Monday, June 21, 2010

School Facilities Bill Approved by Legislature

The goal of creating a statewide school facilities authority moved one step closer this weekend when the Louisiana Legislature completed work on Senate Bill 584. This bill, by Senator Karen Carter Peterson, would create the Louisiana Statewide Educational Facilities Authority to assist local school districts across the state in their planning, funding, renovation and construction of public school facilities. Far too many students in Louisiana go to school every day in crumbling, inadequate buildings. Many local school districts do their best, but need help, and it is time that Louisiana joins the 41 other states that take a role in providing for safe and adequate school buildings. We commend and appreciate Senator Peterson, Representative Walt Leger, Senator Eric LaFleur, Representative Neil Abramson and every other legislator who stood up for children and supported this bill. For more background on this issue, please see our related blog post.

SB 584 was approved early last week by the House Education Committee; for more on that meeting, see this article from The Advocate. Then on Friday the full House of Representatives passed the bill, and over the weekend the Senate approved the House version of the bill. Next, it goes to the Governor for his signature.

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Legislature Approves Fix for Orleans Parish Education Funding

With the session winding down, last week the Louisiana Legislature approved the second of two important bills impacting funding for public education in New Orleans. Senate Bill 240, by Senator Ed Murray, cleared the House on Wednesday and received final Senate concurrence on Friday. This came after it had stalled the week before, and represents the culmination of weeks of hard work and negotiations between the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB), the Recovery School District , and many other stakeholders. SB 240 will restructure OPSB millage revenues to allow $6 million more to flow to all classrooms in New Orleans and allow the OPSB to better cover legacy costs like health insurance for retired teachers. This addresses some of the unintended consequences of education reform in New Orleans , and is a vital step in supporting and furthering progress in our schools. For a Times-Picayune article on the bill, click here.

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Orleans Parish School Board Approves Funding Measures

Last week at its monthly board meeting, the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) voted to form a public benefit corporation to utilize New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to fund school capital needs. The federal government’s New Markets Tax Credit program is designed to increase investment in economically distressed or low-income communities by helping organizations better leverage funding from other sources. Although government entities cannot directly take advantage of the program, they can form non-profit corporations to do so. Through the public benefit corporation, the OPSB will be able to plan, renovate, construct, manage, and improve school properties.  New Markets Tax Credits would help fund its efforts, and could help generate up to an additional dollar ($1) for every four dollars ($4) pledged to a project.

Two days after its regular meeting last week, the OPSB held a special meeting to discuss Senate Bill 240 (see above) and House Bill 420, the two bills in the state legislature with big implications for education funding in New Orleans. (See here for our blog post on the bills.) Board members discussed the negotiations with the Recovery School District (RSD) and the Louisiana Department of Education that paved the way for SB 240’s passage, and OPSB Chief Financial Officer Stan Smith explained the impacts and benefits of the bills to the OPSB’s financing, legacy costs and school funding.  Mr. Smith and members of the board also thanked the community members and organizations that worked tirelessly with them on these measures, including many retired teachers, the Cowen Institute, the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools, and the Eastbank Collaborative. Finally, the board also authorized a payment of $1.2 million to the RSD for alternative education services.

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Legislative Session Procedural Wrap-up

Today is the last day of the 2010 legislative session. All bills adopted by the legislature that have not already been sent to the governor’s desk for approval will now go there. In accordance with the Louisiana Constitution, the governor has ten days after a bill is delivered to him to sign or veto it if the legislature is still in session on the tenth day after delivery. Otherwise, the governor has twenty days if on the tenth day after delivery the legislature has adjourned. Thus, for each bill that reached the governor’s desk on June 12 or later, he has twenty days from the day it reached him to sign or veto the bill. If he does neither, it will become law upon the expiration of the ten (or 20, as the case may be) day period.  Bills that become law are deemed Acts, they will take effect on August 15, 2010 unless provided otherwise in the text of the act.

Several education bills from this session have already been enacted, which you can view in our weekly bill lists in the sidebar at left. We will continue to keep you updated as more bills from this session become effective as laws.

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House Committee Activity

Last week, the House Education Committee met on Tuesday, June 15. The following items were considered:

HCR10 (Hoffman) – This resolution requests the State BESE to study school nurse salaries throughout the state. It was reported favorably.
HCR225 (Smith, P.) – This resolution requests BESE to evaluate the effectiveness of sex education curricula used throughout the state, including the programs of the Office of Louisiana Youth for Excellence (LYFE) within the governor's office. It was reported with amendments.
HCR242 (Thibaut) – This resolution suspends in part R.S. 17:3141.2(5), relative to the definition of a proprietary school as it is applicable to yoga teacher training, until 60 days after final adjournment of the 2011 Regular Session. It was reported favorably.
SB309 (LaFleur) – This bill provides relative to habitual absence or tardiness of students. It was reported with amendments.
SB533 (LaFleur) – This bill requires BESE to increase the availability of electronic textbooks and instructional materials. It was reported with amendments.
SB553 (LaFleur) – This bill requires BESE to develop an early high school graduation policy. It was reported favorably.
SB584 (Peterson) – This bill creates the Louisiana Statewide Education Facilities Authority. It was reported with amendments.
SB701 (Marionneaux) – This bill provides relative to options available to certain high school dropouts pursuant to court order. It was reported with amendments. For a Times-Picayune article on the bill, click here.
SB744 (Marionneaux) – This bill exempts certain funds in existing qualified tuition programs from attachment, levy, garnishment or legal process. It was reported favorably.
SB746 (Jackson, L.) – This bill requires the Board of Regents to submit a report to certain legislative committees regarding the formula adopted to fund institutions of post secondary education. It was reported favorably.
SB728 (Broome) – This bill reduces the number of years of teaching experience needed by an out-of-state teacher to qualify for a La. teaching certificate without taking the PRAXIS from 4 to 3. It was reported favorably.

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Senate Committee Activity

Last week, the Senate Education Committee met on Thursday, June 17. The following items were considered:

HCR235 (Carmody) – This resolution requests the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to collect information relative to the use by local school boards of corporal punishment. It was reported favorably.
HCR243 (Badon, A.) – This resolution provides legislative approval of the MFP formula for FY 10-11 adopted by BESE on June 8, 2010. It was reported with amendments.
HCR246 (Norton) – This resolution requests BESE to collect certain information relative to the use by local school boards of corporal punishment. It was reported favorably.

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