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EMERGENCY ACTION NEEDED: Tell Lawmakers: Don’t Silence the Voice of Public Employees
Tell lawmakers: Don’t silence the voice of public employees!
In an effort to silence the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and other public sector unions, bills have been introduced to strike at the unions’ source of funding. Read more here.
A Threat to the Existence of Advocacy Organizations
Freedom of speech and freedom of association are crucial to a representative form of government. Prohibiting the payroll deduction of union dues would stifle those freedoms and ultimately weaken our democracy.
Take Action Now!
HB 172, HB 451 and HB 1059 have been assigned to the House Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations. They could be heard as early as Wednesday, April 30.
Please take action now, and ask members to vote NO when these bills come before them.
LFT Weekly Legislative Digest- April 25, 2014
Louisiana Federation of Teachers
Weekly Legislative Digest
April 25, 2014
Steve Monaghan, President * Les Landon, Editor
2014 Regular Legislative Session
Now available on the Web at http://la.aft.org
Check out all things legislative on the LFT’s Legislative Resource Page!
URGENT teleconference about our future
Issues that could change our future will be discussed on a Tele-townhall conference Monday, April 28 at 5:30 P.M.
LFT President Steve Monaghan and Legislative Director Mary-Patricia Wray will be there to discuss some bills that could silence the voices of teachers and school employees, and other bills that will have a dramatic effect on retiree income.
Please call (855)-756-7520 Ext.24667# at 5:30 P.M. Monday to learn more and to take action!
Tele-townhall topic: Your payroll choice will be on the line next Wednesday!
Three bills are expected to be heard by the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on April 30. In an effort to silence the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and other public sector unions, these bills will strike at our source of funding.
HB 172 by Rep. Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge), HB 451 by Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) and HB 1059, also by Rep. Talbot would prohibit public sector unions from collecting member dues through payroll deduction. They are an effort to silence any voice of opposition.
The right of union members to pay their dues through payroll deduction is neither a special privilege nor a burden on taxpayers. It is a service that is available to credit unions, insurance companies and other recognized vendors, as well as unions.
Freedom of speech and freedom of association are crucial to a representative form of government. Prohibiting the payroll deduction of union dues would stifle those freedoms and ultimately weaken our democracy.
Tele-townhall topic: Bills would help, hurt retiree income
Bills are under consideration that would provide much-needed Cost of Living Adjustments for retired public servants, including teachers and school employees.
Another would make it very difficult to grant COLAs in the future.
One package of bills is aimed at funding COLAs from the experience accounts of retirement systems for teachers, school employees, state employees and state police. The increases amount to a bit less than $30 per month for each retiree.
The bills, SB 16, SB 18, SB 19 and SB 21, are all authored by the chair of the Senate Retirement Committee, Sen. Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas). Because of the way Sen. Guillory linked the fates of the four bills, all of them must pass in order for any of the retirees to get a COLA.
The other bill, HB 1225 by Rep. Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette) would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the four major state retirement systems to provide beneficiaries with cost-of-living increases in the future.
Learn more about these important issues, and what YOU can do, at the LFT Tele-townhall on Monday afternoon at 5:30 P.M. Just call(855)-756-7520 Ext.24667# at 5:30 P.M. Monday to participate.
Panel okays agreement on teacher due process
Without opposition, an agreement to change the way teachers are disciplined and dismissed under Act 1 of 2012 was approved by the House Education Committee and sent to the House floor for a vote.
HB 987 by Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Bossier City) is the result of hours of negotiations between the Jindal administration, the LFT and other organizations including the LAE, A+PEL, school board, principals and superintendents.
While the bill is limited to sections of Act 1 that deal with the discipline and dismissal of teachers, LFT President Steve Monaghan said it is a good first step toward bringing education reforms in line with teacher expectations.
The bill would replace several sections of law that virtually abolished the due process rights of teachers who were labeled as ineffective under Act 1. No longer would the superintendent have the sole final word on dismissal of teachers. Termination decisions would be reviewed by a hearing officer chosen from a list of qualified persons selected by the school board.
Unlike Act 1’s provision, in which a three-person panel’s recommendation is not binding, the hearing officer may overrule a superintendent’s decision. The bill includes a number of other revisions aimed at making sections of Act 1 into a clearer, fairer process.
Not only did the bill win unanimous approval from the committee, no cards of opposition were entered at the hearing – an indication that the governor’s office has signaled his allies that this bill has his full support.
Bill to review Value Added Model wins approval
A bill that would subject the controversial Value Added Model of teacher evaluation to serious review was unanimously approved by the House Education Committee.
HB 415 by Rep. Frank Hoffman (R-West Monroe) would empower a committee to study VAM and ensure that it is a fair and accurate evaluation tool before it is re-implemented in 2015.
Last fall the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education suspended use of VAM because of concerns about its accuracy.
Rep. Hoffman, the author of the law creating the Value Added Model, said he still believes in the concept, but must be assured that it is accurate. He noted that in one Monroe elementary school, all five fourth grade teachers were rated ineffective by VAM.
“The odds against that are 100,000 to one,” he said.
Rep. Hoffman said that some schools with “A” grades have a high number of “Ineffective” rated teachers, while some graded “D” or “F” by the state have a large number of “Highly Effective” rated teachers.
“Let us bring back a system that reconciles these differences,” he said.
The bill will convene an existing subcommittee of the accountability commission, including six classroom teachers and a member of the House and Senate. The committee will be expected to issue a report 60 days prior to the start of the 2015 school year.
LFT Legislative Director Mary-Patricia Wray said the bill is a step toward making the COMPASS evaluation system fair and accurate. Still to be done, she said, is an evaluation of the way a second quantitative evaluation program, Student Learning Targets, and has been implemented in the state.
A second instrument aimed at making the evaluation process more fair failed on a tie vote.
HCR 2 by Rep. Vincent Pierre (D-Lafayette) would have changed a BESE rule that conflicts with the intent of Act 54 of 2010, which established the state evaluation program.
When lawmakers adopted Act 54, they required 50% of a teacher’s evaluation to be based on a quantitative score such as the Value Added Model or Student Learning Target, and 50% on a qualitative evaluation or observation.
BESE’s rule, however, says that a teacher ruled “Ineffective” on either half is automatically judged “Ineffective.” A teacher who gets a high quantitative score and a low qualitative score could be judged “Ineffective,” even though the teacher’s score average would be “Effective.”
When the resolution came to a vote, the committee tied 8-8, and it failed to pass.
Plan to lessen impact of unexcused absences proceeds
A bill that would prohibit including the test scores of habitually absent students in teacher evaluations was unanimously approved by the House Education Committee.
If HB 533 by Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) becomes law, the test scores of students who have 10 or more unexcused absences in a semester could not be counted as part of a teacher’s evaluation.
LFT Legislative Director Mary-Patricia Wray, who supported the bill, said the proposal would have no effect next year because the Value Added Model has been suspended. She said a need remains to review the way Student Learning Targets are processed at the local level.
House kills attack on union staff
A bill that would prevent future employees of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and three other organizations from participating in the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana was killed by the House of Representatives.
HB 45 by Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) was one of two bills facing the House that would prohibit future staff members of the LFT, the Louisiana Association of Educators, the Associated Professional Educators of Louisiana and the Louisiana Resource Center for Educators from becoming members of TRSL.
Rep. Seabaugh’s bill died on a 44-50 vote on the House floor. A similar bill, HB 25 by Rep. Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge), awaits floor action. Under Rep. Talbot’s bill, current staff members of those organizations would not be allowed to remain members of TRSL.
Under current law, teachers and school employees who go to work for the organizations retain their membership in the retirement system. That is a longstanding courtesy for retirement system employees.
Bill defining teacher status approved
A bill that defines several levels of teachers in order to provide appropriate professional development was approved by the House Education Committee.
HB 1129 by Rep. Ledricka Thierry (D-Opelousas) would create new categories of teachers called Transfer Teachers, Novice Teachers, Emerging Teachers, Provisional Teachers, Professional Teachers and Master Teachers.
As originally proposed, the new law would be very expensive to implement, and could be considered an unfunded mandate on school systems. An amendment was added making implementation voluntary by local school districts. The amended version was approved by 10-6.
Planning time bill fails in committee
A resolution that would have guaranteed teacher planning time would not be diverted to other uses such as staff meetings failed in the House Education Committee
HCR 46 by Rep. Barbara Norton (D-Shreveport) would have required schools to ensure that the 45 minutes of daily planning time already provided by law is not encroached upon.
Red River United President Jackie Lansdale said that the resolution simply specifies what may be considered planning time. Teachers need the time to prepare lessons, grade papers and tend to reporting requirements. Mandatory staff meetings encroach on teacher planning time, she said.
The resolution was opposed by principals and the Department of Education. It failed on a 60-7 vote.
House kills bill to elect state superintendent of education
A bill asking for a constitutional amendment to elect the state superintendent of education was roundly defeated by the House of Representatives.
HB 125 by Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Gray) would have called for an election allowing voters to change the state constitution to choose the state superintendent by ballot. The bill, which would have required a two-thirds majority to pass, failed by 40-56.
A second bill asking for an elected superintendent, HB 127, remains on the calendar. It is also authored by Rep. Harrison.
Senate returns Baton Rouge restructuring bill to calendar
After winning unanimous approval in the Senate Education Committee, a plan to restructure the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board was returned to the calendar by the full Senate.
SB 636 by Sen. Bodi White (R-Central) would create new community school councils and give principals greater authority over personnel decisions, as well as contracting for a range of services.
A mirror image of the bill, HB 1177 by Rep. Steve Carter (R-Baton Rouge) was the subject of hours of acrimonious testimony in the House Education Committee last week, and was voluntarily deferred by the author.
Teacher arrest bill passes House
An LFT-sponsored bill plan to prevent the arrest of teachers at school for minor offenses passed the House of Representatives on an 89-0 vote.
HB 1108 by Rep. Terry Landry (D-New Iberia) would require issuance of a misdemeanor summons “for any misdemeanor act allegedly committed during the course and scope of the school employee’s employment.”
The employee would be required to answer a summons and appear in court on the charges. The bill does not apply to serious offenses or injuries to students.
The bill now moves to the Senate for further action.
Amendment would protect higher ed funding
A proposed Constitutional amendment that would prohibit the supplanting of state funds with tuition and fee increases was unanimously approved by the House Appropriations Committee.
HB 222 by Rep. Walt Leger (D-New Orleans) is a response to criticism of budgets proposed by the Jindal administration over the past several years. The governor has cut state funding, but allowed raises in tuition and fees at state colleges and universities. Budget hawks in the legislature consider those to be tax increases on students and their families.
Retirement bills proceed
Two bills that would provide cost of living adjustments to retired teachers and school employees, SB 21 and SB 19 by Sen. Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas) were approved without objection by the House Retirement Committee. LFT supports these bills.
The union does not support a separate bill, HB 1225 by Rep. Joel Robideaux, which would make it more difficult to put money into the experience accounts that pay for COLAs. Unfortunately, it is linked to the four bills that would provide COLAS for all public employee retirement system members. If the bill does not pass, neither will the COLAs. The bill was also approved without objection by the committee.
Committee considers BESE bills
A bill that would make BESE members more accountable to the public was approved by the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.
HB 277 by Rep, Bret Geymann (R-Lake Charles) would define and prohibit conflicts of interest among BESE members, the superintendent and their immediate families. It would increase reporting requirements to the Louisiana Ethics Board. It would prohibit their involvement in employment or contracts undertaken because of or as a result of their role as a BESE member, under which they would incur a substantial benefit.
A separate bill by Rep. Geymann, HB 374, would have made all BESE seats elected positions. Currently, eight members are elected from districts and three are appointed by the governor. The bill was involuntarily deferred by the committee.
The committee also considered HB 870 by Rep. Dee Richard (I-Thibodaux), which would have prevented charter school management boards from contracting management and operational services to third parties. The bill, which had the support of LFT, was voluntarily deferred by its author.
Senate panel defers education bills
The Senate Education Committee has become known as the place where education bills go to die. Here is a rundown of this week’s obituaries:
SB 175 by Rep. Karen Carter Peterson (D-New Orleans) would have repealed the Louisiana Science Education Act, widely believed to be a side door for the teaching of creationism in public schools. For the fourth year in a row, this effort to repeal the act was defeated.
SB 219 by Sen. Edwin Murray (D-New Orleans) would have streamlined the process by which unused Recovery School District properties are returned to the original public school system. Sen. Murray voluntarily deferred his bill because the Orleans Parish School Board is working on an agreement with RSD to deal with Orleans Parish properties. Eventually, he said, a bill will have to be revisited in other parishes where the RSD operates.
SB 225 by Sen. Murray was intended to stop the practice by which charter school operators use complicated schemes to lease property from “sister companies” above fair market value using public education funds. The money, Sen. Murray said, should be used to educate children, not enrich corporations. The bill was involuntarily deferred.
Health care and employment bills considered
Several bills dealing with health care and employment issues were heard by committees.LFT supported the bills.
SB 96 by Sen. Ben Nevers (D-Bogalusa) is a constitutional amendment that would expand Medicaid in Louisiana to cover nearly 400,000 uninsured citizens, bringing $15 billion in federal funds to Louisiana over the next ten years. LFT supported the bill. It was deferred by a vote of 6-2 by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.
SB 322 by Sen. Ed Murray (D-New Orleans) would create a mechanism for reporting violations of equal pay laws and enforcement of those laws. LFT supports this bill. It was recommended favorably by the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
SB 443 by Sen. Murray would apply the provisions of the Equal Pay Act to political subdivisions and local governments. LFT supports this bill. It was recommended favorably by the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
SB 334 by Karen Carter Peterson would apply the provisions of the Equal Pay Act to private employers and government contractors. LFT supports this bill. It was recommended favorably by the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
SB 501 by Sen. Wesley Bishop (D-New Orleans) would allow 16 year olds to complete early voter registration. LFT supports this bill. It was recommended favorably by the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee heard HB 658 by Rep. Barbara Norton (D-Shreveport) and HB 956 by Rep. Julie Stokes (R-Kenner) and Sen. Sherri Buffington (R-Keithville), dealing with equal pay for women. Rep. Norton’s bill failed in a 9-5 vote and Rep. Stokes bill was amended to exempt cases of underpayment to women when such underpayment is not “intentional.” HB 956 was passed out of committee.
Two minimum wage increase bills were heard by the Senate Labor Committee. SB 123 by Sen. Ben Nevers (D-Bogalusa) was involuntarily voluntarily deferred. SB 46 by Sen. Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb was voluntarily deferred and will be heard again next week.
The week ahead
Monday, April 28
House Floor:
HB 1178 by Rep. Dalton Honore (D-Baton Rouge) would decrease the number of members on the EBR school board to 7, thereby disenfranchising voters. LFT opposes this bill.
HB 703 by Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) would prevent BESE from overturning the decision of a local school board that rejects a charter school application. LFT supports this bill.
HB 127 by Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Gray) would make the State Superintendent position elected. LFT supports this bill.
House Appropriations Committee:
HB 380 by Rep. Bret Geymann (R-Lake Charles) would prohibit the use of state funds for PARCC without legislative authority. LFT is monitoring this bill.
House Civil Law Committee:
HB 222 by Rep. Walt Leger (D-New Orleans) would prohibit supplanting state higher education dollars with tuition and fees. LFT supports this bill.
Senate Finance Committee:
SB 548 by Sen. Sharon Weston-Broome (D-Baton Rouge) would require verification of equal pay practices in public contracts. LFT supports this bill.
Senate Retirement Committee:
HB 6 by Rep. Kevin Pearson (R-Slidell) would increase the employer contribution for higher education members in the optional retirement plan on a graduated plan. LFT supports this bill.
Tuesday, April 29
House Floor:
HB 533 by Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) would eliminate the data of students who have 10 or more unexcused absences from being used in calculation of VAM scores. LFT supports this bill and is working to include excused absences as an invalidating factor for student absences as well.
House Education Committee:
HB 953 by Rep. Walt Leger (D-New Orleans) will be heard. The bill will be amended to provide for another year of delay on implementation of PARCC. LFT is monitoring this bill.
HB 993 by Rep. John Schroder (R-Covington) would create a single diploma track with multiple endorsements in order to ensure that student with exceptionalities earn a meaningful, appropriate high school diploma.
HB 995 by Rep. Alfred Williams (D-Baton Rouge) would replace COMPASS with a system of teacher evaluations based on multiple measures. LFT supports this bill.
HB1172 by Rep. Wesley Bishop (D-New Orleans) would provide for a graduated increase in due process rights based on experience. LFT is monitoring this bill.
HB 1208 by Rep. Vincent Pierre (D-Lafayette) would require charter schools to provide transportation for students attending their schools, in certain parishes. The bill will be amended to clarify that the cost of transportation shall be the responsibility of the charter school, not of the local school system. LFT supports this bill with proposed amendments.
Wednesday, April 30
House Education Committee:
HB359 by Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Gray) would pause the current letter grade component of the district accountability system. LFT supports this bill.
HB 735 by Rep. Ted James (D-Baton Rouge) would improve upon the “reverse parent trigger” law passed last session to allow more parents to participate in the process of returning failing RSD schools to control of the local school board. This is part of LFT’s package of bills.
HB 982 by Rep. Randal Gaines (D-LaPlace) would revise discipline and termination procedures for teachers to include arbitration. LFT is monitoring this bill.
Correction
An article in last week’s Legislative Digest incorrectly quoted a witness testifying on behalf of HB 703 by Rep. John Bel Edwards in the House Education Committee. Here is a corrected version:
A witnesses from Lafayette told the panel that after their school board rejected charter applications BESE overruled the local officials, and the system lost $7 million in MFP funds as a result.
“It is with a heavy heart,” she said, “that I’ve come to believe the Department of Education does not want public education to succeed in my parish.”
ACTION ALERT: Tell Pearson’s Board of Directors to Lift the “Gag Orders” and work with teachers to fix their tests!
Right now—7AM EST on April 25th—the AFT’s chief of staff and one of our researchers are in London working to change the culture of high-stakes standardized testing here in America.
They’re attending the annual shareholders meeting of Pearson Education, the largest for-profit education, testing and book publishing company in the world, demanding that the company remove contractual “gag orders” that prevent educators from talking about Pearson’s tests, and asking Pearson to sit down with parents, teachers, principals and students to address legitimate concerns about these tests.
In New York, teachers and principals who administered Pearson’s Common Core-related assessments have raised red flags about test content that isn’t age-appropriate and doesn’t align with student learning. But, because of a gag order written into the contract, educators are forbidden from discussing the content or quality of the tests—they can’t even tell parents what’s on the test their children are taking.
There are many other examples like this across the country.
The gag orders don’t help students learn or help schools improve—their only obvious purpose is to protect the corporation’s interests. That’s not right. Pearson’s secretive tests have huge consequences for students and their families, teachers, schools and communities. The tests need to assess what students have learned—they need to be accurate, properly aligned and fair. That’s why transparency is so important and this gag order is so wrong.
Our children are not test scores, and our teachers are not algorithms. We need to stop this testing fixation, change the culture of high-stakes testing and hold the corporations that are profiting from these tests accountable. The Pearson shareholders meeting is a perfect time to demand that Pearson be accountable to our schools and communities. Pearson’s gag order is not in the best interests of children, teachers or schools.
Accountability goes both ways. Stand with us to tell Pearson and the company’s board of directors to drop the gag order and work with stakeholders to make the tests transparent and fair.
Educators know what our children need in the classroom. Their voices should be respected by the companies paid by public dollars to create and score tests, not silenced by gag orders.
I hope you’ll stand with us,
In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
P.S. You can read the full letter we delivered to Pearson’s board here.<http://afl.salsalabs.
President’s Message– Planning Time: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Planning Time: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
- The Good – Planning time is in law.
§434. Planning time and lunch periods for teachers; required
A.(1) The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall adopt necessary rules and regulations requiring, beginning with the 2000-2001 school year, each city and parish school board to provide a minimum of forty-five minutes daily planning time, or its weekly equivalent, and a minimum of thirty minutes for lunch each day which shall be duty-free for every teacher actively engaged in the instruction and supervision of students in the public schools. Implementation of planning time and lunch periods as required in this Section for teachers shall not result in a lengthened school day.
(2) The provisions of this Subsection shall be subject to the availability of state funds for this purpose.**
B. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to affect the provisions of R.S. 17:154.1 relative to required instructional time in the school day.
C. This Section shall not apply to a city or parish school board operating under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement applicable to teachers employed by the board.
**The MFP is the only funding source from the state and it is considered fully funded.
- The Bad – There is no definition for planning. Other states i.e. Texas, Arkansas, have definitions limiting what can and cannot be required during planning time. This is not a power grab from principals. This is to address statewide issues in interpretation of planning time.
- The Ugly – In order to remedy the lack of definition in Louisiana Code, we asked the House Education to pass a resolution requiring The State Board of Education to provide a definition.
- The Good – Representative Barbara Norton supported educators by sponsoring the resolution.
- The Bad – The resolution failed by 2 votes.
- The Ugly – Although two of our local legislators, Thompson and Reynolds supported teachers voting yes, two of our local legislators, Burns and Carmody voted against it.
- The Good, the really Good! – During his testimony, State Superintendent John White stated that planning is in law and not providing it is a violation of law. (video)
In speaking with Superintendent White, we shared that we were poised to go to court regarding planning time violations. He indicated that we should. We expressed that we would call him as an expert witness.
Where we stand – please review the law as provided above. Any violation of any portion of this law should be immediately reported. We have worked this through the grievance process, therefore, any further violations on any aspect of this law, we go to court.
URGENT teleconference about our future- Monday April 28 at 5:30 PM!
URGENT teleconference about our future
Issues that could change our future will be discussed on a Tele-townhall conferenceMonday, April 28 at 5:30 P.M.
LFT President Steve Monaghan and Legislative Director Mary-Patricia Wray will be there to discuss some bills that could silence the voices of teachers and school employees, and other bills that will have a dramatic effect on retiree income.
Please call (855)-756-7520 Ext.24667# at 5:30 P.M. Monday to learn more and to take action!
Tele-townhall topics:
Your payroll choice will be on the line next Wednesday!
Three bills are expected to be heard by the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on April 30. In an effort to silence the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and other public sector unions, these bills will strike at our source of funding.
HB 172 by Rep. Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge), HB 451 by Rep. Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) and HB 1059, also by Rep. Talbot would prohibit public sector unions from collecting member dues through payroll deduction. They are an effort to silence any voice of opposition.
The right of union members to pay their dues through payroll deduction is neither a special privilege nor a burden on taxpayers. It is a service that is available to credit unions, insurance companies and other recognized vendors, as well as unions.
Freedom of speech and freedom of association are crucial to a representative form of government. Prohibiting the payroll deduction of union dues would stifle those freedoms and ultimately weaken our democracy.
Bills would help, hurt retiree income
Bills are under consideration that would provide much-needed Cost of Living Adjustments for retired public servants, including teachers and school employees.
Another would make it very difficult to grant COLAs in the future.
One package of bills is aimed at funding COLAs from the experience accounts of retirement systems for teachers, school employees, state employees and state police. The increases amount to a bit less than $30 per month for each retiree.
The bills, SB 16, SB 18, SB 19 and SB 21, are all authored by the chair of the Senate Retirement Committee, Sen. Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas). Because of the way Sen. Guillory linked the fates of the four bills, all of them must pass in order for any of the retirees to get a COLA.
The other bill, HB 1225 by Rep. Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette) would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the four major state retirement systems to provide beneficiaries with cost-of-living increases in the future.
Learn more about these important issues, and what YOU can do, at the LFT Tele-townhall on Monday afternoon at 5:30 P.M. Just call (855)-756-7520 Ext.24667# at 5:30 P.M. Monday to participate.
Louisiana Federation of Teachers Weekly Legislative Digest- April 19, 2014
Louisiana Federation of Teachers
Weekly Legislative Digest
April 18, 2014
Steve Monaghan, President * Les Landon, Editor
2014 Regular Legislative Session
Now available on the Web at http://la.aft.org
Check out all things legislative on the LFT’s Legislative Resource Page!
Agreement reached on teacher due process
This statement was released by Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan Friday morning:
The governor’s office has announced that a substitute bill, HB 987, has been introduced and contains language aimed at resolving certain concerns about the process outlined in Act 1 (2012) for disciplining and dismissing teachers.
Since January, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and other stakeholders have worked with the governor’s office to improve the process by addressing our shared concerns.
These discussions included an honest give-and-take and a frank sharing of all perspectives. Our conversations were limited to the sections of Act 1 dealing with the discipline and dismissal procedures (17:441,442, 443, and 444).
The LFT and others expressed our wide-ranging concerns with different aspects of the Act and shared our ideas regarding the sections on the table. The question before us is whether the proposal in HB 987 is a fairer and clearer process than under current law.
The Louisiana Federation of Teachers believes that the answer to that basic question is “Yes, it is better.”
We look forward to working with all stakeholders to advance these changes and create a fair review process in those relatively rare instances where teachers may be subject to discipline or dismissal.
The Federation certainly reserves the right to consider- amendments that we believe strengthen the process further. We look forward to supporting the work of the participating stakeholders.
Step taken to curb charter school abuse
Louisiana took a baby step toward curbing abuse by charter school operators when the House Education Committee approved HB 703 by Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite). The 8-7 vote marked the first time that a bill that does anything other than expand charter schools made it out of committee.
The bill would prevent the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education from overruling local school districts rated “A,” “B” or “C” that deny charter school applications.
Witnesses from Lafayette told the panel that after their school board rejected charter applications BESE overruled the local officials, and the system lost $7 million in MFP funds as a result.
“It is with a heavy heart,” she said, “that I’ve come to believe the Department of Education wants public education to succeed in my parish.”
LFT President Steve Monaghan said that BESE’s approval of charters that are not wanted by local school systems is “a politicized agenda aimed at painting public education as bad and charter school education as good. Neither is necessarily true.”
In his closing statement, Rep. Edwards called BESE’s actions “the arrogant hand of big government in Baton Rouge, approving charters after they’ve been denied by high-performing school districts.”
The bill is included in the LFT Legislative Agenda.
Baton Rouge school system under legislative assault
In a scenario reminiscent of the destruction of New Orleans’ public schools following Hurricane Katrina, lawmakers have introduced a flurry of bills that some fear will lead to less community involvement and the wholesale charterization of the district.
HB 1177 by Rep. Steve Carter (R-Baton Rouge) mirrors another bill, SB 636 by Sen. Bodi White (R-Central), which was unanimously approved by the Senate Education Committee last week. The bill would create new community school councils and give principals greater authority over personnel decisions, as well as contracting for a range of services.
In hours of testimony, principals told the House Education Committee that they do not want the additional responsibility of contracting for food service, transportation, health care and other benefits, on top of their academic responsibilities.
Federation President Steve Monaghan said that the plan was concocted by the Chamber of Commerce and a University of Washington think tank without input from local educators.
“When will we learn that we won’t reinvent public education if we don’t involve teachers,” he said. “There will be uncertainty and discord.”
Many opponents believe that the school model promoted in the bill will eventually lead to all Baton Rouge schools being turned over to charter school operators.
As midnight approached, Rep. Carter voluntarily deferred his bill until next week.
A second bill, HB 1178 by Rep. Dalton Honore (D-Baton Rouge) would reduce the membership of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board from 11 members to seven. Opponents say they fear it will unfairly dilute community involvement in public education.
School Board member dies suddenly after meeting
In a sad coda to the House Education Committee meeting, East Baton Rouge Parish School Board Member Randy Lamana collapsed and died while walking to his car after the meeting.
The Louisiana Federation of Teachers extends condolences to Mr. Lamana’s family and to his constituents.
Teacher arrest bill vote rescheduled
An LFT-sponsored bill plan to prevent the arrest of teachers at school for minor offenses will be the subject of a vote onThursday, April 24.
HB 1108 by Rep. Terry Landry (D-New Iberia) would require issuance of a misdemeanor summons “for any misdemeanor act allegedly committed during the course and scope of the school employee’s employment.”
The employee would be required to answer a summons and appear in court on the charges. The bill does not apply to serious offenses or injuries to students.
The bill was originally scheduled to be heard on the House floor on April 17. Please click here to send an LFT Action Center campaign message in support of the bill.
Panel deliberates school financing
The House Appropriations Committee began its discussion of Schedule 19 of the state budget, which includes the $3.5 billion Minimum Foundation Program, the state Recovery School District, Department of Education and higher education.
LFT President Steve Monaghan decried the anticipated $55 million shortfall in the MPF, saying that funding issues have created chaos in public education. A report last January said that teacher retirements have spiked by 25 percent.
“The budget drives policies,” Monaghan said, “and those policies are chasing away good teachers. We are asking that the money go to where it will do the most good.”
The chief financial officer for St. Charles Parish schools said that 60 percent of special funding for severely disabled children goes to charter schools and the recovery School District, leaving only 40 percent for traditional public schools.
Two charter bills blocked
Two bills aimed at protecting school districts from some charter school practices were turned back by the House Education Committee.
HB89 by Rep. Gregory Miller (R-Norco) would have required the Minimum Foundation Program to include a line item identifying the amount of money in the formula intended to pay for teacher retirement costs, including the unfunded accrued liability of the retirement system.
About half of the state’s charter schools do not participate in the Teachers’ Retirement System, even though they get the full MFP allocation for students. The bill would have made it easy to see how much money is lost to TRSL because those charters do not participate. The bill failed on a 5-10 vote.
A second bill, HB 184 by Rep. Kenny Havard (R-Jackson) would have prevented charter schools from leasing property formerly owned by the school board to other parties.
Supporters said that some predatory charter operators could use complicated schemes to take advantage of Louisiana’s charter law.
Rep. Havard, who supported the act that expanded charter schools in the state, said he “thought the schools would be non-profit…I would not have supported it if I knew we would be sending millions of dollars to out-of-state corporations.”
The bill failed on a 5-11 vote.
Voucher accountability bill fails
Despite testimony that most of the private and religious schools that accept vouchers comingle their funds and cannot be accurately audited, the House Education Committee rejected a bill requiring fiscal accountability.
State Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera said his office has a “fiduciary responsibility to ensure the proper accounting of taxpayer dollars the same as any school in the public system.” But because some 90 percent of voucher schools don’t keep separate ledgers for their public and private funds, he said, it is not possible to accurately account for the money.
HB 836 by Rep. Joe Harrison (R-Gray) would have required nonpublic schools that accept vouchers to create an accountability system for public funds.
LFT President Steve Monaghan said that accountability should have been built into the law creating vouchers in 2012. Accurate tracking of the way taxpayer dollars are spent “is not an issue (with lawmakers) or this bill would pass,” he said.
The bill was rejected on 5-12 vote.
Panel rejects bills aimed at vouchers
Bills that would have clarified which students are eligible for vouchers did not emerge from the House Education committee this week.
HB 702 by Rep. John Bel Edwards would have removed eligibility for vouchers from students who are enrolled in schools graded “C” by the state. Current law allows children who meet income requirements to use vouchers if they attend schools that the state grades “A,” “B” or “C.”
If the intent of the law is to allow students to leave failing schools, Rep. Edwards said, schools graded “C” should not be included because that is not a failing grade.
LFT President Steve Monaghan took the argument a bit farther, saying that the whole grading system used for schools is inappropriate.
If a grade of “C” means a school is failing, Monaghan said, then it would be logical to make “A” and “B” the only passing grades for students.
The bill was rejected by a 6-10 vote of the committee.
Rep. Edwards voluntarily deferred his HB 702, which would have prevented kindergarten students who have access to an “A” or “B” school from enrolling in the voucher program.
LFT’s good government bills pass House
Two LFT-sponsored bills aimed at making government more transparent and honest were unanimously approved by the House of Representatives.
HB 181 by Rep. Randal Gaines (D-LaPlace) would prevent heads of the various state departments from preventing the grant of injunctions by falsely certifying that such injunctions would create a deficit. The bill will allow for oversight of the Joint Budget Committee before such certifications are submitted to a judge.
HB 322 by Rep. Sam Jones (D-Franklin) would require rulemaking agencies to post information about rule promulgations on their website.
Bill that would arm teachers is resisted
Faced with opposition from all sides, the author of a bill that would allow teachers to carry firearms at school withdrew it from committee consideration.
HB 707 by Rep. Ray Garofalo (R-Chalmette) would create an exception to the law prohibiting weapons on school campuses for educators who have concealed handgun permits and meet other criteria. Rep. Garofalo said he hoped his bill would “send a message to the criminals and crazies.”
LFT President Steve Monaghan joined opponents, including state representatives who are former law officers, in asking that the bill not be allowed to proceed.
Bills that would negate election results deferred
Three bills that would void local tax elections if fewer than 20 percent of voters cast ballots were voluntarily deferred in the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs.
SB 200, SB 201 and SB 517, all by Sen. Bret Allain (R-Franklin)
Return to work bills deferred
Two return-to-work bills were voluntarily deferred by their author in the Senate Retirement Committee.
SB29 by Sen. Mike Walsworth (R-West Monroe) would have allowed diagnosticians and reading specialists to return to work without consequence to their retirement benefit.
Current law limits the salary of returning retirees to 25% of their retirement benefit. If they make more than that, they must forego their retirement check during the time they are employed by a school district.
SB 555 by Sen. Blade Morrish (R-Jennings) would have allowed any retiree 65 or older to return to work without consequence to their retirement benefit. LFT supports both of these bills.
House okays expansion of voucher rebate
A bill that would expand a program that allows tax rebates for contribution to voucher funds was approved by the House of Representatives.
HB 780 by Rep. Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge) had stalled after it was amended to require annual audits of schools that participate in the voucher program. The full House stripped that amendment and passed the bill in its original form. It will next be heard by the Senate Education Committee. LFT opposes the bill.
BESE gives Teach for America a $1 million grant
As the legislature entered one of its busiest weeks, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education convened for its regular April meeting. With a short agenda, the board compressed its committee and plenary sessions into one day.
The Administration and Finance Committee approved a new $1million grant for Teach for America (TFA) to “recruit teachers.”
Dr. Lottie Beebe, Carolyn Hill, and Jane Smith voted against the measure. Walter Lee abstained, and Kira Orange Jones, who is employed by Teach for America in New Orleans, recused herself on that agenda item.
Connie Bradford, Chas Roemer, Jim Garvey, Dr. Judith Moranti, Holly Boffy and Jay Guillot supported the TFT grant. Following the 6-3 committee vote, the full board also approved the measure.
Jane Smith also added an agenda item that would alter the rules of BESE. She would require staff to provide members with physical copies of technical amendments to motions prior to a vote. Department staff was directed to come back with a plan to comply at the June meeting.
Following an executive session, the board announced that Superintendent of Education John White had a satisfactory annual evaluation.
The week ahead
Monday, April 21
Senate Finance Committee:
The Senate Finance Committee will discuss the Department of Education’s allocation in the proposed Executive budget.
Tuesday, April 22
House Appropriations Committee:
HB 222 by Rep. Walt Leger (D-New Orleans) is a Constitutional Amendment that would prevent the supplanting of state funds for tuition and fee increases at higher education institutions. LFT supports this bill.
Wednesday, April 23
House Health and Welfare Committee:
House Health and Welfare may hear a series of instruments that would expand Medicaid in Louisiana to cover nearly 400,000 uninsured citizens, bringing $15billion in federal funds to Louisiana over the next ten years. LFT support these instruments.
Senate Education Committee:
The MFP resolution is expected to be on the docket.
House Education Committee:
HB 1177 is expected to be back on the agenda
Thursday April 24
House Labor Committee:
HB 658 by Rep. Barbara Norton (D-Shreveport) and HB 956 by Rep. Julie Stokes (R-Kenner) and Senator Sherry Buffington (R-Shreveport) deal with equal pay for women. LFT supports both instruments
House Retirement Committee:
HB 1225 by Rep. Joel Robideaux (R-Lafayette) would make it more difficult to fund the account that pays for COLAs, and decrease the amount of each COLA that can be paid out. LFT opposes this bill and is expecting some amendments to be releasedon Monday the 21st.
SB21 and SB19 by Sen. Elbert Guillory (R-Opelousas) would grant COLAs to current retirees of the Teacher’s and School Employee’s retirement systems. LFT supports these bills.
[BREAKING NEWS]: Agreement Reached on Teacher Due Process
Agreement reached on teacher due process
(Baton Rouge – April 18, 2014) This statement was released by Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan this morning:
The governor’s office has announced that a substitute bill, HB 987, has been introduced and contains language aimed at resolving certain concerns about the process outlined in Act 1 (2012) for disciplining and dismissing teachers.
Since January, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and other stakeholders have worked with the governor’s office to improve the process by addressing our shared concerns.
These discussions included an honest give-and-take and a frank sharing of all perspectives. Our conversations were limited to the sections of Act 1 dealing with the discipline and dismissal procedures (17:441,442, 443, and 444).
The LFT and others expressed our wide-ranging concerns with different aspects of the Act and shared our ideas regarding the sections on the table. The question before us is whether the proposal in HB 987 is a fairer and clearer process than under current law.
The Louisiana Federation of Teachers believes that the answer to that basic question is “Yes, it is better.”
We look forward to working with all stakeholders to advance these changes and create a fair review process in those relatively rare instances where teachers may be subject to discipline or dismissal.
The Federation certainly reserves the right to consider- amendments that we believe strengthen the process further. We look forward to supporting the work of the participating stakeholders.
ACTION ALERT: Tell Lawmakers: Don’t Handcuff Teachers!
Tell lawmakers: Don’t handcuff teachers!
Last March, a veteran teacher in Baker, Louisiana was arrested, handcuffed, taken from school in a police car and jailed.
Why?
An eighth grader ignored the teacher’s request that he tuck in his shirt tail (a violation of school rules) and tried to slip past the teacher into her classroom. She took hold of his shirt tail to stop him.
The child’s parent notified the police, and by the time a law officer arrived at the school, newspaper reporters were already on the scene.
The police officer could have issued a misdemeanor summons asking the teacher to appear and answer to the parent’s charges. Instead, the teacher was hauled off to jail.
The district attorney refused to prosecute the case, but the damage to the teacher’s reputation was done. She had been humiliated in front of her students and peers.
There is now a bill in the legislature that would ensure this does not happen again.
Please click here to learn more about HB 1108 and ask your Representative to vote FOR the bill!
TAKE ACTION NOW: Call the Members of the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee before 1:30 PM 4/14/14!
LEADERSHIP ALERT!!!
Call the members of the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee before 1:30 P.M. today (April 14, 2014)!!
Three bills slated to be heard by the Senate Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee would cripple local governments’ ability to pass taxes and issue bonds.
Each of these bills would require more than 20 percent of voters to turn out in order for a tax election to be valid.
In effect, that would mean everyone who does not go to the polls votes “NO.” It means that important elections would be decided by the lazy, the disinterested and the uninformed. Think about how low the turnout is in many of your elections for new bond issues, millages and even for renewals of existing issues.
These are the bills up for a vote today. All of them are by Sen. Bret Allain (R-Franklin). The committee will convene at 1:30 P.M.
SB 200: Constitutional Amendment to require a minimum turnout of 20% of voters to approve a political subdivision or special district proposition to incur or assume debt, issue bonds, or levy a tax.
SB 201: Requires a minimum turnout of 20% of voters to approve a political subdivision proposition to incur or assume debt, issue bonds, or levy a tax.
SB 517: Prohibits the state bond commission from approving any tax exempt indebtedness if the proposition to incur such indebtedness was approved in an election in which turnout was less than 20% of registered voters.
Please call as many members of the committee as you can, and tell them to vote NO on SB 20, SB 201 and SB 517
| Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee |