Bills to watch
| MSTA’s testifies! MSTA President Clara Floyd and staff lobbyists bring the Association’s voice to legislators on bills of interest and concern to MSTA! Read excerpts >> |
Hot topics
New technologies have sadly brought new ways for children to bully one another. The growing problem in schools has motivated many legislators to help shape policies to prevent bullying and protect vulnerable students.
Here’s a look at the “bullying bills” legislators are considering:
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House Bill 199 Requires the State Board of Education (SBOE) to establish a policy prohibiting bullying and cyber-bullying in schools. MSTA supports
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HB 206 Requires each locality to adopt a policy regarding school-related bullying. MSTA supports
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HB 546 & HB 732 Similar bills require local boards of education to establish a policy and programs prohibiting harassment or intimidation. MSTA supports
HB 21 Compulsory attendance alters the age at which a child may withdraw from required schooling to 18 years old and requires those with legal custody or care of children between the ages of 5 and 18 years old to be responsible for their attendance. A similar bill, Senate Bill 436, requires attendance but offers some exceptions. MSTA supports
With the HSAs a reality, legislators are looking at alternate ways to assess a student’s readiness for graduation:
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HB 49 Requires the SBOE report to each county board on or before July 1 each year on the performance of each student in the local school system. MSTA is monitoring
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HB 519 Requires the State Board of Education to establish a weighted numerical assessment system to calculate a total score that students are required to meet to graduate from high school. MSTA is monitoring
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SB 264 Requires representatives of local boards of education to provide information concerning alternative education programs and GED program requirements and testing locations. MSTA is monitoring
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SB 447 Requires the SBOE to establish a GED Options Program that provides specified students with an alternative course for obtaining a high school diploma. MSTA supports
Thumbs down
What were they thinking?
The Joint Committee on Pensions is proposing to end the practice of granting retirement credit for unused sick days to teachers who receive payment for these days by their local boards of education. This practice has been part of many collective bargaining agreements for years. If this bill were to pass, teachers with over 30 years experience may leave the profession in record numbers. HB 480/SB 376 prohibits members of the State Retirement and Pension System from receiving creditable service for unused sick leave if the member’s employer has provided the member with compensation for that unused sick leave.
HB 186 Allows credits against the corporate income tax for corporate contributions made to scholarship organizations and individual tax credits for educational expenses for each child attending a qualifying program. These tax dollars could otherwise be providing funding for education progress and services.
SB 229 Requires a county board of education to spend a specified percentage of total operating expenditures on direct classroom expenditures beginning in fiscal year 2010.
The problem with the “65 Percent Solution” is that it sounds like such a good idea. But it’s a real threat to sound school funding. It’s serious enough to cause NEA, its state affiliates, the national PTA, and other state and national education organizations to sound the alarm as the scheme’s backers continue to work to spread it from state to state.
Efforts to defeat the destructive scheme have been largely successful, but the issue is not likely to go away entirely any time soon. Versions of the scheme have been introduced in the legislatures in South Carolina, Vermont, South Dakota, and now Maryland.
SB 373/HB 812 The Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers (BOAST) Maryland Tax Credit provides a tax credit against the state income tax for contributions made to a scholarship organization or an eligible educational organization. This bill is a backdoor approach to providing vouchers to parents of children in nonpublic schools by subsidizing tuition at private and religious schools with public tax dollars through the tax credit.
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Good thinking!
HB 40/SB 344 Authorizes employees of specified employers to use leave with pay for the illness of the employee’s immediate family.
Although many negotiated contracts already allow sick leave to be applied flexibly, this legislation would provide the benefit to all families. It simply legalizes the common practice of allowing flexible use of sick time for family care, for example, picking up a feverish child from school or taking an aging parent to an appointment. Seven states are already on board.
HB 119 Requires data collected to show the actual class size—the number of students who regularly appear in a teacher’s classroom and for whom that teacher is primarily responsible and accountable, not a pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) comparing the total number of teachers to the total number of students in a county. MSTA believes there is strong support among the public for smaller classes and the obvious effect on student progress; however, until we have accurate data, we will continue to be guessing on whether funding is effectively reducing class size in Maryland schools.
HB 465 Prohibits public charter schools from seeking waivers from specified laws, requires charter schools to implement agreements to specified negotiations, and requires county boards to fund the schools in accordance with a specified formula.
