One More Day in the Legislative Session

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One more day in the legislative session.

Last week, the legislature managed to pass the ETF budget (which awaits the Governor’s signature).  It also managed to enact HB308, which provides for sports and local boards of education to develop policy regarding concussions.  It also mandates that youth athletes with concussions or head injuries, be prohibited from participation in practice or athletic games for certain number of days.

HB670, the Farm to School Procurement Act, is awaiting the Governor’s signature, as is SB191, the Lieutenant Dexter Holcomb Act, which mandates school bus drivers be physically suited to drive a bus.  SB30, which creates a statewide internet-accessible database for bids or proposals for contracts, also awaits the Governor’s signature.

Looking at the calendars for the House and for the Senate, of the bills left on the table, the following are the only ones that appear to have a chance of getting passed before time runs out:   Continue reading →

School Grading System Awaiting Governor’s Signature

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HB588 has now passed both the House and the Senate.  It mandates the development of a grading system that uses A, B, C, D, and F to share with the school community how a school is performing on various measures.  It specifies that the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) will develop that system.  The grading system must be developed not later than December 31, 2012, to be utilized not later than the 2013-2014 school year.

The bill that was “enrolled” (the term for it having passed both houses but awaiting the Governor’s response) is a bit different from the one that was introduced in that it removed the Performance Bonus portion of the bill.

See this post for more details on the grading system.  It is similar to one used in Florida, according to this news source.  With the state Board of Education set to consider State Superintendent Dr. Bice’s recommendation to overhaul the state’s accountability and testing system for Alabama’s nearly 750,000 students, this will add one more component to that list, should the Governor sign the bill.

See this post for more details on Bice’s presentation of the accountability and testing system overhaul.

 

 

How Much Do We Really Spend on K-12 Education – Part 2

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This series aims to give you the basics of how Alabama funds its schools.  It’s up to you to read it, ask questions, and do whatever you need to do to better understand how we currently fund schools.

By the time you finish reading Part 2, you will learn a few more things about how money is spent on education in Alabama’s K-12 schools.  Right now, legislators and educators are the ones making decisions about how Alabama funds our K-12 schools.  If we ever want to have a voice in this discussion, we must become knowledgeable about school finance.  At least knowledgeable enough to engage in the discussion.

Did you know that nearly 40% of all of Alabama’s monies were budgeted for K-12 education in FY12 (remember, that’s fiscal year 2012, which runs from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012)?  38.55%, to be exact.  The next closest percentage was for Medicaid, at 14% of total spending for FY12. [Source: Alabama's 2012 Tax Guide, page 380, numbers were valid on October 1, 2011, but may have had a few changes once the legislature voted on it.]   Continue reading →

New Analysis of Education Options Act of 2012

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This bill has morphed into something fairly different in the Senate version from when it was originally introduced.  The House version is on the House calendar, but has yet to be considered by the full House.

The Education Options Act of 2012 Analysis page now contains only a comparison of the current Senate and House versions.

Four Days Left in the Legislative Session

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Another week almost gone.  There are four days left in the legislative session.  So what got done legislatively this week in the world of K-12 education?

Sixteen bills saw movement.  Two were enacted, a few more waiting on the Governor’s signature, other made progress through their committees and/or full house.

Charter Schools

The big news of the week came from the Senate.  SB513, the Education Options Act of 2012, was passed by the full Senate and now awaits action in the House.  Check out this post for more details.

Continue reading →

How Much Money Do We Really Spend on K-12 Education in Alabama?

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In order to understand how Alabama funds K-12 education, it helps to have a basic understanding of budgeting “language” when you look at the budget.  By the time you finish reading this, you will have a better understanding of the following:

  1. What a fiscal year is.
  2. What the Education Trust Fund is.
  3. How budgets make it into the legislature, generally.
  4. How budgets get approved by our elected representatives, generally.
  5. How much money we have received and spent on education in Alabama since 1986.
  6. What proration is and why it is bad for schools.
  7. What the Rainy Day Account is and that it stands at zero.
  8. What the Rolling Reserve Act is.

Where the Education Budget for Next School Year Is Right Now

The Senate passed its version of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget on Tuesday.  (Here’s the version sent to the Senate from the Governor’s office.) It cuts expenditure for K-12 education by 1.6%, or $56.7 million from 2011-2012 levels.  Deputy Superintendent Chief of Staff Dr. Craig Pouncey said that could cost Alabama’s schools as many as 948 teachers and 616 state-funded support staff.  We won’t know for sure until the budget is passed by the House.   Continue reading →

Seven Days Left in the Regular Session – What Has Gotten Done?

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With seven days left in the 2012 regular session, where do all these bills that we’ve been following stand?

Continue reading →

Accountability and Assessment System Unveiled

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State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice and the Assessment and Accountability Task Force unveiled their recommendations to the state board of education at their work session on Thursday, April 26.

The recommendations are nearly a complete overhaul of Alabama’s current assessment and accountability system.

Click here to view notes and their presentation.

HB657 – Seniority No Longer Considered in Teacher Layoffs?

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Seniority has long been a determining factor when Alabama’s school districts must contend with reducing staffing because of shrinking budgets.  Reduction-in-force (RIF) declarations allow school districts to lay off employees when their budgets shrink without violating Teacher Tenure and Fair Dismissal laws.  Each school district is required to have its own RIF policy in accordance with state law.

HB657 has been introduced to release school districts from having to focus on seniority when making RIF decisions.  A substitute version of HB657 was given a favorable report by the House Education Policy committee.

This bill prohibits the consideration of seniority when making “reduction-in-force, layoff, recall, retention, and other relevant staffing decisions”.

Further, it mandates the use of the following criteria when determining which employees will be let go in RIF decisions:

  • Individual employee performance to be determined by “evidence of employee performance, demonstrated instructional skills, and preparation skills that maximize instructional time as assessed by the school principal or school administrators, as appropriate”.  This will be the most “heavily-weighted factor”.  Determination of employee performance is not limited to these factors.
  • “Significant or relevant, or both, contributions to the school”.
  • “Degrees and credentials relevant to the mission or objective, or both, of the school”.
  • “Any record of misconduct, criminal conduct, or excessive unexcused absence from work.