Top Highlights

Michigan

Bill: HB 4228/Public Act 60, HB 4328/Public Act 59
Status: 06/13/2013 – Governor signed
Relevant Elements: 1, 2, 5, 7, 9
On June 13, Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder signed off on the spending plan that passed the legislature last week signaling the end of the budget process for the fiscal year set to begin October 1 of this year. The budget bills, HB 4228/Public Act 60 the FY 2013-2014 Education Omnibus Appropriation Bill, and HB 4328/Public Act 59, include targeted increases in school funding, public safety initiatives, infrastructure and other priorities.

• Technology infrastructure improvement: maintain 2012-13 levels of $50 million.
• Michigan Virtual University: increases to $5 million. Previous versions would have level-funded MVU.
• Provides that students enrolling in a district offering online learning would not need permission from the resident district first and allow students in grades 5-12 to enroll in up to two online courses.
• Expands the MVU including professional development and training for at least 500 teachers and establish an Internet platform to create learning tools and resources.
• Establishes an online course catalog.

Bills Signed

• Louisiana HB 1/Act No. 14 was signed with multiple line item vetoes by Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal on June 21 will take effect on July 1, 2013. The budget includes $69 million in new money for education, including $3 million to the Louisiana Virtual Charter School and $2 million to course choice.

State Updates

California

Bill: SB 185
Status: 06/26/2013 – Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Relevant Elements: 5, 9
California, sponsored by Sen. Mimi Walters, R-Irvine, was amended in the Assembly Education Committee and was read a second time and amended on June 25. The bill is pending a third reading and as amended it would:

• Specify that school districts, county offices of education or charter schools would not be restricted in their ability to negotiate the price of standards-aligned instructional materials and supplemental instructional materials in a print or digital format if the negotiated price complies with certain requirements.
• Authorize a school district to use instructional materials in digital format that were purchased by the school district to create a district wide online digital database for classroom use, as specified.

New Jersey

Bill: AB 4197
Status: 06/10/2013 – Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee
Relevant Elements: 5, 8
New Jersey AB 4197, sponsored by Assembly Deputy Speaker Connie Wagner, D-Paramus, was introduced and referred to the Assembly Education Committee on June 10. The bill would prohibit the Department of Education from requiring a school district to administer a state assessment via the Internet prior to the 2016-2017 school year. The intent behind the legislation is to provide schools with sufficient time to make the necessary equipment and software upgrades.

New York

Bill: AB 7846, SB 5509
Status: 06/19/2013 – reported referred to ways and means
Relevant Elements: 2, 6, 7, 9
New York AB 7846, sponsored by Asm. Dennis Gabryszak, passed the Assembly Education Committee on June 19, although New York is currently in their summer recess and the bill may be considered later in the year or during the 2014 session. It would direct the Education Commissioner to establish an online learning committee to make recommendations for the establishment of a statewide online and blended learning program. The recommendations would include definitions of online and blended learning, connecting modules throughout the state, best practices that can be replicated, implementation guidelines for schools without online programs, funding opportunities, partnerships with higher education, professional development, assessments, technology support and barriers to implementation. The committee amendments focused primarily on the date in which the committee is to convene and present their report.

Identical bill New York SB 5509 passed the Senate and was referred to the Assembly Education Committee on June 11.

Wisconsin

Bill: AB 40
Status: 06/24/2013 – Asm.Report correctly enrolled on 6-24-2013
Relevant Elements: 1, 4, 7
Wisconsin passed the Assembly 55-42 on June 18 with amendments and passed the Senate 17-16 without further amendments on June 21. The bill is pending delivery to Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who is expected to sign the bill on June 30. The bill as enrolled would:

• Allow schools to create work based learning programs for students in grades 9-12.
• Promote the delivery of digital content and collaborative instruction within districts and among more then one districts, including through online courses.
• Require the Department of Public Instruction to ensure that every school is providing academic and career planning to students in grades 6-12 including through technology by the 2017-2018 school year.
• Require the Department to develop and maintain an online resource to provide educational opportunities for parents, teachers and students, offer online learning opportunities, provide regional technical support centers, and provide professional development for teachers.

Bill Updates:

• California AB 342 passed the Senate Education Committee 9-0 on June 26. The bill would:
  • Require a technology-based synchronous instruction course to be approved by the governing board of the school district and to be as rigorous as a as a classroom-based course and to meet or exceed all relevant state content standards.
  • Allow for disaggregation of pupil test results in order to compare technology-based students’ testing results to the results of students in regular classrooms.
  • Make changes to provisions governing independent study programs.
  • Substitute the term technology-based synchronous instruction for synchronous online instruction for purposes of computing average daily attendance. It would be defined to  mean a class or course in which the pupil and the certificated employee who is providing instruction are online at the same time through the use of electronic means, including but not limited to the use of real time, internet-based collaborative software that combines audio, video, file sharing and other forms of interaction.
• California AB 484 passed the Senate Education Committee 7-1with amendments on June 26. As amended it would:
  • Require, when possible, the administration of assessments via technology.
• Florida HB 7009 was delivered to Republican Gov. Rick Scott on June 17. Governor Scott will have until July 2 to act on the bill or it becomes law.  As enrolled it would:
  • Create the district innovation school of technology that would include major components of blended learning such as differentiated instruction, data-driven placement, flexible scheduling, differentiated teaching, and self-paced learning. High performing school districts would be permitted to apply for the designation.
  • Provide that the full implementation of online Next Generation Sunshine State Standards online assessments for all kindergarten through grade 12 public school students would be contingent upon an independent third party verifying that the technology infrastructure, connectivity, and capacity of all public schools and school districts is capable of successfully deploying and implementing the assessments.
• New Jersey AB 3606 passed the Senate 37-0 on June 27. It would require that the Department of Education provide professional development opportunities related to reading disabilities, including dyslexia, to a variety of school personnel. The bills would also require that certain school district personnel annually complete two hours of professional development on the screening, intervention, accommodation, and use of technology for students with reading disabilities, including dyslexia.
• North Carolina SB 402 passed the House with amendments 77-40 on June 13. The Senate failed to concur in the House version and a conference committee has been appointed.  Some of the most significant differences between the House and Senate’s versions of the bill relate to education spending. The House wants to spend $118 million more than the upper chamber on teacher assistants’ salaries and to provide $50 million over the next two years to permit low-income students to attend private or religious schools. Meanwhile, the Senate hopes to eliminate teacher tenure in public schools and spend significantly more on the University of North Carolina system. According to Indyweek.com, The House budget allocates $7.9 billion for K-12 and the Senate allocates $7.84 billion.