Hello, Education Insiders! Every Friday Stand for Children Oklahoma will share with you what’s happening under the dome at 23rd and Lincoln in regards to all K-12 education legislation. If you have any questions, please contact our operations coordinator, Amy Stinnett, at [email protected], or Gwendolyn Caldwell, our government affairs director, at [email protected]. If you’d like to join us as a strong voice for education this session, please visit http://stand.org/oklahoma/ to see how you can help each child in Oklahoma receive a world-class education. Last week we asked our first Insider Trivia Question, and we got a winner! The question was: How many bills were we left with after the last deadline? The answer: 699. Our winner: Leslie Blair! By now, she’s probably reading (and hopefully enjoying) the book we mailed her, The Smartest Kids in the World, a New York Times bestseller by Amanda Ripley. Thanks for participating, Leslie! State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Appropriations and Budget on Education Committee on Wednesday to present the State Department of Education’s budget. The teacher shortage remained a key focal point as she addressed the budget challenges the state agency faces. She said we are already short 1,000 teachers and an anticipated budget cut would only serve to drive up that already crippling number. A 2 percent cut, she said, would translate to 1,781 missing teachers while a 4 percent cut would equal 2,810 teachers short. In light of this teacher shortage, Superintendent Hofmeister remains determined to increase our teacher pay along with instructional days – what’s been dubbed her #OKhigh5 plan – gradually over the next five years. Legislators across the board expressed appreciation for her goal, but with a $600 million budget hole, everyone has to expect some sort of cut. The House and Senate did not convene Thursday and will both be taking recess for the next two Thursdays. More budget cuts will increase Oklahoma teacher-shortage crisis, state superintendent Joy Hofmeister says Currently, the state is about 1,000 teachers short, Hofmeister said. A 2 percent cut in funding would increase that figure to 1,781, while a 4 percent cut would raise it to 2,810 teachers short, she said. Budget shortfall could hurt Oklahoma's education, health care, agency leaders warn The effects of a $611 million budget shortfall would have a huge impact on Oklahoma’s education and health care sectors, agency leaders warned on Wednesday. Editor's Notebook: Education standards, academic testing and school choice From an editor's notebook, a framework for new Oklahoma public education standards emerges, a legislative panel wants to reduce the number of standardized tests in schools, and Education Savings Accounts for Oklahoma parents and children are put on hold for a year. Oklahoma City schools superintendent wants changes to address district's suspension rate Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Rob Neu said an internal audit revealed the district is “over-suspending” black and Hispanic students, and he questioned whether suspensions for excessive truancies, tardies and absences are justified during a school board meeting Monday night. Testing bills dominate House subcommittee discussions Fewer tests and more flexibility continued to be this session’s favored line for education legislation during Monday’s spring break-abbreviated schedule in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. 2 Oklahoma bill targets state payroll deduction for teachers' union dues In what one lawmaker termed a poke in the eye to teachers, a divided Senate committee approved a House-passed bill Monday to prohibit tens of thousands of Oklahoma educators from paying union dues by state payroll deduction. Tulsa World Editorial: Children statewide should be able to enjoy the benefits of charter schools It’s time for all the children of Oklahoma to have access to the benefits of charter schools. Charter schools are public schools that are run with many of the benefits of private schools, including exemptions from many education rules and regulations. That allows for creative educational approaches. New study finds Reading Partners highly effective intervention for struggling readers Reading Partners operates tutoring centers in 15 local schools, matching 1,169 community volunteers with 784 students who are behind grade level in reading. Last year, 95 percent of students in the program increased their monthly rates of literacy learning. One year later: Hawthorne Elementary still struggling with teacher retention Now in her fourth year as principal at one of the city’s most at-risk schools, Bitson says she is beginning to accept that Hawthorne Elementary School’s reality is one of relentless challenge. OKC school counselor: End of instruction tests can be a burden for schools Reducing the number of tests would allow school counselors more time to help students apply for tech school, college and scholarships. It also would allow teachers more teaching time, which is what is most important. Tulsa World Editorial: Shelving of voucher plan is a victory for schools We see Wednesday’s news that backers are shelving an attempt to create a state school voucher system as a victory for grass-roots support of public schools. Trent England: What if grocery stores were like public schools? No doubt we could do better at achieving the goal of an educated public if we slipped the bonds of the status quo and determined to empower individuals to make their own choices in an expanding marketplace of educational opportunities. 3 We’re tracking hundreds of bills that will impact the success of Oklahoma students this session. But we’re paying especially close attention to a list of bills we’re calling our “Watch List.” As the session progresses, we’ll be updating the list as needed, but wanted you Education Insiders to be in the know. STATUS: Second Reading – Referred to Senate Committee COMMITTEE(1): S Education COMMITTEE(2): S Appropriations SUMMARY: Requires the State Board of Education to administer a valid and reliable criterion-referenced test that measures only reading proficiency and not proficiency in the language arts to determine the promotion and retention of third grade students pursuant to the Reading Sufficiency Act. (Amended by House, Stricken Title) STATUS: Second Reading – Referred to Senate Committee COMMITTEE(1): S Education COMMITTEE(2): S Appropriations SUMMARY: Establishes the School District Unfunded-Mandate Relief Program which will be administered by the State Board of Education to empower locally elected school district boards of education to avoid unfunded and underfunded state imposed mandates created by state law and associated State Board of Education rules. The bill requires that a school district will be deregulated from certain unfunded or underfunded mandates and associated State Board of Education rules places on upon the school district by the Legislature upon approval of the state board. The bill requires the State Board of Education rules, the amount of funding necessary to implement each mandate and associated State Board of Education rule, and the current level of funding provided by the Oklahoma Legislature to implement each mandate and associated State Board of Education rule. The bill requires the list to be approved by the State Board of Education no later than on Feb. 1 of each fiscal year. The bill provides that a state mandate will be deemed underfunded if the level of funding provided by the Legislature is at or below 75% of the funding necessary to implement the mandate as determined by the State Board of Education and to be deemed unfunded if the level of funding provided by the Legislature is at 0% of the funding necessary to implement the mandate as determined by the State Board of Education. The bill clarifies self-referential language. It also expands the scope of school boards exempted from the provisions listed therein. (Amended by House, Emergency Measure, Committee Substitute) 4 STATUS: Second Reading – Referred to Senate Committee COMMITTEE(1): S Education SUMMARY: Adds alternative methods for satisfactorily demonstrating mastery of state academic content standards in certain subject areas listed within the bill in relation to the end-of-instruction criterion-reference tests. (Amended by House, Stricken Title) STATUS: Second Reading – Referred to Senate Committee COMMITTEE(1): S Rules SUMMARY: Requires the members on a board of education to appoint members if, after the filing period closes, no candidate has filed and a vacancy is created. The bill allows appointment of members outside of the board or election district but requires the individual to reside in the school district and to meet other eligibility qualifications. STATUS: Second Reading – Referred to Senate Committee COMMITTEE(1): S Education SUMMARY: Provides that teacher compensation does not include one-time incentive pay that is provided by the school district to a teacher not one-time retention incentive pay for returning a second year and exempts the pay from a negotiated agreement. STATUS: Second Reading – Referred to Senate Committee COMMITTEE(1): S Education SUMMARY: Modifies the qualifications required to participate in the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP) to include a child in the permanent custody of the Department of Human n Services at the time the student enrolls in the program or after completing the 10th grade or reaching the age of 16. (Emergency Measure) STATUS: Second Reading – Referred to Senate Committee COMMITTEE(1): S Education SUMMARY: Allows a board of education of any school district, residing at least partially in a county with a population of at least 500,000, with an average daily membership of at least 30,000 to contract with a public or private nonsectarian entity to provide educational and administrative services for the school district. The bill suggests what those services may include.