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Legislative News Archive 2005-2006

From the Week of July 28, 2006
by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Since the last Update, the legislature has been in two times:  July 12 and 26.  Below is a summary of what has occurred in the past month, including a summary of the School Aid bill, as it was passed by the Senate and House, as well as links to full information on the School Aid bill.  Additionally, please find a link to the most recent K-16 information regarding that ballot campaign.

SB 1095 - School Aid - The School Aid bill has been sent to the Governor with a few surprises, including some new projects or "categoricals" recommended by individual legislators.  Below is a very brief summary of some key areas.  Full information is available through attached documents.

• Developmental Kindergarten funding will remain the same as it has been in years past.  A child in DK will be counted in the same manner as a child in a regular kindergarten class.
• The foundation grant increase is $210, bringing the base foundation to $7,085.  However, districts with a base foundation of less than $7,150 will receive up to $23 in an additional per pupil payment.  Finally, districts that have had declining enrollment for the past two years will be eligible for additional funds (see attached district-by-district funding chart).
• Several programs have been shifted from other budgets, making the School Aid bill responsible for such programs as vision and hearing screening, school bus inspections, certain juvenile justice programs, the Youth Challenge Program (previously funded through the Military Affairs budget), etc.
• A Surprise - The Senate had put in a provision indicating that only 38 hours of the 51 hours of professional development could be counted as student instruction time.  (This would apply to districts that were currently negotiating contracts and to other contracts when they expire.)  While this provision was not suggested by the Governor, nor was it supported by the House, it was still in the final conference report.
• More Surprises - Several new programs either introduced individually by the House or Senate or "popping up" in the conference report include:
  • The Mercy Education Project in Detroit
  • Children of Incarcerated Parents
  • Book-a-Month 
  • Early Intervening
  • Conductive Learning
  • School Mapping
  • Positive Behavior Support

It is anticipated there will be few, if any, vetoes.  The rumor is the Governor will sign the bill quickly.

SB 673 - Voluntary Administrator Certification - The Senate sent this bill to the Governor where it is expected to be signed.  SB 673, introduced by Sen. Jelinek, is the voluntary certification bill promoted by MEMSPA and other administrator organizations.  SB 673 allows the State Board of Education to set standards for voluntary administrator certification.  It also allows approved professional associations to offer specialty endorsements or enhancements that can be added to the certificate. SB 674, the bill allowing MDE to charge for the certificates, is stuck in the House.  There is an expectation this bill will be acted upon once re-election jitters are over.

Senate Action
The Senate Education Committee reported out two bills.  HB 6247, introduced by Rep. McConico, amends the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act to allow single-gender school buildings or classrooms.  This bill is needed to accompany Sen. Thomas' bill amending the School Code to allow single-gender school buildings or classrooms and Rep. Lemmon's bill allowing single-gender schools in Detroit.

HB 4264, introduced by Rep. Lemmons III, amends the School Code to allow Detroit to have schools that are limited to one gender.

Gubernatorial Action
SB 443, introduced by Sen. Olshove, was sent to the Governor.  This bill will allow an individual with a secondary certificate to teach in grade six in his or her endorsement areas.  This bill was supported by MEMSPA.

SB 1108, introduced by Sen. Gilbert, was also sent to the Governor.  This bill requires that some of the fire or disaster drills required under the School Code be performed when a majority of the students are not in their classroom. 

The following bills have been signed by the Governor and have become public acts:

HB 5977, PA 235 of 2006, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar, allows an ISD to provide programs to constituent districts before Labor Day, under certain circumstances.  For example, if the ISD provides services to a school district that had a contract in place with a pre-Labor Day starting date before the new law prohibiting pre-Labor Day starts, the ISD would be able to open before Labor Day to provide services to that district.

The bill also makes it clear that professional development may take place prior to Labor Day, and teachers and staff can be required to be at school prior to Labor Day.

HB 5479, PA 276 of 2006, introduced by Rep. LeJoy, requires a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.

HB 6069, PA 285 of 2006, introduced by Rep. Baxter, takes care of a timing problem that occasionally occurs related to school aid borrowing and repayments, by extending the due date of the notes by one month.

SB 1296, PA 303 of 2006, introduced by Rep. Thomas, allows school districts to have single-gender schools or classrooms as long as equal programs are provided to both genders.

HB 4375, PA 324 of 2006,introduced by Rep. Ward, encourages school districts to include the issues of suicide and depression in the school curriculum, including signs and risk factors.  It also requires the department to develop a model curriculum addressing these issues.

Coming Up the Week of August 1
The House is scheduled to come in every Wednesday in August until Tuesday, August 29, when it is scheduled to come in that entire week.

The Senate has the same schedule, except Tuesday, August 29 and Thursday, August 31, are tentatively scheduled.

There are no committee meetings scheduled at this time.

From the Week of June 30, 2006
by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

The legislature was a little more active this past week preparing for the summer recess.  Unfortunately, they did not complete work on the budgets, so they will continue to work on each Wednesday of the week beginning with July 12. 

The good news is SB 673, voluntary administrator certification, moved out of the House and back to the Senate.  This is MEMSPA initiated and supported legislation.  The next step will be to get SB 674 approved so MDE can collect the certification fee and issue the certificate.  Look for further information later in this issue of the Update.

Further good news is that it appears targets have been agreed to and it is possible budget work will be completed the week of July 12.  Action on the budget is expected July 25 or 26.

Complete details on the School Aid budget are not available, but we do know that the foundation agreed upon is $210 per pupil.  Also $20 million will be used to bring the districts currently at the bottom of the foundation up a bit, $20 million will be used to assist districts with declining enrollment and $20 million will be used to augment the middle school math program started last year.

The next Update will not come out until some time after July 18, due to the fact I will be out of town until then.  However, complete details on legislative action from the week of the July 10 and 17 will sent as quickly as I can gather them after I return.

Below is a summary of education issues taken up by the legislature this past week.

Senate
The Senate Education Committee reported out the following two bills and one resolution.  SB 1017, introduced by Sen. Jelinek, outlines specific criteria that must be met if an individual retired from the school retirement system wishes to add a spouse as a beneficiary should his/her first spouse predecease the retiree or if an individual is unmarried upon retirement, marries and wishes to provide benefits to a new spouse.  The bill was amended to take effect January 1, 2008.  A representative from MPSERS asked that other amendments be considered before the bill moves further.  This was agreed to and more amendments are expected on the Senate floor.

**The full Senate approved HB 4375, introduced by Rep. Ward.  This bill encourages school districts to include the issues of suicide and depression in the school curriculum, including signs and risk factors.  It also requires the department to develop a model curriculum addressing these issues.  The bill was reported out of the Senate Education Committee earlier in the week.

To go along with this, Sen. Johnson introduced SR 146 that encourages the State Board to incorporate suicide prevention and education into the public school curriculum.  This passed the full Senate, also.

House
The House Education Committee reported out three bills.  Two of the bills were subsequently passed by the full House (see below). The third bill reported out was HB 5251, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar.  This bill instructs the Department of Education to revise the core content standards for science to ensure that all students would be able to: 

~  Use the scientific method to critically evaluate scientific theories, including, but not limited to, the theories of global warming and evolution; and
~ Use relevant scientific data to assess the validity of those theories and to formulate arguments for or against those theories.

Some individuals were concerned the language came too close to requiring the teaching of intelligent design and the votes were not in committee to pass the bill in this form, so it was amended to remove the first language on evolution and global warming language and send to the House calendar.

**The full House moved HB 5903 to third reading.  This bill was introduced by Rep. Hoogendyk and establishes a new act called The Michigan Accelerated College Education Act.  The bill would allow eligible students to attend a community college or state university.  A companion bill, HB 5904, requires a portion of the foundation grant from the resident district be used to pay for the credits taken by the student.  The House did not vote on this provision.

As mentioned above, the full House approved SB 673, introduced by Sen. Jelinek.  This bill is the voluntary certification bill pursued by MEMSPA and other administrator organizations.  SB 673 allows the State Board of Education to set standards for voluntary administrator certification.  It also allows approved professional associations to offer specialty endorsements or enhancements that can be added to the certificate.  SB 674, which allows the Department to charge for the initial certificate, was not voted on.  Hopefully this will occur when the House returns later in July.

The full House approved two bills that make modification to the recent fingerprinting bills enacted into law.  These bills had been reported out of the House Education Committee earlier in the week.

HB 6173, introduced by Rep. Taub, clarifies and delineates the new fingerprint requirements for school districts.  Specifically, this bill requires school districts to report on the register of educational personnel, certain individuals working under as a contracted employee; prohibit the hiring of an individual who will not cooperate with the fingerprinting requirement when hired; allow the sharing of information when an individual moves from one job to the next and is continuously employed when moving. 

HB 6174, introduced by Rep. Shuitmaker, amends the Childcare Licensing Act and allows school-associated before- and after-school programs to do only one criminal history check on continuously employed caregivers, rather than having to fingerprint them once under the School Code and once under the Licensing Act.

The full House also approved three bills that allow for single-gender schools. 

HB 6247, introduced by Rep. McConico, amends the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act to allow single-gender school buildings or classrooms.  This bill is needed to accompany Sen. Thomas' bill amending the School Code to allow single-gender school buildings or classrooms and Rep. Lemmon's bill allowing single gender schools in Detroit.

SB 1296, introduced by Rep. Thomas allows school districts to have single-gender schools or classrooms as long as equal programs are provided to both genders.

HB 4264, introduced by Rep. Lemmons III, amends the School Code to allow Detroit to have schools that are limited to one gender.

Additionally, the full House approved SB 443, introduced by Sen. Olshove.  This bill will allow an individual with a secondary certificate to teach in grade six in his or her endorsement areas.  This bill was supported by MEMSPA.

Finally, the full House enrolled HB 6069, introduced by Rep. Baxter.  The bill extends the due date of the notes by one month.  This bill takes care of a timing problem that occasionally occurs related to school aid borrowing and repayments.

Governor
HB 5479 was presented to the Governor on June 27.  She now has 14 days to sign the bill, veto it, or let it become law without her signature.  HB 5479 would require a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.

The Governor signed HB 4118, introduced by Rep. Acciavatti, and HB 4594, introduced by Rep. Mortimer.

HB 4118, PA 215 of 2006, requires a school district to include the use of performance-enhancing drugs to be a violation of eligibility to participate is sports.  The Department of Public Health is charged to update the list of prohibited performance-enhancing drugs and make this list available to public schools.  The DPH is required to use the NCAA list of performance-enhancing drugs as the basis for its list for school districts.

HB 4594, PA 216 of 2006, amends the Public Health Code to make it a felony to possess a controlled substance or gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) within 1000 feet of school property.

Coming Up the Week of July 3
There are no Senate or House meetings scheduled for this week.  The Senate and House are recessed until July 12.

From the Week of June 23, 2006
by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Senate
The full Senate approved HB 6069, introduced by Rep. Baxter.  The bill extends the due date of the notes by one month.  This bill takes care of a timing problem that occasionally occurs related to school aid borrowing and repayments.

The full Senate also approved SB 1305, introduced by Sen. Thomas.  This bill is a companion bill to SB 1295, Sen. Thomas' bill that amends the School Code to allow single-gender schools or classrooms.  SB 1305 amends the Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act to allow single-gender school buildings or classrooms.

House
The House Education Committee reported out one bill and took extensive testimony on another.

SB 1108, introduced by Sen. Gilbert, requires that some of the fire or disaster drills required under the School Code be performed when a majority of the students are not in their classroom.  This bill was approved by the committee and sent to the House calendar for actions.

HB 4085, introduced by Rep. Taub, would create a new way for individuals in Oakland County to transfer their property to a different school district.  This legislation was originally introduced to include the entire state and was seen by many to open the door to segregated school districts.  The bill was amended to only apply to Oakland County, but it appeared there were insufficient votes to get it reported out.  A vote was not taken.

**The full House approved the Senate changes to HB 5479, introduced by Rep. LeJoy.  This bill would require a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.  The bill now goes to the Governor for her approval.

Governor
Governor Granholm signed HB 4460 into law.  This bill was introduced by Rep. Van Regenmorter and will be P.A.187 of 2006.  The bill reduces the number of required fire drills from eight to six, four of which must be held in the fall.  It also establishes two drills that require the occupants to remain in the building.  These would be drills that would be appropriate when there is a release of a toxic substance or an armed individual on or near the premises.  The drill is to be coordinated with the local emergency management coordinator.

Finally, the bill requires the State Police to develop a model to be used that could be used by the local emergency management coordinator, county sheriff, chief of police or fire chief to coordinate the building-contained emergency drill.

Coming Up the Week of June 26
Tuesday, June 27 - The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to take up three bills.  SB 1017, introduced by Sen. Jelinek, would allow an individual retired from the school retirement system to add a spouse as a beneficiary if the first spouse predeceases the retiree or if the retiree remarries.

SR 146, introduced by Sen. Johnson, requests the Department of Education to add suicide prevention to the school curriculum.

HB 4375, introduced by Rep. Ward, encourages school districts to include the issues of suicide and depression in the school curriculum, including signs and risk factors.

Wednesday, June 28 - The House Education Committee is scheduled to take up two bills.  HB 6173, introduced by Rep. Taub, is a second bill to clarify and delineate the new fingerprint requirements.

HB 6174, introduced by Rep. Shuitmaker, allows school-associated before- and after-school programs to do only one criminal history check on continuously-employed caregivers.

From the Week of June 16, 2006
by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Budget negotiations between the Governor and leadership in the House and Senate have been ongoing over the past week.  They are working on targets, meaning they are trying to agree how much revenue will be used to support each budget.  Additionally, they will discuss specific programs and determine which way specific bills will be fashioned.  For instance, in education they will try to determine if school aid funding for general funds will be spent on specific programs or if money will be used to close the equity gap as opposed to helping districts with declining enrollments.

While these negotiations are taking place, the House and Senate continue to work on a variety of bills.  Action from the past week is found below.

Senate
**The Senate Education Committee met and reported out two bills. HB 6069, introduced by Rep. Baxter, corrects a timing problem related to school aid borrowing and repayments.  The bill extends the due date of the notes by one month.  This takes care of a timing problem that occasionally occurs.

SB 1305, introduced by Sen. Thomas, amends the Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act to allow single-gender school buildings or classrooms.  This bill is needed to accompany Sen. Thomas' bill amending the School Code to allow single-gender school buildings or classrooms (see below).

**The Senate Natural Resources and Environment Affairs Committee reported out HB 5479, introduced by Rep. LaJoy.  This bill would require a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.

**The full Senate approved SB 1295, introduced by Rep. Thomas.  This bill allows school districts to have single-gender schools or classrooms as long as equal programs are provided to both genders.  This bill now goes to the House where it will likely be taken up during the week of June 19.

House
**The House Education Committee reported out three bills:  HB 4264, 5279 and SB 443.

HB 4264, introduced by Rep. Lemmons III, amends the School Code to allow Detroit to have schools that are limited to one gender.

HB 5279, introduced by Rep. Miller and SB 443, introduced by Sen. Olshove, both extend the teaching range for a secondary certificate to sixth grade.  It was originally intended to have this change made by rule, but the process was not moving fast enough to have it done for the next school year.  MEMSPA has taken a position of support on SB 443, which has been extended to HB 5279, given they are identical.

**The full House concurred in changes made by the Senate to HB 5977, which was introduced by Rep. Moolenaar.  This bill now allows an ISD to provide programs to constituent districts before Labor Day, under certain circumstances.  For example, if the ISD provides services to a school district that had a contract in place with a pre-Labor Day starting date before the new law prohibiting pre-Labor Day starts, the ISD would be able to open before Labor Day to provide services to that district.

The Senate changes to the bill make it clear that professional development may take place prior to Labor Day, and teachers and staff can be required to be at school prior to Labor Day.

Governor
The Governor was presented with three bills to sign or veto within the next 14 days.

HB 4118, introduced by Rep. Acciavatti, requires a school district to include the use of performance-enhancing drugs to be a violation of eligibility to participate is sports.  The Department of Public Health is charged to update the list of prohibited performance-enhancing drugs and make this list available to public schools.  The DPH is required to use the NCAA list of performance-enhancing drugs as the basis for its list for school districts.

HB 4594, introduced by Rep. Mortimer, amends the Public Health Code to make it a felony to possess a controlled substance or gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) within 1000 feet of school property.

HB 4460, introduced by Rep. VanRegenmorter reduces the number of required fire drills from eight to six, four of which must be held in the fall.  It also establishes two drills that require the occupants to remain in the building.  These would be drills that would be appropriate when there is a release of a toxic substance or an armed individual on or near the premises.  The drill is to be coordinated with the local emergency management coordinator.

Finally, the bill requires the State Police to develop a model to be used that could be used by the local emergency management coordinator, county sheriff, chief of police or fire chief to coordinate the building-contained emergency drill.

Coming Up the Week of June 19
As of this point in time, there are no education committee meetings scheduled.  There is still hope that the School Aid Conference Committee will meet to complete the School Aid budget.

From the Week of June 9, 2006
by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Senate
The Senate Education Committee reported out two bills.  SB 443, introduced by Sen. Olshove, extends the teaching range for a secondary certificate to sixth grade.  This change was originally going to be made by rule, but the process was not moving fast enough to have it done for the next school year.  MEMSPA has taken a position of support on this bill.

SB 1296, introduced by Sen. Thomas, allows school districts to have single-gender schools or classrooms as long as equal programs are provided to both genders.

House
The House Education Committee met to discuss HB 5251, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar.  This bill instructs the Department of Education to revise the core content standards for science to ensure that all students would be able to: 

Governor
SB 1184, introduced by Sen. Kuipers, was presented to the Governor.  SB 1184 codifies a change made in special education rules relative to special education hearings.  It requires a school district to pay for 75% of the hearing cost (not including attorney fees), with the state picking up the other 25%.

HB 4460, introduced by Rep. Van Regenmorter, was ordered enrolled.  This bill reduces the number of required fire drills from eight to six, four of which must be held in the fall.  It also establishes two drills that require the occupants to remain in the building.  These would be drills that would be appropriate when there is a release of a toxic substance or an armed individual on or near the premises.  The drill is to be coordinated with the local emergency management coordinator.

Also ordered enrolled were HB 4118, introduced by Rep. Acciavatti, and HB 4594, introduced by Rep. Mortimer.  HB 4118 requires a school district to include the use of performance-enhancing drugs to be a violation of eligibility to participate in sports.  The Department of Public Health is charged to update the list of prohibited performance-enhancing drugs and make this list available to public schools.  The DPH is required to use the NCAA list of performance-enhancing drugs as the basis for its list for school districts.

HB 4594 amends the Public Health Code to make it a felony to possess a controlled substance or gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) within 1000 feet of school property.

Finally, HB 5977, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar, was also enrolled.  HB 5977 allows an ISD to begin school before Labor Day, under certain circumstances.  For example, if the ISD provides programs to a school district that had a contract in place with a pre-Labor Day starting date before the new law prohibiting pre-Labor Day starts, the ISD would be able to open before Labor Day to provide services to that district.

Coming Up the Week of June 12

Wednesday, June 14 - The House Education Committee is scheduled to take up HB 4264, introduced by Rep. Lemmons III.  This bill amends the School Code to allow Detroit to have schools that are limited to one gender.

There has not been a Senate Education Committee meet scheduled yet.

It is possible there will be a conference committee meeting on School Aid during this week (Thursday?).

From the Weeks of May 19, 26 and June 2, 2006
by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Please excuse the delay in sending out this information.  I had the best of intentions to send an Update our while I was vacationing.  The "technology gods" had other ideas, so I had to wait until I got home to produce this Update. 

The most significant things that happened over the past three weeks were the May Revenue Consensus meeting on May 17 and the completion of the School Aid budget by the House.  This budget bill will be sent to conference committee, and a brief summary of the House action can be found below.  If you want complete details comparing current law, the Governor's recommendation, the Senate recommendation and the House recommendation, three budget documents can be found at the following website: www.house.mi.gov/hfa/schoolaid.html.  It is likely that the budget will be completed by the first week in July.

To simplify the action for the past three weeks, I have organized the Update by topic or bill number.  These are in bold.

The May Revenue Consensus meeting was held on Wednesday, May 17, and the estimates are similar to the January estimates.  For FY 06, the School Aid Fund (SAF) is estimated to be down slightly ($32.9 million) with a reduction in students of 1437 FTEs.  The student decline offsets some of the reduced SAF revenue, creating a net reduction of about $10 million.  SAF revenue for FY 07 is estimated to be about $38.7 million below the January estimate.

The General Fund (GF) shows an estimated $73.9 million increase over the January forecast for FY 06 and a $58.2 million increase over the January estimate for FY 07.

The good news is that these numbers will make it easier to argue for SAF to be used to fund K-12 education only, and not to be sent to the universities or the community colleges.

HB 5789 - House Version of the School Aid Bill (The Senate and Governor used SB 1095.  It will be worked out in conference committee which bill will be used.)

The House increased the general fund portion of the School Aid bill by $10 million over the Governor's a Senate's recommendation.  This is still almost $18 million less than in 2005-06.

Additionally, the House did not use School Aid funds to support either the community colleges or universities.  This is a major step in the right direction. 

Finally, the House did not fund the assortment of budget items transferred in from other departments such as the Department of Human Services, Department of Military Affairs and the Department of Labor and Economic Growth.  Vision and hearing screening and school bus inspections were left in the School Aid budget, but funded with the general fund.

Below is a brief list highlighting some of the changes made by the House to the current School Aid Act, the Governor's recommendations or the Senate recommendations.

• A foundation grant increase of $230
• An additional equity payment of $35 for districts below $7480
• No funding for declining enrollment
• $80 per pupil in grades 6, 7 and 8 for a middle school math initiative
• An additional $150,000 for ISDs to provide professional development for the middle school math initiative
• $3.7 million to reimburse school districts for fingerprinting employees previously fingerprinted
• An increase of $1.75 million for interagency early childhood grants
• $1 million for Before- and After-School programs
• $500,000 for five new grants for International Baccalaureate Programs
• $500,000 for two grants of up to $250,000 each for school districts showing exemplary achievement while having a foundation grant of at least $1000 less than two contiguous districts
• $150,000 for MSU to study and evaluate the Aquinas College conductive learning program for children with cerebral palsy
• A modification to the requirements for teachers and paraprofessionals for school readiness programs
• A change in the number of hours required for pupil instruction to current law which allows 51 of professional development to be counted a student instruction

The House maintained the Governor's recommendation to keep the funding the way it is for 2005-06 and fund developmental kindergarten the same as regular kindergarten.

Senate Action on Bills or Resolutions

SR 127, introduced by Sen. Hardiman, was adopted by the full Senate.  The resolution requests the Departments of Community Health; Labor and Economic Growth; and History, Arts and Libraries to add co-chairs to the After-School Partnership.  This is a resolution and acts as a request.  It does not have the weight of law.  (This is the same as HCR 35 introduced by Rep. Pierce.)

SB 1108, introduced by Sen. Gilbert, was passed by the Senate.  This bill requires that some of either the fire drills or tornado drills currently required under law be conducted during lunch, recess or when a significant number of students are not in the classroom.

SB 95, introduced by Sen. Garcia, was passed by the Senate.  This bill amends the School Code to say that the number of days required for a school district to offer in order to receive a full foundation grant is whatever that requirement is under the School Aid Act.

HB 5977, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar, has passed the House and is on the Senate calendar.  The bill allows an ISD to begin school before Labor Day, under certain circumstances.  For example, if the ISD provides programs to a school district that had a contract in place with a pre-Labor Day starting date before the new law prohibiting pre-Labor Day starts, the ISD would be able to open before Labor Day to provide services to that district.

HB 4118, introduced by Rep. Acciavatti, has passed the House and is on the Senate calendar.  This bill requires a school district to include the use of performance-enhancing drugs to be a violation of eligibility to participate is sports.  The Department of Public Health is charged to update the list of prohibited performance-enhancing drugs and make this list available to public schools.  The DPH is required to use the NCAA list of performance-enhancing drugs as the basis for its list for school districts.

HB 4594, introduced by Rep. Mortimer, has passed the House and is on the Senate calendar.  The bill amends the Public Health Code to make it a felony to possess a controlled substance or gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) within 1000 feet of school property.

HB 4460, introduced by Rep. VanRegenmorter has passed both the House and Senate.  The bill reduces the number of required fire drills from eight to six, four of which must be held in the fall.  It also establishes two drills that require the occupants to remain in the building.  These would be drills that would be appropriate when there is a release of a toxic substance or an armed individual on or near the premises.  The drill is to be coordinated with the local emergency management coordinator.

Finally, the bill requires the State Police to develop a model to be used that could be used by the local emergency management coordinator, county sheriff, chief of police or fire chief to coordinate the building-contained emergency drill.

SB 1184, introduced by Sen. Kuipers, has passed the Senate and House and has been ordered enrolled to be sent to the Governor.  The bill codifies a change made in special education rule relative to special education hearings.  It requires a school district to pay for 75% of the hearing cost (not including attorney fees), with the state picking up the other 25%.

House Action on Bills or Resolutions

HJR L, introduced by Rep. Hoogendyk, was scheduled for the House Education Committee, but was not discussed.  This resolution would amend the state constitution to give the auditor general authority to audit school districts and would require each school district to spend 65% of its general operating budget on instruction.  Expect to hear more about this concept over the next few months (this has passed in Colorado and is called the 65% solution.)

HB 4975, introduced by Rep. Hoogendyk, uses the same 65% solution concept as above to amend the School Code.  This bill scheduled for the House Education Committee, but was not discussed.

HB 4828, introduced by Rep. LaJoy, was scheduled for the House Education Committee, but was not discussed.  The bill would award an extra $750 per pupil to a school district that could meet certain criteria.
 
HB 4575, introduced by Rep. Vander Veen, and HB 5709, introduced by Rep. Casperson, both had a hearing in the House Education Committee.  Both bills expand the purpose for which a "sinking fund" may be used.  HB 4575 allows a school district to change the name of the fund on the ballot to "infrastructure investment fund" or other appropriate term.

HCR 35, introduced by Rep. Pearce, has been adopted by the full House.  The resolution requests the Departments of Community Health; Labor and Economic Growth; and History, Arts and Libraries to add co-chairs to the After-School Partnership.  This is a resolution and acts as a request.  It does not have the weight of law.

HB 6069, introduced by Rep. Baxter, corrects a timing problem related to school aid borrowing and repayments.  The bill extends the due date of the notes by one month.  This takes care of a timing problem that occasionally occurs.  This bill has passed the House.

Governor

HB 5554, introduced by Rep. Hune, has been signed by the Governor and is PA 146 of 2006.  This bill delineates what a school needs to do to designate itself as a "green school."  The designation is based on the school adopting 10 of a list of activities including recycling, the use of recycled products, the adoption of an endangered species, the establishment of a natural habitat, etc.  

HB 5760, introduced by Rep. Palsrok, has been signed by the Governor and is PA 158 of 2006.  This bill would extend the expiration date of the current statute which allows retirees in state superintendent-approved (hard to fill) positions to return to a school district and earn more than 1/3 their final average compensation.   The bill extends the expiration date from 2006 to 2011 and allows individuals to return to a school district as an employee after leaving for one year.  Principals are included in this legislation.

Coming Up the Week of June 5

There are no education-related committee meetings scheduled at this time.   

From the Week of May 12, 2006
by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Its been another slow week in the legislature, but expected to pick up the week of May 22.  With this being an election year, it is likely the legislature will try especially hard to recess for the summer by the beginning of July.  This will possibly include the completion of the budgets.

Senate
The Senate Education Committee reported out HB 4460, introduced by Rep. VanRegenmorter and SB 1108, introduced by Rep. Gilbert.

The Senate version of HB 4460 reduces the number of required fire drills from eight to six, four of which must be held in the fall.  It also requires 2 drills that require the occupants to remain in the building.  These would be drills that would be appropriate when there is a release of a toxic substance or an armed individual on or near the premises.  The drill is to be coordinated with the local emergency management coordinator.

Finally, the bill requires the State Police to develop a model to be used that could be used by the local emergency management coordinator, county sheriff, chief of police or fire chief to coordinate the building-contained emergency drill.

In a substitute for SB 1108, the Senate Education Committee modified the bill to require that some of either the fire drills or tornado drills currently required under law be conducted during lunch, recess or when a significant number of students are not in the classroom.

**The full Senate moved HB 5760, introduced by Rep. Palsrok, to third reading.  This bill would extend the expiration date of the current statute which allows retirees in certain positions to return to a school district and earn more than 1/3 their final average compensation.  The bill extends the expiration date from 2006 to 2011 and allows individuals that have retired by June 2006 to participate after being retired for one year.

House
The House Education Committee reported out HCR 35, introduced by Rep. Pearce.  The bill requests the Departments of Community Health; Labor and Economic Growth; and History, Arts and Libraries to add co-chairs to the After School Partnership.  This is a resolution and acts as a request.  It does not have the weight of law.

**The full House moved HB 6026, introduced by Rep. Ward, to third reading.  This bill makes technical changes to school board elections.

The full House also enrolled HB 5554, introduced by Rep. Hune.  This bill delineates what a school needs to do to designate itself as a "Green School."  The designation is based on the school adopting 10 of a list of activities including recycling, the use of recycled products, the adoption of an endangered species, the establishment of a natural habitat, etc.   The Governor now has this bill and, if signed, it will become law.

Coming Up the Week of May 15
Wednesday, May 17 - The House Education Committee is scheduled to take testimony on SB 1184, introduced by Sen. Kuipers.  The bill codifies a change made in special education rule relative to special education hearings.  It requires a school district to pay for 75% of the hearing cost (not including attorney fees), with the state picking up the other 25%.

**The Joint House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the State Treasurer will meet for the May Revenue Consensus hearing.  There is a rumor that revenues are up slightly.  This may help the budget process move along a bit faster.

From the Week of May 5, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Legislative action relative to education has been fairly quiet.  The legislature is quietly working on budgets behind the scenes in anticipation of the May 17 Revenue Consensus meeting.  Final budget work will begin May 18 with anticipation that the budget action will be completed by the summer recess in early July.  Below is a brief overview of action that took place the week of May 1.

Senate
The Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee reported out HB 5557, introduced by Rep. Hune.  This bill delineates what a school needs to do to designate itself as a "Green School."  The designation is based on the school adopting 10 of a list of activities including recycling, the use of recycled products, the adoption of an endangered species, the establishment of a natural habitat, etc.

House
**The House Education Committee reported out HB 6004, introduced by Rep. Palmer.  The bill makes technical modifications and clarifies certain sections of the ISD legislation enacted last term.  The bill has the support of the education community.

The Committee also took testimony on HJR M, introduced by Rep. Palmer.  This resolution would put an issue on the ballot to amend the Constitution to allow the Auditor General to audit school districts.  The resolution did not get voted out of committee.

**The full House approved HB 4755, introduced by Rep. Ward.  This bill requires school board members to be elected in odd-year November or at even-year general elections.  This bill is opposed by the education committee because it is a violation of local control.

Coming Up the Week of May 8
Monday, May 8 - The House Education special committee on Early Childhood Intervention is scheduled to have a hearing at the Holland Life Services Systems Facility.  Deanna DePree, Director of Life Services Systems, will discuss their Childhood Initiatives.  Others wishing to present will also be given a chance to provide testimony.

Thursday, May 11 - The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to take testimony on two bills.  HB 4460, introduced by Rep. Van Regenmorter, requires school districts to have two "lock down" drills per year and reduces the number of required fire drills from eight per year to six per year.

SB 1108, introduced by Sen. Gilbert, requires all drills to be conducted during non-class time.

From the Week of April 28, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Senate
**The Senate Education Committee reported out HB 5760, introduced by Rep. Palsrok.  This bill extends the expiration date of the current statute allowing retirees in high-need positions to return to a school district and earn more than 1/3 their final average compensation.  The bill extends the expiration date from 2006 to 2011 and allows individuals that have retired by June 2006 to participate after being retired for one year.  The bill now goes to the full Senate.

**The full Senate passed SR 108, requesting the federal government to add social studies as an area to be tested under No Child Left Behind.  The resolution will be forwarded to Congress.

House
The House Government Operations Committee reported out HBs 5903 and 5904, introduced by Reps. Hoogendyk and Palmer, respectively.  These two bills create a new act called The Michigan Accelerated College Education Act.  The bills would allow eligible students to attend a community college or state university, requiring a portion of the foundation grant from the resident district to pay for the credits taken by the student.

A student is eligible if he/she meets all of the following criteria:

• is at least 15 but less than 19 years old
• attends, but has not graduated from, a high school operated by a public school
• has completed at least 1/2 of the credits to graduate from the high school or has scored in the top 20% of a nationally-recognized college admission examination
• is admitted and enrolled in an eligible postsecondary institution as a full-time student

If the portion of the foundation grant indicated in the bill does not cover the full tuition, the student is responsible to pay the balance.  A school district would be required to issue a high school diploma to a student who receives an associates degree or who has successfully completed four semesters, six trimesters, or eight quarters as a full-time student at a university or community college.

A 15-year-old utilizing this grant would be exempt from the compulsory attendance law under HB 5904.

**The House Education Committee reported out SBs 673 and 674, introduced by Sens. Jelinek and Switalski, respectively.  These two bills would allow the State Board of Education to set standards for voluntary administrator certification and collect a fee for the certification.  It also allows approved professional associations to offer endorsements to the certificate in specified areas.  Action on these bills is expected some time this week on the floor of the House.  These bills are supported by MEMSPA.

Coming Up the Week of May 1
Tuesday, May 2 - The House Education Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to discuss and make decisions on HB 5778, the House-introduced Department of Education bill.

The Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee is scheduled to take up HB 5557, introduced by Rep. Hune.  This bill delineates what a school needs to do to designate itself as a "Green School."

Monday, May 8 - The House Education special committee on Early Childhood Intervention is scheduled to have a hearing at the Holland Life Services Systems Facility.  Deanna DePree, Director of Life Services Systems, will discuss their Childhood Initiatives.  Others wishing to present will also be given a chance to provide testimony.

Meetings for House and Senate Education Committees have not been posted at this time.

From the Week of April 21, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Senate and House action was relatively quiet this week after their return from spring recess.  Below is a summary of the legislative activity.

Senate
**The Senate Education Committee reported out SR 108, asking the federal government to add social studies as an area to be tested under No Child Left Behind.

House
**The House Education Appropriations subcommittee took testimony on the Governor's version of the School Aid bill (SB 1095).  It is likely the committee will wait until the after the May revenue consensus meeting in May before taking action on their version of the bill.  It appears School Aid revenue estimates will be higher than the January estimates, giving the committee some more revenue to appropriate.

**The House Education Committee heard a presentation from the Department of Education on teacher induction and certification.

**The full House approved two bills.  HB 5479, introduced by Rep. LeJoy, requires a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.  The school community is concerned this could slow down the bonding/building process.

HB 5760, introduced by Rep. Palsrock, extends the expiration date of the current statute which allows retirees in certain positions to return to a school district and earn more than 1/3 their final average compensation.  The bill extends the expiration date from 2006 to 2011 and allows individuals that have retired by June 2006 to participate after being retired for one year.

Governor
The Governor signed the high school graduation (Michigan Merit Curriculum) bills on April 20.  These are HB 5606 (PA 123) and SB 1124 (PA 124).  See the Update from the week of March 31 for details.

Coming Up the Week of April 24
Tuesday, April 25 - The House Government Operations Committee is taking up two bills that would allow high school student to attend a community college or university full time, with the community college or university receiving 1/2 of a foundation grant to cover tuition.  These bills are HB 5903, introduced by Rep. Hoogendyk and HB 5904, introduced by Rep. Palmer.

Wednesday, April 26 - The House Education Committee is taking up SBs 673 and 674, introduced by Sens. Jelinek and Switalski.  These bills allow for voluntary administrator certification.  These bills are supported by MEMSPA.

From the Week of March 31, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

The information in this newsletter is for the last week of legislative session prior to the 2-week spring recess.  The legislature will be back the week of April 17 when weekly Updates will resume.

Senate

In addition to several bills sent to the Governor for her signature (see below), the full Senate approved SB 1095, the School Aid bill introduced by Sen. Switalski.  A full analysis of the bill can be found at www.legislature.mi.gov.  Portions of the bill most pertinent to elementary and middle school principals include:

• elimination of the language in the current Act that would limit Y-5 or DK programs funding meaning that these programs would continue to be funded like regular kindergarten programs
• an increase in the foundation for next year of $225 per pupil (with no additional increase this year) rather than the Governor's recommended total of $200 ($25 yet this year and $175 next year)
• an inclusion of $3.1 million to reimburse school districts for the cost of fingerprinting those employees who were fingerprinted prior to January 2006
• rejection of the Governor's declining enrollment proposal, instead allocating an additional $60 per pupil equity payment for districts under $7160 in 2006-07 (this would have the effect of increasing the foundation of many districts by $285 per pupil)
• an increase in school readiness to $7.4 million rather than the Governor's $101 million
• elimination of a proposed K-3 math/reading and middle school after-school grant program
• elimination of a proposal for a Detroit/ISD/middle college/community college health sciences grant
• establishment of several new categoricals, e.g., "book-a-month" for preschoolers, assistance in purchasing of defibrillators, grants to help children of incarcerated parents
• reduction in the professional development hours that can be used as instructional hours from 51 to 38 (after the expiration of a local contract that is based on more than 38 hours)
• agreement with the Governor's recommendation to transfer the funding of some programs from the general fund to the SAF, e.g., juvenile detention, vision and hearing, school breakfast, MEAP, school bus inspections, etc., totaling almost $50 million

Still most troubling is the action the Senate took to use $43 million from the School Aid Fund to fund the community college budget.  This is a major policy shift, which is allowed by the Michigan Constitution, but has never been done in the past.  Hopefully, a change can take place in the House to ensure this does not occur.

**The full Senate also approved SB 1184, introduced by Sen. Kuipers.  The bill codifies a change made in special education rule relative to special education hearings.  It requires a school district to pay for 75% of the hearing cost (not including attorney fees), with the state picking up the other 25%.

House

**The full House sent HB 5479, introduced by Rep. LeJoy, to third reading. This bill would require a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.  The school community is concerned this could slow down the bonding/building process.

**In addition to several bills sent to the Governor for her signature (see below), the full House sent HB 5760 to third reading.  This bill, introduced by Rep. Palsrock, would extend the expiration date of the current statute which allows retirees in certain positions to return to a school district and earn more than 1/3 their final average compensation.  The bill extends the expiration date from 2006 to 2011 and allows individuals that have retired by June 2006 to participate.

**The full House also passed HB 4375, introduced by Rep. Ward.  This bill encourages school districts to include the issues of suicide and depression in the school curriculum, including signs and risk factors.

**Additionally, the full House approved HB 5554, introduced by Rep. Hune, which establishes guidelines for a school to call itself a "green school."

Governor

The following bills were sent to the Governor for her signature.  Bills that have already been signed are indicated by the Public Act number.

**SB 327 (PA 118), introduced by Sen. Cassis, requires teachers to take an additional 3 college credits in reading instruction for the renewal of a provisional certificate or the advancement to a professional certificate, beginning July 2007.

**SB 328 (PA 119), introduced by Sen. Hardiman, allows Durant settlement funds to be spent on Early Intervening Programs.

**SB 329 (PA 120), introduced by Sen. Cassis, allocates $1 million from the School Aid Fund to create grants for Early Intervening Programs.  Grants could be for a district to be a model site, serving as an ongoing model and professional development.  Or grants could be for a site of improvement, which would be a site seeking to implement an Early Intervening Program.  A site of improvement would need to demonstrate a need for an Early Intervening Program, based on the number of students in certain special education programs.

**SB 330 (PA 121), introduced by Sen. Kuipers, allows at-risk funds to be used for Early Intervening Programs.

In SBs 328, 329 and 330, the definition of an Early Intervening Program is included.  These programs would be to provide additional behavioral and learning assistance to students in grades K-3.

**SB 866 (PA 90), introduced by Sen. Gilbert, clarifies funding for special education transportation under certain circumstances.

**HB 5282 (PA 94), introduced by Rep. Wenke, eliminates the sunset date on the Career and Vocational Education Act.  This act would have been eliminated on July 1 had the sunset not been removed.

**HB 5675 (PA 84), introduced by Rep. Baxter, is the first of two clean-up bills related to the school safety/fingerprinting package of bills. 

This bill makes three critical corrections that are needed immediately:  clarification of what is released under FOIA relative to convictions, the length of time a district has before names must be released under FOIA and clarification of who "contracted employees" includes.

Names provided to Schools
The list of names provided to school districts will include all those employees convicted of misdemeanors and felonies.  Only those individuals employed by the school district at the time the list is created by MDE will be included.

Names provided through FOIA
School districts can only release the names of individuals convicted of felonies and misdemeanors dealing with physical and sexual abuse.

MDE can only disclose a list of those convicted of misdemeanors that are not physical or sexual in nature.

FOIA Timeline
School districts have 15 business days to verify the names on the list they receive from MDE.  If the district believes an employee is mistakenly on the list, the district can use the 15 business days (plus the 14 days already available through FOIA) to have fingerprints checked.

Contracted Employees
Contracted employees that must be fingerprinted are those providing "food, custodial, transportation, instructional, counseling, or administrative services to pupils."  This is to clarify certain individuals such as contractors building in or around school buildings do not need to be fingerprinted.

Other
Student employees do not need to be fingerprinted; however, the school district must check their names through ICHAT.

A report must be done for the legislature detailing the number of employees working in school districts as of January 1, 2006 who had a felony or "listed" offense.

High School Curriculum (HB 5606 and SB 1124)

The House and Senate divided the requirements for the high school curriculum and put the results in these two bills.  Below is a brief listing of some of the key components of the bills.  (A complete analysis will be available on the Michigan Legislative website in the next week or so.)

The number of credits in the Michigan Merit Curriculum needed to graduate begins with the graduating class of 2011 (except for the foreign language credit which applies to students who begin the third grade next year).

Credit Requirements/Opt-outs (provided by the Senate Analysis section)

• English - 4 credits; no opt-outs
• Math - 4 credits; opt-outs include going into Career Tech after obtaining two credits in the Merit curriculum and getting at least the equivalent content of one semester of Algebra II, spreading Algebra II out over two years and getting two credits, or "successfully completing" at least one semester of an Algebra II class before graduating.  This has the affect of requiring that no student can graduate unless he or she has had at least 3 1/2 credits of math.
• Social Studies - 3 credits.  Opt-out is allowed only after 2 credits (including at least civics) and only if the third credit is taken in one of the following subject areas:  English, Science, Math or Foreign Language.
• Science - 3 credits.  No opt-out.  Two credits must include biology and chemistry or physics.
• Foreign Language - 2 credits taken in high school or its equivalent in any of grades K-12.  No opt-outs.
• Physical Education/Health - 1 credit.  Opt-out is allowed, but only if the replacement credit is taken in English, Science, Math or Foreign Language.
• The Arts (visual, performing and applied) - 1 credit.  Opt-out is allowed, but only if the replacement credit is taken in English, Science, Math or Foreign Language.
• Online experience - One online course, as defined by the Department, or the district must integrate an "online experience" throughout each of the components of the prescribed curriculum.  The State Board would be required to determine what basic level of technology is needed to complete this requirement.

Coming Up the Week of April 17

Tuesday, April 19 - The House Education Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to continue taking testimony on the Governor's school aid proposal.

Wednesday, April 20 - The House Education Committee is scheduled to discuss teacher certification and preparedness.

Thursday, April 21 - The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to take up and community colleges bill and SR 108, introduced by Sen. Kuipers, asking the federal legislature to include social studies in No Child Left Behind.

From the Week of March 24, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Senate

**The Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee held hearings on the infrastructure needs education has related to school buildings.  The hearing lasted a full day, and much compelling evidence was given relative to education's crumbling infrastructure.

** The full Senate Appropriations Committee reported out the School Aid bill SB 1095) to the full Senate in virtually the same form as it come out of the subcommittee.  Details on the bill can be found in the March 13, 2006 Update.

**The Senate Education Committee reported out SB 1184, introduced by Sen. Kuipers.  The bill codifies a change made in special education rule relative to special education hearings.  It requires a school district to pay for 75% of the hearing cost (not including attorney fees), with the state picking up the other 25%.

The Committee took testimony on SB 4079 & 4080, introduced by Rep. Palmer.  These bills (previously called the Ed. Flex bills) would allow a school district to ask for a waiver of state rules and laws and some federal laws pertaining to education.  Districts would have to show that student achievement would improve with the waiver.  The bills were not reported out.  The bills will likely be reported out either next week or the week the legislature returns from break (April 17).

**The full Senate enrolled SB 866, introduced by Sen. Gilbert.  This bill clarifies funding for special education transportation under certain circumstances.  It is anticipated the Governor will sign this bill.

The full Senate also sent SB 1124, the high school graduation requirements bill to conference committee.  It is anticipated that the differences between the Senate and House (HB 5606) bills will be worked out next week, and a bill will be sent to the Governor for her signature.

House

** The House Education Appropriations subcommittee reported out HB 5609, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar.  This bill would appropriate $ 16.25 million in funding from the School Aid Fund to reimburse public school districts for fingerprinting all employees hired prior to January 1, 2006 and $900,000 in general fund revenue to reimburse private schools.

The Committee also began taking testimony on the Governor's school aid proposal (SB 1095).

**The House Education Committee reported out HB 4375, introduced by Rep. Ward.  This bill encourages school districts to include the issues of suicide and depression in the school curriculum, including signs and risk factors.

**The full House moved five bills to third reading, preparing them for passage next week.

SB 327, introduced by Sen. Cassis, requires teachers to take an additional 3 college credits in reading instruction for the renewal of a provisional certificate or the advancement to a professional certificate, beginning July 2007.

SB 328, introduced by Sen. Hardiman, allows Durant settlement funds to be spent on Early Intervening Programs.

SB 329, introduced by Sen. Cassis, allocates $1 million from the School Aid Fund to create grants for Early Intervening Programs.  Grants could be for a district to be a model site, serving as an ongoing model and professional development.  Or grants could be for a site of improvement, which would be a site seeking to implement an Early Intervening Program.  A site of improvement would need to demonstrate a need for an early intervening program, based on the number of students in certain special education programs.

SB 330, introduced by Sen. Kuipers, allows at-risk funds to be used for Early Intervening Programs.

In SBs 328, 329 and 330, the definition of an Early Intervening Program is included.  These programs would be to provide additional behavioral and learning assistance to students in grades K-3.

HB 5479, introduced by Rep. LeJoy, would require a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.  The school community is concerned this could slow down the bonding/building process.

The full House approved HB 5554, introduced by Rep. Hune, which establishes guidelines for a school to call itself a "green school."  The bill now goes to the Senate for hearings.

The full House enrolled SB 5282, introduced by Rep. Wenke.  The bill eliminates the sunset date on the Career and Vocational Education Act.  This act would have been eliminated on July 1 had the sunset not been removed.  The bill now goes to the Governor for her signature.

The full House sent two bills to conference committee. The first is HB 5606, the high school graduation requirements.  It is anticipated that the differences between the Senate (SB 1124) and House bills will be worked out next week, and a bill will be sent to the Governor for her signature.

The second, HB 5675, introduced by Rep. Baxter, is a clean-up bill related to the school safety/fingerprinting package of bills.  A major difference exists between the Senate and House relative to which names can be FOIAed.  The conference committee will likely meet next week and hopefully work out a compromise for the Governor's signature.
 
Coming Up the Week of March 27

Tuesday, March 28 - The House Education Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to continue taking testimony on the Governor's school aid proposal.

No other education-related bills are scheduled at this time.  With the legislative break coming up (the weeks of April 3 and 10), there is more likely to be work in conference committees and on the House and Senate calendars than in committee.

From the Week of March 17, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Senate

**The Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee reported the School Aid bill (SB 1095) to the full Appropriations committee. Changes to the Governor's recommendation include the following:

• an increase in the foundation for next year of $225 per pupil (with no additional increase this year) rather than the Governor's recommended total of $200 ($25 yet this year and $175 next year)
• rejection of the Governor's declining enrollment proposal, instead allocating an additional $60 per pupil equity payment for districts under $7160 in 2006-07 (this would have the effect of increasing the foundation of many districts by $285 per pupil)
• an increase in school readiness to $80 million rather than the Governor's $101 million
• elimination of a proposed K-3 math/reading and middle school after-school grant program
• elimination of a proposal for a Detroit/ISD/middle college/community college health sciences grant
• establishment of several new categoricals, e.g., "book-a-month" for preschoolers, assistance in purchasing of defibrillators, grants to help children of incarcerated parents
• reduction in the professional development hours that can be used as instructional hours from 51 to 38 (after the expiration of a local contract that is based on more than 38 hours)
• agreement with the Governor's recommendation to transfer the funding of some programs from the general fund to the SAF, e.g., juvenile detention, vision and hearing, school breakfast, MEAP, school bus inspections, etc., totaling almost $50 million

Y-5 Funding - The Senate kept the Governor's recommendation to eliminate the language that would change funding for DK/Y-5 kindergarten programs for next year.  If this change remains through the full Senate action and through the House, Y-5 programs will be funded as they currently are and pupils will be counted in the kindergarten count.

The most troubling change the Senate made was to use $43 million from the School Aid Fund to fund the community college budget.  This is a major policy shift, which is allowed by the Michigan Constitution, but has never been done in the past.  Hopefully, a change can take place in the House to ensure this does not occur.

**The Senate Education Committee reported out the House version of high school graduation requirements (HB 5606).  The committee did not make any changes to the bill, and the House and Senate will now need to work out a compromise on such issues as foreign language requirements and students opting in to an alternative curriculum.  Also, they will need to determine which bill will get enacted or if they will split the content of the bills, and both will be enacted.  This decision will likely come by the end of the month.

**The full Senate approved SB 1124, introduced by Sen. Kuipers.  This is the Senate version of the high school graduation requirements.  These requirements begin with the class of 2011 (students beginning eighth grade in 2006).  In order to receive a diploma, in addition to completing the Michigan Merit Curriculum, students will be required to pass the Michigan Merit exam, assessment exams developed by MDE or have participated in MiAccess assessments.  The Michigan Merit Curriculum includes the following:

• 4 credits of English (which can include public speaking)
• 4 credits of math: Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II and an additional course. One math course must be taken in 12th grade. Students may take Algebra I or II or geometry before high school if the curriculum is the same, and the school may give them credit.
• 3 credits of science: biology, chemistry or physics. Student may take these classes before high school for credit also. Students are "encouraged" to take another year of science.
• 3 credits of social science
• 1 credit of health/physical education
• 1 credit in visual, performing or applied arts
• 1 online learning experience is required. Districts must also integrate online experiences throughout the high school curriculum in each class.
• Beginning with the graduating class of 2013, 2 foreign language credits are required. Credits may be completed during the grades of K-8 and counted if they are "substantially equivalent" to 2 credits. American sign language is considered to be a foreign language. Students may also meet this requirement online.

Other than the whole issue of having students prepared to take this curriculum, the two areas that impact elementary and middle school the most are the granting of foreign language credit taken K-8 and the granting of science and math credits taken before entering high school, if the credit completed aligns with the subject area content standards.

House

**The House Education Appropriations subcommittee took testimony on HB 5609, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar.  This bill would appropriate funding from the School Aid Fund to reimburse school districts for fingerprinting all employees hired prior to January 1, 2006.  The bill was not reported out, but another meeting on this bill is schedule during the week of March 20.

**The House Education Committee reported out five bills.  SB 866, introduced by Sen. Gilbert, clarifies funding for special education transportation under certain circumstances.

SB 327, introduced by Sen. Cassis, requires teachers to take an additional 3 college credits in reading instruction for the renewal of a provisional certificate or the advancement to a professional certificate, beginning July 2007.

SB 328, introduced by Sen. Hardiman, allows Durant settlement funds to be spent on Early Intervening Programs.

SB 329, introduced by Sen. Cassis, allocates $1 million from the School Aid Fund to create grants for Early Intervening Programs.  Grants could be for a district to be a model site, serving as an ongoing model and professional development.  Or grants could be for a site of improvement, which would be a site seeking to implement an Early Intervening Program.  A site of improvement would need to demonstrate a need for an early intervening program, based on the number of students in certain special education programs.

SB 330, introduced by Sen. Kuipers, allows at-risk funds to be used for Early Intervening Programs.

In SBs 328, 329 and 330, the definition of an Early Intervening Program is included.  These programs would be to provide additional behavioral and learning assistance to students in grades K-3.

**The House Natural Resources, Great Lakes, Land Use and Environment Committee reported out two bills impacting schools.

HB 5479, introduced by Rep. LeJoy, would require a school district to submit site plans for high school buildings to the local authorities for review, but not approval.  The school community is concerned this could slow down the bonding/building process.

HB 5554, introduced by Rep. Hune, establishes guidelines for a school to call itself a "green school."

Coming Up the Week of March 20

Monday, March 20 - The Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to take testimony on school infrastructure needs.

Tuesday, March 21 - The House Education Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to continue work on HB 5609, introduced by Rep. Moolenaar.  This bill would appropriate funding from the School Aid Fund to reimburse school districts for fingerprinting all employees hired prior to January 1, 2006.

Wednesday, March 22 - The House Education Committee is scheduled to take testimony on HB 4375, introduced by Rep. Ward.  This bill encourages school districts to include the issues of suicide and depression in the school curriculum, including signs and risk factors.

The Senate Education Committee had not posted its agenda prior to this report.

From the Week of March 10, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

From the Week of February 27, 2006
by Nancy Stanley
For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

NAESP - Craig Hubble (Federal Relations representative) and Nancy Stanley (Legislative Liaison) traveled to Washington D.C. to be briefed on federal issues and to talk to U.S. Senators and Representatives from Michigan.

Due to the nature of the President's recommendation for education that includes funding for new programs but cuts or gives no increase to many others, the issue to lobby became clear, and it focused primarily on funding.  Below are the points from NAESP that were taken to Congress:

• Increase Function 500 by 10%, and specify in the budget resolution that the increase is meant for education.  Vote against a Budget Resolution that fails to provide a significant increase in federal education funds;
• Increase Title I funding to $14 billion in FY07, in order to allow the program to serve more students and schools in need;
• Increase funding for IDEA to $16.9 billion in FY07, to ensure full funding by 2011;
• Provide $16 million for the School Leadership Program in FY07 and maintain funding for Elementary/Secondary School Counseling, and for Safe and Drug-Free Schools state grants, and;
• Reserve public funds for public education by rejecting all funding plans that would lead to vouchers and thereby lessen the public funds available for public schools.

We were well received in most of the offices we visited (Sen. Stabenow and Reps. Schwarz, Ehlers and Upton), with promises to help education in all but Rep. Ehlers office.  We will likely be calling on key contacts in the future as the budget process gets underway.

Senate - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved HB 5675, introduced by Rep. Baxter.  This it the first of two clean-up bills related to the school safety/fingerprinting package of bills.  It is expected to move quickly.

HB 5675 makes three critical corrections that are needed immediately. 

First of all, it exempts from FOIA all lists sent to school districts by MDE that contain names and crimes. 

It then states that after 14 days, names of individuals who have committed felonies and named misdemeanors are no longer exempt from FOIA.  (A list of named misdemeanors is available on the MDE website.  It basically contains the misdemeanors dealing with sex crimes and child abuse.)

Finally, it clarifies that the contracted employees that must be fingerprinted are those providing "food, custodial, transportation, instructional, counseling, or administrative services to pupils."  This is to clarify that certain individuals such as contractors building in or around school buildings do not need to be fingerprinted.

The important change the Senate Committee made from the House-passed bill was to exempt from FOIA the names of individuals convicted of misdemeanors other than sex and child abuse. 

Infrastructure - Sen. Jelinek held a press conference indicating he will be making improving infrastructure in Michigan schools a priority.  He has a method for providing funds to districts to aid in infrastructure needs that will be examined by the Senate in the next month or so.  More information will be available as Senate hearings are held.

House

The full House approved HB 5606, introduced by Rep. Palmer.  The implementation date begins with the graduation class of 2010; however, this is premised on the State Board approving all of the content standards by April 1.  There is a strong indication this will not happen, thereby postponing the implementation date to the graduating class of 2011.

Briefly, the House substitute includes the following:

• 4 credits in English and language arts;
• 4 credits in mathematics, including algebra I and II and geometry;
• 3 credits in science, including one biology credit and one credit in either physics or chemistry;
• 1/2 credit in civics, 1/2 credit in economics, 1 credit in U.S. history and geography and 1 credit in world history and geography;
• 1 credit in health and physical education;
• 1 credit in visual and performing arts;
• 1 online experience, as defined by MDE.

Additionally, the substitute allows for students to request a personalized alternative curriculum for grades 11 and 12 or for any semester after the student turns 16.  Also, successful completion of a credit can either be by virtue of a 2.0 grade on a 4.0 scale or the passage of an assessment designed to measure the subject area content expectations.

The full House also approved HB 4278, introduced by Rep. Gosselin.  This bill states that if a school district requires a student to do volunteer work to graduate, the district must also establish an appeals procedure, allowing a parent to appeal this requirement for his or her child.  The bill now goes to the Senate Education Committee where it may or may not have a hearing.

Y-5 - Not much has happened in this area since the Governor removed the language from her budget recommendation that would have treated Y-5 kindergarten programs differently than other kindergarten programs.  We have had assurances from both the Senate and House that they have no intention of changing the Governor's recommendation in this area.  We should have a Senate bill to look at in the next week or two, and we will know for sure at that time how the Senate intends on treating this funding.  Keep an eye on the Update for more information.

Coming Up the Week of March 6

Monday, March 6 - The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to take testimony on high school graduation requirements at Marquette ISD.

Tuesday, March 7 - The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to take testimony on high school graduation requirements at Milan High School.

Thursday, March 9 - The Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to take testimony on the School Aid budget.

A meeting for the House Education Committee has not yet been scheduled, but it is very likely there will be a meeting on Wednesday, March 8.

From the Week of February 24, 2006

by Nancy Stanley

For questions and comments please email:  nancy@memspa.org

Senate - The legislative budget process continued this week with the Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee hearing a presentation from Treasury regarding loophole closing necessary to balance her budget.  Additional testimony came from individuals supporting the Michigan Virtual University/High School, teen health clinics, and Michigan School Readiness Program.  Future Senate budget hearings are scheduled for March 2 and March 9.  It is the goal of the Senate to have the budget passed by the Senate and to the House by the end of March.

**The Senate Education Committee continued hearings on changes on the high school curriculum.  This week the meeting was at Kalamazoo ISD.  Four hearings are scheduled in the future (see Coming Up the Week of February 27 below).

**The Senate Health Committee took testimony on two bills.  SB 91, introduced by Sen. Bernero would require school boards to adopt nutrition policies that meet specific parameters for the dissemination of food and drink at the school. 

The bulk of the testimony was on SB 981, introduced by Sen. George.  This bill requires elementary schools to have at least two 30-minute periods of physical education twice per week.  Individuals testifying included a presentation on an elementary physical education curriculum and the program offered by the Grand Rapid YMCA for after-school activities.  It is not clear how far these bills will go; however, committee members w