Alabama
Relevant Elements: 9
In Alabama, the Senate voted 19-15 on May 20 to agree with the House to override Republican Gov. Robert Bentley’s veto of a bill that makes revisions to the Alabama Accountability Act, according to AL.com. Senate President Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said after the vote, “People don’t want to put their children on hold. They want that opportunity and that choice, and we’ve given it to them today.” Governor Bentley had said that it was the fiscally responsible to delay the tax credits. As passed earlier this session, the Alabama Accountability Act permits families with students zone for failing schools to receive tax credits that were originally estimated at $3,500 toward tuition to a private school or a non-failing public school. Bentley said delaying the tax credit for two years would let schools improve under the “flexibility” section of the law so as to not be labeled as failing. Bentley felt that the two-year delay would allow the state time to pay down the $423 million that has to be repaid by 2015 to the education rainy day fund.
California
Bill: AB 342
Status: 05/29/2013 – Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate
Relevant Elements: 1, 2, 10
California AB 342 passed the Assembly as amended in committee on May 29 and is pending delivery to the Senate. The bill would:
- Substitute technology-based synchronous instruction for synchronous online instruction for purposes of computing average daily attendance and define it 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.
- Existing law requires that statewide testing results for technology-based pupils be reported but proposed law would allow the results to be disaggregated to compare the results to the students who are enrolled in regular classroom courses.
- Require a technology-based synchronous instruction course to be approved by the governing board of the school district.
- Require the class to meet the same rigorous standard as a classroom-based course and to meet or exceed all relevant state content standards.
- Require school districts that elect to provide technology-based instruction to provide the needed technology for a student who elects to take a technology-based class and does not have the needed equipment.
- Existing law provides that a school district or county office of education is not eligible to receive apportionments for independent study pupils unless it has adopted and implemented certain policies. Proposed law would extend these provisions to charter schools, and would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to adopt different policies to be eligible to receive apportionments for independent study pupils, including, policies requiring periodic contact between the certificated employee providing instruction.
The bill as amended would no longer:
- Implement in the 2014-2015 school year a new way to compute the average daily attendance with the students in grades 9-12 that would have included those students under the supervision of a certificated employee of the school district or a charter school that delivers technology-based asynchronous instruction.
- Apply certain provision relating to independent study pupils to charter schools.
- Make technology-based synchronous instruction for purposes of average daily membership expressly applicable to charter schools as previous versions of the bill provided.
Bill: AB 484
Status: 05/29/2013 – Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.
Relevant Elements: 5, 8
California AB 484 passed the Assembly as amended and was ordered to the Senate on May 29. As amended it would:
- Establish the California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress for the 21st Century (CalMAPP21), which would succeed the STAR program.
- Require, beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, the administration of assessments as part of the STAR Program be suspended until new assessments addressing the common core state standards are developed and implemented.
- Require the state to develop and adopt a set of statewide academically rigorous content standards in all major subject areas to serve as the basis for modeling and promoting high-quality teaching and learning and assess the academic achievement of public, schools and school districts.
- Require, when possible, the administration of assessments via technology.
- Include parents and community in the design and implementation of the statewide pupil assessment system and the development of assessment instruments.
- Intend that the results of the statewide pupil assessment be available for use for academic credit or placement and admissions processes at postsecondary institutions.
- Require the Department of Education to administer a survey of local educational agencies to determine how school districts are progressing toward implementation of a technology-enabled assessment system.
- Require the Department to develop a three-year plan of activities supporting the continuous improvement of the assessments.
Latest amendments would:
- Delete a provision that would have required unencumbered funds appropriated in a specified item of the Budget Act of 2012 for purposes of California’s pupil testing program to be available during the 2013-14 fiscal year for the development of assessments addressing the common core state standards and next generation science standards to satisfy the assessment requirements of a specified federal statute, thereby making an appropriation.
- Remove the provision that would have apportioned money for the 2014-2015 school year to school districts and charter schools to be used for common core professional development, technology to implement CalMAPP21 or other activities to implement the common core.
- Require, for science assessments used to satisfy federal accountability requirements, the superintendent to make a recommendation to the state Board of Education within six months of the adoption of science content standards that must include a plan for test development beginning in July 2014 including cost estimates for the development and implantation of the assessments.
- Require that an English language test be included in the state accountability system and that the superintendent develop and administer a primary language assessment no later than 2016-2017 school year.
- Include the definition of personally identifiable information with regards to pupil’s name and other direct personal identifiers.
- Require the superintendent to develop and annually update a five-year cost projection, implementation plan for ESEA required and ESEA non required subject areas.
- Require the superintendent to provide periodic updates on the implementation of CalMAPP21.
- Detail the optional administration of the primary language assessment aligned to the English language arts standards.
- Require the superintendent to make recommendations that include a plan for test development beginning in July 2014 including cost estimates for the development and implementation of the science assessments as well as a similar report due November 2014 regarding the stand-alone English language arts assessment in primary languages other than English.
- Remove a provision that made available previously appropriated funds for the development of assessments addressing the common core state standards and the next generation science standards.
Bill: AB 1186
Status: 05/28/2013 – Read second time. Ordered to third reading
Relevant Elements: 5, 9
California AB 1186 passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee 12-0 on May 24. It was read a second time and is now pending a May 30 third reading in the Assembly. As of the latest amended version, the bill would:
- Establish the Common Core Implementation Block Grant for the purpose of implementing the adopted common core academic content standards.
- Require the superintendent to allocate block grant funds to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools on the basis of prior year enrollment and would require the school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools receiving block grant funds to use for professional development of teachers, administrators, and paraprofessional educators.
- Require, as a condition of receiving block grant funds, the governing board of a school district, the county board of education, or the governing body of a charter school to adopt a plan delineating how the block grant funds shall be spent and to report detailed expenditure information to the state Department of Education on or before January 1, 2015.
Previously, the bill would require recipients of categorical funding to use at least nine percent of the funds for purposes of professional development for certificated employees to implement the common core academic content standards, purchasing technology for the purpose of implementing state assessments, or implementation of programs that integrate STEM for students in grade 7-12.
Bill: SB 505
Status: 05/29/2013 – Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0.) Ordered to the Assembly
Relevant Elements: 5, 8, 9
California SB 505 passed the Senate on May 29 36-0 with amendments and was ordered to the Assembly. It would extend provisions governing education technology and a grant program related to education technology until 2019, current law sunsets these provisions in 2014. In previous versions the bill would have provided statewide coordination of support services that benefit teaching and learning with the common core standards and in support of the computer-adaptive assessment system adopted by the state board.
Illinois
Bill: HB 208
Status: 05/30/2013 – Third Reading – Passed; 040-018-000; House Passed Both Houses
Relevant Elements: 9
Illinois HB 208, the FY 2014 education appropriations bill passed the House 69-48 on May 28 and is pending a third reading in the Senate. The budget keeps general state aid level, maintaining the proration level at 89 percent, according to the State Journal-Register. The proposed plan does not include Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to cut education funding by $300 million. From the General Revenue Fund to the Board of Education:
- $2.5 million for technology for success, $1 million for lowest performing schools, and $1 for growth model assessments. The $1 is used as a placeholder for administrative appropriations.
Louisiana
Bill: HCR 156
Status: 05/27/2013 – Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Education.
Relevant Elements: 7, 9, 10
Louisiana HCR 156, sponsored by Rep. Steve Plyant, R-Winnsboro, was adopted in the House and received and read a first time in the Senate on May 23. It was read a second time and referred to the Senate Education Committee on May 27. It would request that the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, in collaboration with others, study potential funding sources for online or virtual courses offered through the Course Choice Program and opportunities for increasing broadband access for students throughout the state. It would require the submission of a written report of findings and recommendations to the House and Senate Education Committee.
Bill: HCR 153
Status: 05/30/2013 – Reported favorably.
Relevant Elements: 7
Louisiana HCR 153, sponsored by House Education Vice Chair Patrick Jefferson, D-Homer, was read and adopted on May 23. On May 27 it was referred to the Senate Education Committee. It would require the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to study issues related to the implementation of the Course Choice Program including enrollment of students by course providers and the approval of course providers. Current law defines a course provider as an entity that offers individual courses in person or online, including online or virtual providers, postsecondary institutions, and corporations that offer vocational course work.
Ohio
Bill: HB 59
Status: 5/31/2013 – S. Finance; 9:00am; Finance Hearing Room
Relevant Elements: 2, 5, 10
In Ohio the budget, HB 59, is now in the hands of Republican Senate leaders after the Senate Finance Committee amended the bill on May 28. However according to The Plain Dealer, until an omnibus budget amendment surfaces, probably during the week of June 3, the education plan from Senate leaders will be kept under wraps. However, state aid to the poorest urban and rural school districts is expected to increase and the innovation school fund to be restored. As passed by the House on April 18 the bill would:
- Create the Electronic Textbook Pilot Project to provide competitive grants to public and chartered nonpublic schools to purchase electronic textbooks through the Distance Learning Clearinghouse.
- Permit a community school to enroll students who are not Ohio residents.
Oklahoma
Bill: SB 1127
Status: 05/23/2013 – Laid over
Relevant Elements: 5
Oklahoma SB 1127, the bill specifying apportionment of certain education funds provided for in HB 2301, failed to pass the House with a vote of 35-45 on May 23 and the legislature has since adjourned. The no vote was a protest against the Common Core State Standards, according to tulsaworld.com. A failure by the House to pass a common education bill will result in the coming budget years appropriation being spent according to statute, standing policy and the decisions of state Superintendent Janet Barresi and the state Board of Education. The bill would have appropriated:
- $564,000 for K-20 Center Oklahoma C3 Standards implementation for professional development for Common Core Implementation.
- $300,000 to prepare pre-K-6 grade teachers for STEM content aligned to the CCSS.
- $4.25 for teacher education and $4.25 million for CCSS professional development.
Texas
Bill: SB 1365
Status: 05/27/2013 – Signed in the Senate; Signed in the House
Relevant Elements: 4, 8
Texas SB 1365 was delivered to Republican Gov. Rick Perry on May 28 who will have until June 17 to sign or veto the measure or it will become law without signature. It would require each district to select four examinations for each subject that are approved by the school district board of trustees. If approved by the board, the examinations selected by a district would be required to include Advanced Placement examinations administered by the College Board and examinations administered through the College-Level Examination Program. A student who receives credit by exam in a subject area would be exempt from taking an end-of-course assessment for that subject area. Students in grades six and above would receive credit if the student scores a three or higher on the AP or a scaled score of 60 or higher on an approved CLEP test. The bill would require school districts to offer each examination for credit by examination within 30 days of receiving a written request from a student or student’s parent or guardian if the test was capable of being administered electronically and at least three times per year if the test was not offered electronically. The bill would limit exams administered electronically to a student to two per year.
Bill Updates:
- California SB 714 passed the Senate 39-0 on May 28 and was ordered to the Assembly the same day. Latest floor amendments include:
- Clarifying that to be eligible to participate in online educational learning programs the pupil must be enrolled in grades 9-12 in a participating school district, county office of education or charter school.
- Adding to the existing requirements for a teacher of an online course that he or she must be employed in the state of California.
- Colorado SB 213, which overhauls the state’s school finance system and budgets $1 billion for K-12 education, was signed by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper on May 21. The bill takes effect immediately.
- Illinois HB 494/Act 0098-0016 was signed by Democratic Gov. Patrick Quinn on May 24 and is effective immediately. It will establish a moratorium on any new virtual charter schools from being established from April 2013 to April 2014 and will require the state Charter School Commission to prepare a report for the legislature covering student performance, costs and other issues.
- Massachusetts HB 3401 passed the Senate 36-3 with a substitute, SB 3, which adopted a number of amendments, on May 23. HB 3401 is the General Appropriation Bill for FY 2014.
- Michigan HB 4228 emerged from conference committee with the House voting 65-43 on May 28 and the Senate voting 25-12 on May 29 to adopt the conference committee report. The bill was ordered enrolled on May 30.
- Michigan HB 4328, sponsored by House Appropriations Chair Joe Haveman, R-Holland, emerged from conference committee with the House voting 63-46 on May 28 to adopt the conference committee report. The bill is pending Senate consideration of the conference committee report.
- Nevada SB 58 passed the Assembly 40-0 on May 28 and is pending delivery to the Senate. The bill has now passed both chambers.
- Texas HB 1926 emerged from conference committee on May 26 and was delivered to Republican Gov. Rick Perry on May 27 who will have until June 16 to act on the measure or it will become law without signature.
- Texas SB 2 emerged from conference committee on May 26 with the Senate voting with numbers not yet available and the House 105-41, to adopt the conference committee report. It was delivered to Republican Gov. Rick Perry on May 28 who will have until June 17 to act on the measure.