Legislative Update for Monday, February 23 -‐ Friday, February 27 2015 Mandates o SB 674 by Sen. Jim Halligan, R-‐Stillwater ! Same as HB1685; extends the Tobacco Free Schools Act to ban all tobacco products on K-‐12 property 24/7. There is no penalty on the school district if someone violates this, just prescribed punishment for the violator. ! Passed Senate Floor on 2/26/15 and is Engrossed to the House. o HB 1290 by Rep. Dennis Casey, R-‐Morrison ! Unfunded/ underfunded mandate relief bill; states that mandates which are unfunded (0 funding) or underfunded (less than 75%), the local board can decide not to enforce the mandate; directs the SDE to make a list of all mandates and determine to what extent they are funded. ! Currently eligible for a vote on the House floor. Charters / ESA / Vouchers / Private Management o SB 302 by Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-‐OKC ! Amends the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act to permit a federally-‐recognized Indian tribe to sponsor a charter school, provided the charter school is located within the former reservation or treaty areas of the tribe or on property held in trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. ! Passed Senate Education Committee on 2/23/15. o HB 1696 by Rep. Lee Denney, R-‐Cushing ! Modifies OK Charter Schools Act to allow charter schools anywhere in the state. It adds the State Board of Education to the list of sponsors. Adds more accountability provisions than current law requires and new and additional charter application processes, powers and duties of the sponsors. The bill would require the SBE to establish a list of all public schools ranked numerically based on their A-‐F grades and the list must identify charter schools ranked in the bottom 5%. If the charter, at the time of renewal, is in the bottom 5% and has been for the preceding 2 years, the charter shall not be renewed. Finally, the bill also states that if the Legislature changes the grading system, only the charter schools who were not ranked in the bottom 5% under the old system, but are in the new, shall have the higher of the two rankings used for the year of the change. ! Passed House Common Education on 2/24/15. o SB 782 by Sen. Clark Jolley, R-‐Edmond ! Nearly identical to HB1696. ! Passed Senate Education Committee on 2/23/15. o SB 609 by Sen. Clark Jolley, R-‐Edmond ! ESA bill; can’t be enrolled in any public school in order to qualify; no income cap eligibility criteria; administered by State Treasurer’s Office; 80% of money generated would follow the child; the remaining 20% would stay with sending school district to provide a teacher pay raise, ! Passed Senate Education Committee 6-‐3 on 2/16/15. Passed Senate Finance Committee on 2/24/15.
Curriculum o SB 162 by Sen. Jim Halligan, R-‐Stillwater ! Would require the SBE to work with experts on testing exemptions for students with severe cognitive disabilities. ! Passed Senate Education committee on 2/16/15 and Senate Appropriations on 2/25/15. o HB 1622 by Rep. David Derby, R-‐Owasso ! Requires academic standards to be taught in with the goal of taking and passing the ACT. Replaces EOIs with ACT. ! Passed House Education Committee on 2/24/15. o HB 1535 by Rep. Todd Thomsen, R-‐Ada ! Requires school districts to implement an ongoing diagnostic testing program for all students in all grades throughout the year to measure their skills. It amends EOI testing and removes the requirement of passage of EOIs to graduate. Requires all 11th graders to take the ACT, and allows for remediation on failed subject areas. ! Passed House Common Education on 2/24/15. o SB 784 by Sen. Clark Jolley, R-‐Edmond ! Allows for the State Board of Education to adopt a common assessment used by institutions of higher education for admissions and placement by 2017-‐ 2018. ! Also this bill amends portions of the A-‐F grading system. ! Passed Senate Education Committee on 2/23/15 and Senate Appropriations on 2/25/15. o SB 708 by Sen. John Ford, R-‐Bartlesville ! Removes all non-‐federally mandated tests. ! Passed Senate Education Committee on 2/16/15 and Senate Appropriations on 2/25/15. o HB 1268 by Rep. Dennis Casey, R-‐Morrison ! Allows alternative paths to demonstrating financial literacy for students on an IEP. ! Passed House Common Education Committee on2/24/15. o SB 285 by Sen. Susan Paddack, D-‐Ada ! Requires early childhood education standards to be aligned with the new state academic standards (once those standards are adopted). ! Passed Senate Floor on 2/25/15 and is Engrossed to the House. o SB 707 by Sen. John Ford, R-‐Bartlesville ! Requires collaboration of state education agencies and the Department of Commerce to make recommendations for high school graduation requirements. Returns discretion over choice of assessments to the State Board of Education, which would allow for an ACT test. ! Passed Senate Education Committee on 2/23/15 and Senate Appropriations on 2/25/15. o HB 1272 by Rep. Dennis Casey, R-‐Morrison ! This bill would require a high school graduation assessment to be the same that higher education uses for purposes of admission and course placement. ! Passed House Common Education Committee on 2/24/15. Funding o HB 1749 by Rep. Tom Newell, R-‐Seminole ! This bill would prohibit payroll deductions for payment of professional dues by state agencies. In this bill, a school district, which is a political subdivision, is classified as a state agency. ! Passed the House Floor on 2/23/15 and is Engrossed to the Senate.
Teacher/ Employee Issues o SB 5 by Sen. Ron Sharp, R-‐Shawnee ! Limits liability for school employees and volunteers who use reasonable and necessary force to discipline a student. ! Passed Senate Floor on 2/25/15 and is Engrossed to the House. o SB 20 by Sen. Ron Sharp, R-‐Shawnee ! This bill would allow an out-‐of-‐state teacher with 5 years teaching experience to teach and be certified in the same subject/ grade level in Oklahoma that is most closely aligned with that teacher’s experience without having to take additional competency exams. ! Passed Senate Floor on 2/25/15 and is Engrossed to the House. Elections o HB 1275 by Rep. Josh Cockroft, R-‐Shawnee; ! Amends dates for school board elections. Filing remains in December, and if 3 or more candidates file for a seat, then there is a primary in February with a runoff in April. Otherwise, if there are only 2 candidates that file for a seat, the election is held in April. ! Passed the House on 2/16/15 and is Engrossed to the Senate. o HB 1440 by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-‐Enid ! Creates 16 year term limits for school board members (but excludes dependent districts and career techs). Currently seated members who exceed 16 cumulative years on a board can finish their term, but would be forever ineligible to run for a board seat in the same school district. Rumored that an amendment will be filed excluding “rural” districts as well. ! Eligible for a vote on the House Floor! o HB 1442 by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-‐Enid ! This bill would allow for an “at large” appointment to fill a vacant board seat for the remainder of the term. Once that seat is up for election, the seat would be vacated and only a candidate from that ward would be eligible to run for that seat. ! Passed the House on 2/26/15 and is Engrossed to the Senate. RSA o SB 630 by Sen. John Ford, R-‐Bartlesville ! This bill would extend the Reading Proficiency team to begin in the first grade with a sunset of 2020. It moves the cut score in third grade for promotion from “limited knowledge” to “proficient.” The team in first and second grade is to implement intense remediation to help the student read on grade level. The term consists of the student’s parent, current and subsequent grade level, certified reading specialist if available, and eliminates the principal. The principal and superintendent however, must approve the promotion of a student to 4th grade. ! Passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on 2/25/15. o SB 785 by Sen. Clark Jolley, R-‐Edmond ! This bill would also extend the Reading Proficiency team to being in the first grade for students identified as “unsatisfactory” and in second grade for students who are scoring “limited knowledge” or “unsatisfactory.” For promotion to 4th grade, a student must score at least “proficient.” ! Passed Senate Education Committee on 2/23/15 and Senate Appropriations Committee on 2/25/15. o HB 1523 by Rep. Katie Henke, R-‐Tulsa ! Removes the sunset provision from the Reading Proficiency Team. ! Passed House Common Education on 2/23/15.
TLE and A-F o SB 706 by Sen. John Ford, R-‐Bartlesville ! Delays full implementation of TLE until 2017-‐2018 and requires the State Board of Education and TLE Commission to study TLE to produce a system that promotes reflection and professional growth for teachers and leaders. Amends statute so that a school district has the option of evaluating teachers who were previously employed in another district and those who enter teaching post-‐retirement solely on the qualitative components of TLE. ! Passed Senate Education Committee on 2/23/15 and Senate Appropriations on 2/25/15. o HB 1690 by Rep. Lee Denney, R-‐Cushing (now by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-‐Enid) ! States that students who are in “in-‐patient” treatment or for medical reasons and are being education by a public school district, shall not have their grades including in the A-‐F school grade. ! Passed House Common Education Committee on 2/24/15. o HB 1763 by Rep. John Enns, R-‐Enid ! Creates a school district-‐wide grading policy and a “provisional diploma” for students unable to pass 4/7 EOIs. ! Passed House Common Education Committee on 2/24/15.