed into overcrowded classrooms. TSTA will continue to demand that the Legislature spend all $9.4 billion in the Rainy Day Fund and also find new revenue to minimize the cuts to public education and other critical state services. Health care also would take big hits under this bill.
• The Appropriations Committee approved the bill, 18-7. The seven “no” votes came from the Democrats who were present – Sylvester Turner of Houston, Helen Giddings of Dallas, Scott Hochberg of Houston, Eric Johnson of Dallas, Armando “Mando” Martinez of Weslaco, Mike Villarreal of San Antonio and Ruth Jones McClendon of San Antonio.
• The committee action makes TSTA’s Day of Action on April 2 even more important. If you have not already done so, please check with your local president or TSTA’s website to see what pro-education event your local is hosting that day and plan to participate. Public opinion is on our side, and we need to make sure our message continues to reach the Capitol. House debate on HB1 is a key step in the budget-writing process, but it won’t be the last step.

SENATE

• As expected, the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Public Education recommended Tuesday night that about $6 billion be restored to public education in the Senate version (SB1) of the new state budget for 2012-2013. This would reduce the education cuts in the original SB1 from $9.3 billion to about $3.3 billion. The subcommittee, however, didn’t recommend where the Legislature try to find the extra $6 billion. It left that job up to the full Finance Committee.
• In a related development, another Senate subcommittee appointed by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is trying to find $5 billion in non-tax revenue to add to the budget. That panel is chaired by Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock.
• Senate Education Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, and several other Republican senators held a news conference Wednesday morning to emphasize that school districts need to cut administrative expenses before they fire teachers. They said their first priority was the classroom and obviously were reacting to all the calls, emails and visits they have been receiving from teachers, parents and others concerned about the future of the public schools.
• But the classroom won’t be spared if the Legislature persists in cutting $8 billion (the House version) or $3.3 billion (the Senate version) from the public education budget.

Keep the heat on!