New Senate deregulation bill on the move

Senate Bill 12, the latest attempt to provide school districts with flexibility in employment issues in response to the budget crisis, passed the Senate Education Committee on Thursday, April 14. Many school districts are seeking changes to law that would give them more flexibility in teacher compensation and contract issues. SB 12 represents a marked improvement over the Senate’s previous mandate relief effort, SB 3, thanks in large part to the efforts of a bipartisan group of senators to include teacher groups in the development of the proposals. There is also a deregulation bill in the House, HB 400, which is far worse for teachers and students.

The original vehicle for this legislation was Senate Bill 3, on which TCTA has previously reported; the senators involved in the negotiation efforts, both Republicans and Democrats, felt strongly enough about supporting the revised bill that they wanted to serve as joint authors, prompting the switch to a new bill number. The joint authors of SB 12 are Sens. Florence Shapiro, Wendy Davis, Robert Duncan, Dan Patrick, and Royce West.

These senators and their staff members met with teacher, administrator and school board representatives for countless hours over several weeks in an attempt to hash out compromise language that would help minimize teacher layoffs during the current fiscal crisis. The final product does not represent a “perfect” solution, from either the teacher or administrator perspective, but it appears to be a genuine effort on the part of senators to balance the concerns of the stakeholders.

The bill includes a number of flexibility measures, some of which are unrelated to teacher salaries or contracts.

What SB 12 does:

• Allows districts to, under specified circumstances, make reductions in salaries and/or implement furloughs (involuntary, unpaid leave). A district could only take these actions if its per-pupil state funding were less than the per-pupil amount received in the current year (2010-11). The commissioner of education will calculate how much of a reduction each district is facing, and the combined salary cuts and furloughs could not exceed that level. (For example, if a district receives 5% less in per-pupil funding next year, it could implement salary reductions and/or furloughs representing no more than a 5% salary cut for employees.)
• Requires that salary reductions and furloughs apply to all contractual personnel (including administrators).
• Requires that districts consider other available options and seek staff input at a public meeting prior to implementing salary reductions and/or furloughs.
• Restricts the use of reductions in force (RIFs).  RIFs could be implemented, but only if still necessary after the salary reductions/furloughs.
• Revises the law regarding RIFs that involve continuing contracts. Under current law, a district offering continuing contracts that chooses to implement a RIF must lay off employees in reverse order of seniority. SB 12 removes that restriction.
• Moves the date by which districts must notify employees of a contract nonrenewal from the current 45 days prior to the last instructional day to 10 days prior.
• Clarifies the circumstances under which an employee’s contract is void for lack of certification.
• Changes the date by which a teacher must notify the district of a resignation from the current 45 days before the first instructional day to 30 days prior.
• Limits the annual assessment of student physical fitness to those students in grade 3 or above who are enrolled in a PE class.
• Ensures that students who are taking a high school level course in 8th grade (such as Algebra I) are not required to take both the relevant 8th grade assessment and the high school end-of-course assessment.
• Provides that districts with total state/local funding that is less than the combined funding available in 2010-11 will not be rated under the comptroller’s financial accountability system.
• Eliminates the requirement of a public hearing to discuss a tax authorization election, under certain circumstances.
• Allows districts to start remediation at the beginning of the following school year for students who do not perform satisfactorily on a standardized test after three attempts.

SB 12 could be on a collision course with HB 400, the deregulation proposal from House Public Education Committee Chair Rob Eissler. HB 400 has been voted out of committee on the House side, but has not yet been scheduled for House floor action. This bill takes a more draconian approach, eliminating the state minimum salary schedule, significantly watering down 22:1 class-size laws, and making it much easier for districts to lay off teachers. TCTA is working hard to ensure that HB 400 does not pass in its current form, and we will continue our efforts to enhance SB 12 to the benefit of Texas teachers and students.