Tag Archives: state legislature

Legislature Week 5: What is Happening

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As the Washington State Legislature gears up for the fifth week of the 2010 supplemental session all eyes will be on the fiscal committees in each chamber.

All fiscal committees must move bills with fiscal impacts to the floor of their respective chambers by end of day Feburary 9.

The appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means and House Ways & Means) will meet Monday and Tuesday to continue their work on budget related matters and meet the legislative deadline.

The remainder of the week will be focused on the floors of the House and Senate. Both chambers will have until February 16 to move House bills to the Senate and vice versa.

After February 16 the process will re-start in a way as House bills go through the committee and floor process in the Senate and vice versa.

House Education Appropriations Wraps Up Work for the Week

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Today the House Education Appropriations Committee took up many of the bills passed yesterday by the House Education Committee.

House Bill 3068 passed out of committee with no amendments. HB 3068 provides that, if scholarship funds are available after qualified paraeducators have been accepted, individuals who participated in one of the Recruiting Washington Teachers programs for high school students can participate in the Pipeline for Pareducators conditional scholarship program.

House Bill 2852 passed out of committee with no amendments. HB 2852 excludes public and accredited institutions of higher education from laws that regulate providers of online learning in K-12 schools and authorizes school districts to claim basic education funding for students enrolled in college credit-bearing courses offered by these types of higher education institutions. Evergreen did not weigh in on the bill.

A second substitute bill for House Bill 3059 was passed out of committee. Evergreen was successful in amending the bill in response to the College’s concern about the lack of funding to accompany the requirement to provide a teacher preparation alternative route program and the impact on institutional mission.

Senate Policy Committees Continue to Take Action on Bills

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Today Senate Policy Committees were busy moving bills forward before the cut-off deadline on Friday.

Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development

The Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee passed a tuition policy bill for the University of Washington, Washington State University, and Western Washington Univerrsity.

Substitute Senate Bill 6562 allows the board’s of UW, WSU, and WWU to set tuition rates within limits. Tuition (the average annual compounded rate of change of undergraduate tuition fees)at these institutions is not allowed to exceed 9% based on the previous 15 years or 14% in any one year. In addition, the Committee on Higher Education Performance is created and authorized to approve performance agreements for UW, WSU, and WWU. Finally, these institutions must waive full-time tuition/fees for resident undergraduate students based on family and state median family income levels. The waivers are based on a graduated scale based on state median family income and institutional tuition fee rates.

For Evergreen as well as Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, and the community and technical colleges tuition fee setting authority remains the same as current law.

The substitute bill was further amended in committee. The amendments establish a sunset for tuition setting authority for the three institutions in the bill at the end of the 2017-18 academic year; change the title from Relating to higher education finance to Relating to higher education accountability and access; and modifies the Committee on Higher Education Performance to include members from the minority party.

Substitute Senate Bill 6562 passed unanimously out of committee. The bill is now headed to Senate Ways & Means for their consideration.

Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education

The Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education committee took action on an omnibus teacher preparation and K-12 bill. Substitute Senate Bill 6696 includes the following changes related to teacher preparation.

Section 402: Clarifies that community colleges and non-higher education providers can be considered for new providers of the alternative routes. Moves the option for residency teacher preparation programs to provide a summary of procedures providing flexible completion opportunities to section 403 and makes it part of what alternative route providers must include in their application.

Section 403: Removes “higher education” since such institutions will not be the only providers of alternative routes.

Section 409: Clarifies that the service regions for institutions of higher education is for those institutios of higher education as defined in RCW 28B.10.016 (all the 4-year universities and college & the community and technical colleges).

In addition, Substitute Senate Bill 6696 was amended as follows related to teacher preparation: (1) Amends the four-level evaluation system for teachers to use student growth data if available and relevant to the teacher and subject matter. Requires the school districts participating in the pilot of the teacher and principal evaluations to submit all student data to OSP; (2) Amends section 202 by adding a parent representative to the group that will create models for implementing the new teacher and principal evaluation system, student growth tools, professional development programs, and evaluator training for classroom teachers and principals. The parent representative must have certain specified qualities and will be chosen by the PTA using a lottery system; (3) Moves the phrase addressing professional development so that it applies to both closing the achievement gap and STEM; and (4) Amends the evaluation criteria for classroom teachers in section 202 to include collaborating, not just communicating with parents and school community.

House Education Moves Teacher Preparation Legislation Forward

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Yesterday the House Education Committee moved a number of bills Evergreen has tracked related to teacher preparation.

House Bill 3068 passed out of committee with no amendments. HB 3068 provides that, if scholarship funds are available after qualified paraeducators have been accepted, individuals who participated in one of the Recruiting Washington Teachers programs for high school students can participate in the Pipeline for Pareducators conditional scholarship program.

Though Evergreen expressed support for HB 3068 in general the College expressed concerns that the bill would limit access to Retooling Grants to only those individuals who seek math and science endorsements. This would leave out students seeking endorsements in other areas, such as special education and ELL. Evergreen encouraged the committee to reconsider limiting Retooling Grants to only math and science endorsements.

House Bill 3068 will have a public hearing tomorrow, February 4 before House Education Appropriations.

HB 2654 provides that, if scholarship funds are available after qualified paraeducators have been accepted, individuals who participated in one of the Recruiting Washington Teachers programs for high school students can participate in the Pipeline for Pareducators conditional scholarship program.

HB 2654 passed out of committee amended as follows: (1) In the prototypical school funding formula, removes the separate allocation of one Elementary Math Specialist per elementary school, but includes them as a type of “professional development coach” (which is an existing staffing category in the formula); (2) Specifies that the PESB must develop the standards for the new specialty endorsement by July 1, 2011; (3) Revises the description of the role of an Elementary Math Specialist to include not only direct instruction to students, but also serving as a coach by demonstrating best practices to the regularly assigned teacher, using a research-based coaching model; and (4) Makes the standards for the specialty endorsement reflect the coaching role.

Evergreen shared our excitement about the potential prospect of incorporating a track for this training in The Evergreen State College’s M.Ed. program. In addition, Evergreen shared two ways in which HB 2654 could be strengthened. First, Evergreen hopes the Committee will think broadly with regard to the current terminology in the bill, “widely accessible to elementary teachers across the state,” to mean more than online coursework. Second, we encourage legislators to push for more than the “minimum of additional coursework” required in the bill.

House Bill 2852 passed out of committee with no amendments. HB 2852 excludes public and accredited institutions of higher education from laws that regulate providers of online learning in K-12 schools and authorizes school districts to claim basic education funding for students enrolled in college credit-bearing courses offered by these types of higher education institutions. Evergreen did not weigh in on the bill. HB 2852 will have a public hearing before House Education Appropriations tomorrow, February 4.

A substitute bill for House Bill 3059 was passed out of committee. Substitute HB 3059, among other changes,: (1) Clarifies candidates who complete residency program in 2012-13 must take the new assessment, (2) Adds authority for the PESB to contract for the administration of the assessment with a third party, and (3) Requires all public colleges of education that offer a residency certificate who are not already offering an alternative route program to submit a proposal to PESB, does not allow these colleges to submit a “summary of flexible procedures” as an alternative to submitting a proposal. Instead makes this a part of the proposal.

Evergreen expressed concerns regarding the lack of funding that accompanies the requirement to provide a teacher preparation alternative route program and the impact on institutional mission. HB 3059 will have a public hearing before House Education Appropriations tomorrow, February 4.

House Bill 3035 passed out of committee as amended. HB 3035 requires all school districts to establish revised evaluation criteria and a four-level rating system for classroom teachers and principals and specifies minimum criteria for each system. HB 3035 was amended as follows: (1) Directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create common, statewide models for the criteria and the rating system, (2) Beginning in 2013-14, requires all school districts to either: a) implement the common statewide models; or b) submit a modified evaluation system to SPI, (3) Requires any modifications to the teacher evaluation system to have been developed through collective bargaining, and (4) Revises one of the minimum criteria for teacher evaluation to be “communicating and collaborating with parents and the school community.”

House Bill 3035 moved to House Ways & Means.

House Moves Furlough Bill Forward to the Floor

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Monday evening the House Ways & Means Committee passed Senate Bill 6503 (a.k.a. the furlough bill) out of committee and to the House floor. After four scheduled executive sessions on the bill the committee finally moved the bill forward by a 12-10 vote along party lines.

The bill headed to the House floor for a vote looks different than the bill received from the Senate.

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The subsitute bill includes, but is not limited to, the following:

– An intent section is added stating the Legislature intends that state agencies and institutions of higher education reduce government operating costs through the methods described in the act by $50 million from the General Fund-State and the Education Legacy Account, as well as additional proportionate amounts from other funds.

– The Office of Financial Management (OFM) shall certify to each state agency the compensation reduction amount to be achieved by the executive branch agency or institution.

– Executive branch general government state agencies and higher education institutions may submit plans that achieve compensation cost savings equal to closing the agency for 11 days to the OFM by May 15, 2010.

– Compensation reduction plans submitted by higher education institutions may include leave without pay, temporary layoffs, reductions in force, reduced work hours, and voluntary retirement, separation, and other incentive programs authorized by law. By June 1, 2010, the OFM shall review, approve, and submit the higher education institution plans that achieve the required cost reductions to the legislative fiscal committees. Those institutions that do not have approved plans will close on the 11 dates specified in the amendment.

Senate Bill 6503 now goes to the House floor for a vote. If it passes the House, the bill will return to the Senate for consideration of the amended legislation.

Senate Higher Education Ends Week Strong Moving Additional Legislation Forward

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At the end of the third week of the 2010 supplemental session, the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Committee held public hearings on three bills.

The Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 6467. SB 6467 authorizes honorary degrees for students at the public, four-year institutions in Washington who were ordered into internment camps. Immediately following the public hearing, the Committee entered Executive Session and moved the bill to Senate Rules for consideration.

The Committee also heard Senate Bill 5237. Senate Bill 5237 would require Washington’s public, four-year institutions to develop three-year baccalaureate programs. Currently, 9% of Evergreen students, who begin as first-years, graduate within three years.

Language is being considered that would replace mandating language in the original bill with more permissive language and require the institutions to report their progress and plans to the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB).

The Council of Presidents testified in support of Senate Bill 5237 with the revised language.

House Higher Education Executive Session Amends Performance Agreement, Student Loan and Teacher Preparation Bills

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The House Committee on Higher Education met this morning to pass several bills out of committee.

House Bill 2979, establishing performance agreements for institutions of higher learning, received two amendments by Representatives Sells and Wallace. The amendments would establish space in performance agreement committees for faculty and student representatives, as well as establish high employer demand programs of study and require the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to conduct an evaluation of the higher education performance agreements and make recommendations to the Governor and Legislature regarding their continuation and expansion.

House Bill 2930, providing for conditional scholarships and loan repayment programs for potential teachers in high-demand fields, was introduced as a proposed substitute bill. The substitute would bill would take effect in the 2013-2014 school year and increase the amount of the award for both the Future Teachers Conditional Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program and the Alternate Routes to Certification Conditional Scholarship Program to cover the full cost of attendance or $15,000 per academic year, whichever is less. In addition, the substitute bill stipulates that teachers in high-demand fields receive loan reimbursement per year of service, while students in non-high-demand fields receive one year of loan repayment for every two years of service.

Finally, a proposed substitute to House Bill 2854 would add career colleges to the list of institutions and agencies that must be
consulted when the HECB conducts periodic assessments of the HELP program, remove the reference that requires students to be enrolled in an “academic” field of study, clarify that students can be enrolled in an aid-eligible certificate program and still qualify for HELP, and clarify that students enrolled in both academic and technical associate degrees are eligible.

All of these bills received enough votes in the committee to be referred to fiscal or rules committees.

Legislature Week 4: What is Happening

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The fourth week of session will be heavily dictated by cut-off deadlines for policy committees. All House policy committees (i.e. House Higher Education) must move any House bills out of committee by February 2. All Senate policy committees (i.e. Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) must move any Senate bills out of committee by February 5.

This week the focus of the higher education policy committees (i.e. House Higher Education and Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development) will be to move several bills impacting Washington’s institutions of higher education out of committee and either to the floor for consideration or to an appropriation committee. Any bill that may have a fiscal impact must go through an appropriations committee once it passes out of a policy committee.

Both the House and Senate higher education committees will look to move legislation that focuses on issues, such as performance agreements, system design, teacher preparation, tuition policy, three-year degree, and financial aid.

In addition, the appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means and House Ways & Means) will meet to continue their work on budget related matters.

The workload will shift for a time from the policy committees to the appropriation committees as the cut-off date for policy bills passes this coming week and the cut-off date for appropriation bills looms the following week.

Teacher Preparation Legislation in Senate

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This morning the Senate Committee on Early Learning and K-12 Education held a public hearing on Senate Bill 6761. Senate Bill 6761 implements recommendations put forth by the Quality Education Council (QEC).

The QEC was established as a part of the Basic Education overhall legislation passed in 2009 (HB 2261). The QEC develops strategic recommendations for implementation of a new definition of Basic Education and the financing necessary to support it.

Though this may seem only to be a K-12 related policy council, the QEC and the implementing legislation (HB 2261) also established criteria for teacher evaluations and teacher compensations. Both of which are critical issues for Masters in Teaching and Masters in Education faculty and students.

The implementing legislation created a compensation work group that is tasked with developing an enhanced, collaboratively designed salary allocation model. The new model will align educator development and certification with compensation. A critical part of this conversation is the relationship between earning an advanced teaching degree and receiving an increase in salary for this achievement.

Evergreen worked hard during the 2009 session to bring legislative attention to the value-added when an educator earns an advanced degree in education. Evergreen was successful in refocusing the conversation on compensation and away from the initial assumption that education beyond a bachelors was not value-added in the classroom.

As a result of Evergreen’s work and the work of others a compensation work group was created to develop a compensation model in Washington for teachers. This replaced the initial proposal to not provide increases in compensation for teachers who earn an advanced degree.

That is the long way of saying, one of the recommendations of the QEC, as stated in SB 6761, is to convene the compensation work group in 2010 with a report due December 2010. This would move the convening of the work group and the recommendations of the group up a year.

Evergreen did not weigh in on this change to the implementing legislation. Instead Evergreen attended the public hearing to learn more about SB 6761 and to hear public testimony from other partners.

SB 6761 is expected to be moved out of committee early next week.

House Ways & Means Committee Amendments Provide Exemption for Higher Education Employees From Statewide Salary Freeze

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Two amendments proposed to Substitute Senate Bill 6382, which would extend a salary freeze on exempt and Washington Management Service Employees statewide, will allow an exception of certain Higher Education employees.

Including those already excepted, those employees spared from the salary freeze are, according to the amendment language, “exempt higher education personnel for critical retention purposes or additional summer quarter responsibilities,” and other exempt personnel covered under collective bargaining agreements.

SSB 6382, the first Senate bill to be considered by the House Ways & Means Committee during this session, was passed out of committee. A procedural point was made by staff that the two amendments will be considered as one when the bill is referred to Rules Committee.