The Delaware General Assembly returns for their 150th gig on Tuesday, January 8th. But a slew of pre-filed legislation came out today including a few education bills. These are interesting bills to say the least!
Education Legislation
Teacher License Suspension and Pay For Success Bills Pass General Assembly
Education LegislationTwo bills closely tied with public education passed in the Delaware House of Representatives today which clears them through the General Assembly and await Governor Carney’s signature. Another bill passed but goes back to the Senate due to an amendment.
Senate Bill #234, which gives the Delaware Secretary of Education the ability to suspend a teacher’s credentials due to an arrest from abuse or other egregious crimes, passed the House with a 41-0 vote. As written in the synopsis of the bill, this will… “include situations involving felony crimes against children or where there is a clear and immediate danger to student safety or welfare“.
Senate Bill #242, which will establish Pay for Success programs in Delaware passed with 39 yes, 1 no, and 1 absent. The sole no vote belonged to State Rep. Rich Collins. An amendment placed on the bill in the Delaware Senate would create a working group to explore how Pay For Success would be implemented in public education, both early childhood education and K-12 education. I am still torn on Pay For Success but this would allow some time for the Working Group to really take a look at how this would work to make sure it didn’t conflict with existing federal laws (such as IDEA) and to set up parameters. Pay For Success is where an outside investor would come in, pitch a program with measurable outcomes, and if approved, would set out on this program. If the program works with those outcomes, the State would pay the company back. If it doesn’t, they wouldn’t. The bill sets up Pay For Success for all state agencies.
Senate Bill #172, which is meant to increase the transparency of education funds, passed the House but an amendment clarifying some language on the bill which causes it to go back to the Senate for a final vote (provided they don’t put any amendments on it). That bill passed in the House with 41 yes votes.
On the Senate side, they passed House Bill #268 which deals with Senior property tax credits, but due to an amendment placed on the bill in the Senate, it will go back to the House.
Finally, Delaware Governor John Carney signed both the budget bill and a bill giving one-time bonuses to state employees and retirees. Both the Bond bill and the Grant-In-Aid bill will come up for a vote on the last day of the Delaware General Assembly, Saturday June 30th.
Opt Out, Cursive, Educator Licensure, Abuse Training & “The Wahl Bill” To Be Heard In Committees Tomorrow
Education LegislationBig, big day in the House and Senate Education Committee meetings tomorrow. While I don’t expect the crowd from 2015, the opt out bill should be interesting. The surprise bill of the season, House Bill 70, dealing with mandatory cursive has generated a lot of discussion. While not listed below, House Bill 176, which I like to call “The Wahl Bill”, will be heard in the House Homeland Safety & Security Committee. This bill was inspired by the case against the Brandywine School District and recently settled. The bill deals with zero tolerance and weapons in schools.
House Bill 142, which deals with School Resource Officer training, passed the House today and was sent to the Senate Education Committee.
ALL The Delaware Education Legislation In The General Assembly: Signed, Passed, Pending, & Tabled
Education Legislation*Updated with new legislation, votes on the floor, and committee agendas for tomorrow
Confused by all the Education legislation floating around in Delaware? Can’t keep track of it all? Don’t worry, I can’t either sometimes. But I felt it was necessary to reestablish my old tradition of putting it all together. I will update this as the Delaware 149th General Assembly finishes off the first half of this session on June 30th and when they reconvene in January 2018. Below are all 50 of the education bills that have come up in the 149th General Assembly just this year alone. More legislation will come by the time it is all done on June 30th, 2018.
Some Big Education Bills Up For A Vote Today In The Delaware General Assembly
Education LegislationCursive. Educator Licensure. Child Abuse Training. Bullying. Gang Detection. Public School Enrollment for children in custody of DSCYF. These are the biggest education bills up for a vote today in the Delaware House of Representatives and the Senate. Two will go to the House and two to the Senate if they pass. What are these bills?
House Bill #70:
This is State Rep. Andria Bennett’s cursive bill. It was released from the House Education Committee in April. It would make cursive instruction mandatory in all Delaware public schools. It has many in support of the bill, but quite a few are opposed to it as well.
Under current educational standards, students are no longer required to be taught cursive writing and many schools have abandoned teaching cursive writing to students. As cursive writing is still an imperative skill in many professions, this bill makes teaching cursive writing a requirement for all public schools in Delaware.
House Substitute 1 for House Bill #143:
State Rep. Kim Williams’ HS1 for HB #143 deals with teacher licensure and the Praxis exam.
This Act removes the provisional license and re-establishes a 3 tiered licensure system. An initial license provides for two years for the initial licensee to obtain a passing score on an approved performance assessment. This Act provides for reciprocity for a state-created and approved performance assessment from another state or jurisdiction to meet the performance assessment requirement. This Act also eliminates the general knowledge exam for licensure which will result in a savings to the candidate of a range of $100 to $150. Additionally, this Act provides for a reimbursement of no less than $100 to a license holder who meets the performance assessment requirement and becomes employed in a Delaware public school. The Department will be responsible for training local district and school staff on the performance assessment. Additionally, the Department of Education leadership, including the Secretary of Education will be trained on the performance assessment. For enactment, any individual provided an initial license prior to the enactment date will not be subject to the requirement of obtaining a passing score on a performance assessment. Additionally, any individual provided a provisional license prior to the enactment date will be reissued an initial license and the 2 year requirement for meeting the performance assessment will become effective commencing on the new issue date. The remainder of the bill makes conforming changes to cross-references and license designations.
Senate Bill #87:
Senator Margaret Rose Henry’s bill deals with children in the custody of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families. The Every Student Succeeds Act has certain provisions dealing with these students and this legislation would bring Delaware in synch with that requirement under the McKinney-Vento Act.
This Act updates the school stability law for children in the custody of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) following passage of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ESSA requires Delaware to eliminate the provision “awaiting foster care placement” under § 202(c), Title 14 in accordance with the federal McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act by December 10, 2017, and instead create a distinct provision regarding school stability for children in the custody of DSCYF. [42 U.S.C. §§ 11431 to 11435; ESEA section 1111(g)(1)(E)(i)-(iii)), 20 U.S.C. §6311(g)(1)(E)]. This Act clarifies that children in the custody of DSCYF remain entitled to attend their school of origin if it is in their best interests to do so, or are eligible for immediate enrollment in a new school. Sections 1, 2, and 3 of this Act take effect on the effective date of final regulations published in the Register of Regulations and promulgated under authority granted by § 202A(d) of Title 14, which is created by Section 2 of this Act.
Senate Bill #102:
Another Senator Henry bill. This bill is similar to last year’s Senate Bill dealing with bullying and child abuse training for educators. This has A LOT of provisions in it. It was heard in the Senate Education Committee meeting yesterday. The Delaware DOE, DOJ, and the Office of the Child Advocate worked on this one for a long time.
This Act consolidates Delaware law related to child abuse and child sexual abuse training and detection, suicide prevention, bullying, criminal youth gang detection, and teen dating violence and sexual assault into one subchapter of Chapter 41, Title 14 of the Delaware Code and develops a non-academic training program that coordinates the trainings school district and charter school employees are required to receive. In addition to streamlining non-academic trainings, this Act provides school districts and charter schools with flexibility to meet current and future non-academic training needs of school district and charter school employees, students, and parents. This Act applies to all public schools, including charter schools and vocational technical schools. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, ensure consistency within the new subchapter, and make references throughout the Code consistent based changes to certain Code designations made by this Act.
House Bill 50 To Be Heard In House Education Committee Today…. Say What?
Education LegislationThe Delaware General Assembly returns today! It was supposed to happen yesterday, but the impending doom of the snowstorm that didn’t quite live up to its potential postponed the return. Today is Committee day! House Bill 50 WILL be heard in the House Education Committee today. Say what? Didn’t former Governor Jack Markell veto that bill?
New 149th General Assembly Education Legislation Deals With Special Education, ESSA & Attendance
Education LegislationThe 149th General Assembly officially began on January 10th, this past Tuesday. But the first few weeks tend to be slow. Especially when it comes to education. But we already have seven education bills submitted by the Delaware House of Representatives. No Senate education bills have come forth at this point.
The biggest of these is a carryover from the 148th General Assembly, that of funding for basic special education for students in Kindergarten to 3rd grade. State Rep. Kim Williams made a ton of noise about the need for this funding during the last go-around, and she needs to keep making more noise! There should be NO question whatsoever about the need for this bill. NONE! It should not come down to fiscal concerns either. It needs to happen even if they have to cut some slush fund somewhere. House Substitute 1 for House Bill 12 will be a bill I advocate for this year, no doubt about it! I have to say I am disappointed there are NO Delaware Republicans that signed on to the substitute for this bill although Reps. Spiegelman and Briggs-King did sign on for the original House Bill #12. This is on the agenda for the House Education Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 18th at 2:30pm.
State Rep. Earl Jaques’ House Joint Resolution #3 would ensure both the House and Senate Education Committees see the Delaware Every Student Succeeds Act state plan before it is completed and sent to the United States Dept. of Education. That is a step, but I would prefer the General Assembly has authority to accept or reject the plan before it goes to the US DOE! This is also on the agenda for the House Education Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 18th at 2:30pm.
The drop-out age and school attendance came out roaring through the legislative gate! State Rep. Sean Matthews submitted two bills while State Rep. Tim Dukes submitted one. Dukes’ House Bill #17 would increase the drop-out age from 16 to 17. It would also include truancy. Matthews’ House Bill #23 takes it a step further and would require a parent or guardian to agree to a student dropping out if they are over the age of 16. Where this could get a bit sticky is what happens if a student is 18? They are of legal age at that point. Some students with disabilities attend school until the age of 21. Matthews’ House Bill #24 would require a parent conference if a student misses five consecutive days without an excuse. My take on this is if parents don’t know their kids are missing five days of school and just wandering around somewhere, it will be tough to get that parent to come to a conference if they are already so disengaged they don’t know what their kid is doing. All of these bills are meant to discourage dropping out and keeping students in school. I wholeheartedly agree with that. The trick is in the details.
This is another carryover from the 148th. State Rep. Deb Heffernan had this one ready to go on June 30th but I have to believe there simply wasn’t enough time to get to every bill that night/morning. But it is back with House Bill #15 which would make computer science a graduation requirement for high school students. This is also on the agenda for the House Education Committee meeting on Wednesday, January 18th at 2:30pm.
It wouldn’t be a General Assembly in the 2010s without some type of librarian legislation from State Rep. Paul Baumbach! House Bill #34 would increase the participants in a very long-sounding scholarship name.
General Assembly Faces Bottom Of The 9th With Crucial & Bad Education Legislation
Delaware 148th General Assembly, Education LegislationTwo weeks. If you asked a legislator in the Delaware Assembly what two weeks means at the end of June, they would most likely say it is a lifetime. It’s crunch time, and not all bills will make the cut. This is a guide to what education legislation has recently passed, what is ready for a vote, what still has to face a committee, and what will most likely get the chopping block. I don’t anticipate any new education legislation coming out in the next 10 days, but Delaware in the last two weeks of the General Assembly is like the Wild West. Anything can happen. And with all the committees that are supposed to have reports out by the 30th (Assessment Inventory Committee and Education Funding Improvement Committee), anything could very easily happen. It is very important to watch everything that goes down in the next 10 days and INSTANTLY make your voice heard if you support or oppose a sneak bill.
House Bill #435: The fifth Delaware charter school audit bill, faces the House Education Committee on Wednesday at 1:30pm. The House Republicans hate bills like these, but once again, the votes are not in their favor. I expect it will be released from both committees and it will pass the House and Senate on it’s way to Governor Markell for signature.
Senate Bill #161: The underdog of the 148th General Assembly! The no school until after Labor Day passed the Senate with an 11-10 vote. I could actually envision a suspension of rules behind closed doors deal on this bill. If this gets a full House vote based on that, I think it will pass. New Castle County will complain for the next five years about it, Sussex County will cheer, and Kent County will be in the middle.
House Joint Resolution #12/House Bill #424/House Bill 425: HJR #12 is the actual Wilmington Redistricting legislation. HB #424 states school boards can’t arbitrarily raise taxes. The latter faces the House Education Committee at 2:30pm for a very special meeting designed solely to lift this from tabled status. Once that hurdle is done, I expect it will either be subject to a suspension of rules for a full House vote tomorrow (and the chaos that will ensue if that happens!) or it will be on the agenda for Thursday this week. The reason I think it will get a suspension of rules vote tomorrow is because it still has to go through the Senate Education Committee, which will most likely have their last meeting on Wednesday. The same goes for HB #424 if it is released from the House education committee tomorrow (which I expect it will). HB #425 has been non-existent in terms of conversation so I think it will drift off in the summer sky. For the full votes, I have no idea how the other two bills are going to do. It has a lot of Democrat Wilmington support. But downstate and with Wilmington Republicans, that is another matter. This could go either way.
House Bill #399: The redesigning of Component V in the Delaware teacher evaluation system. I expect it will pass the House. Sokola would have to be a complete idiot to not put it on the Senate Education Committee agenda for Wednesday. It reminds me a bit of the opt out bill last year. It has overwhelming support, Sokola hates it, and the Governor will most likely veto the bill. But there is no Hail Mary for Sokola if he does veto it. I will predict now that if Markell vetoes this bill, Sokola will be doing a lot of biking next year while has peers are making bills.
Senate Bill #199: This is a Sokola bill, so I don’t necessarily trust it. Come on Kev! The guy has to do something good for education! I have yet to see it in the long-term. This one fell under the radar for me, but it wasn’t introduced until June 7th, flew out of the Senate Education Committee the next day, and got a full Senate vote where it unanimously passed on June 14th. The odd part is the low numbering of the bill which is unusual. All the other bills around this one were introduced in March. As if it was intentionally hidden. When Sokola bills take flight, I worry. This looks to me like it opens the door for more Teach For America and Relay Graduate Schools. This one could suffer due to the Sokola/Jaques spat. You can read the full text of the bill here (and I recommend all teachers do so): Senate Bill 199
House Bill #30: The basic special education funding for students in Kindergarten to 3rd Grade was finally released from the House Appropriations Committee last week. But it is not on the agenda for a full House vote tomorrow. Things happen very fast when the legislators are on the homestretch, but I fear HB #30 will not survive its way out of the 148th General Assembly.
Senate Bill #92/#93: The autism bills haven’t been heard in the House Appropriations Committee yet. Why is that? They aren’t on the agenda for the meeting on Wednesday either. Hmm…
Senate Bill #207: The school discipline reporting bill by Senator Margaret Rose-Henry. Do the police have to be called every time a student gets into a fight? This bill would say no to that practice. Come on, like all of our schools are actively doing this? It passed the Senate and it is on the House Education Committee agenda for Wednesday. I suspect this will pass, but I have a lot of concerns with this bill in terms of implementation of the law.
Senate Bill #213: Another Senator Rose-Henry bill which would make it mandatory for school staff, students AND parents to get personal body safety and children sexual assault prevention training for students in Kindergarten to 6th grade. It’s up for a Senate vote tomorrow…
House Bill #408 w/Amendment #2: Passed the House, Senate Education Committee meeting on Wednesday. An amendment was added to include charter schools in this school breakfast legislation, even though Kendall Massett doesn’t want it. Most of the House Republicans voted no on this bill. I suspect it will pass the Senate, but stranger things have happened.
Senate Bill #277: The Dave Sokola “Pathways To Prosperity” steering committee. This is going to happen. This is Jack Herdman’s baby! Paul Markell has talked about Pathways to Prosperity more this year than anything else! This gets the full Senate vote tomorrow. Yes, I know what I did there…
House Bill #374: The former bill for this which limits school board seats to 3 years was not popular. So State Rep. Paul Baumbach brought forth a new one limiting school board seats to four years. House Education Committee on Wednesday. If this passes, it is going to throw the typical school board election cycle into chaos in coming years. This bill is a response to the Christina School District Board of Education, and nothing else. I don’t like it.
House Bill #355: As Delaware blazes forward (with a lot of blinders on) with technology, this bill makes it so a computer science class is mandatory and that it can be used as a credit for either math or science. This gets a full House vote tomorrow. It will pass. Jack loves bills like this.
House Bill #250: The charter school bullying choice bill passed the House and is on the Senate Education Committee agenda for Wednesday. This will pass. Add anther notch to State Rep. Kim Williams’ many education bills in the 148th General Assembly for this one! This bill makes it so any bullying must be substantiated for a student to obtain good cause to choice out of a traditional school district or other choice school. My one concern with this bill is what happens if the bullying is NOT substantiated even though it should be? That never happens in Delaware, right?
House Bill #350: The “let’s ignore due process and publish when teachers get investigated bill” is dead. This bill isn’t going anywhere. What was the point of this Mr. Delaware Speaker of the House?
House Bill #236: The “tax exemption for full disabled vets” bill was released by the House Education Committee and sits in House Appropriations. I like this bill, but with the current budget deficit, this isn’t one of those mandatory bills that should be a no-brainer. But it could pass. This one will be a wait and see.
House Bill #232: This bill is so easy it isn’t even funny. It would allow the State Board of Education to accept public comment on items that are going to have action at one of their State Board meetings. Released from the House. With opposition from Donna Johnson and Kendall Massett. One of those bills where the Johnson effect sends it swirling into the abyss…
THE DEAD ZONE
House Bill #261: The charter school records bill sponsored by State Rep. Mike Ramone. Seeks to punish school districts if the records aren’t sent as soon as possible or schools don’t notify the charter when a student was placed in an alternative setting when a student choices to a charter. No mention of a vice versa in this bill. This was dead on arrival Mike!
House Bill #260: The “have the State Board of Education hold their meetings at 5:30 bill” is an awesome bill, but it is one of those ones that probably causes Donna Johnson to complain A LOT, thus this bill gets the Johnson effect! Sadly, this bill won’t go anywhere.
House Bill #243/House Resolution #22: The House Republicans very odd reaction to a potential override of Markell’s veto on House Bill #50. Hey State Rep. Miro, what were Godowsky’s recommendations? The only thing you told me was that he did send them to you. What now? And Ramone: I still remember what you promised me that day. I am holding you to it! If not, everyone will know what you told me.
House Bill #240: The “Come SAIL Away” bill dealing with afterschool school for students drifted off to sea after the Joint Finance Committee said nope. Barring some huge windfall from DEFAC (who determines the state’s revenue) at the last minute, this bill is driftwood.
House Bill #234: The school-based health center would provide funding for the remaining schools in Delaware that don’t have these. Once again, the budget deficit kills this bill.
House Bill #231: This bill would make it mandatory for charter school teachers to participate in the state pension system. The Kendall and Johnson effect is in FULL swing here…
House Bill #117: This bill which would designate funding for low-income students on a level consistent with special education funding is a good bill, but it is tied to so many other education funding issues with WEIC and the Education Funding Improvement Committee it was drowned out by other things going on. It’s a shame cause I supported it.
House Bill #107: The “only local school districts and local boards” can choose their own leaders bill is fantastic. This came out of the priority schools saga when the DOE wanted to pick leaders for the priority schools. This bill has been ignored since it was introduced.
House Bill #52: The State Rep. Deb Hudson cursive bill isn’t going anywhere. It’s been on the House Ready list for well over a year.
House Bill #28: This bill never had a chance with the Kendall factor. It would make it so charters have to give up their funding for a student if they leave the charter in the middle of the year. This was one of my favorite bills last year, but nothing EVER happened with it. Like I said, the Kendall factor…
Senate Bill #239: The restorative justice in lieu of school suspensions bill got a lot of media mentions in Delaware. But that appears to be it…
Senate Bill #228: Another victim of the Joint Finance Committee, no, we won’t see more funding for the Delaware SEED scholarship program.
Senate Bill #193: The Senator McDowell sponsored “let’s do a study on disadvantaged students in Delaware and get the colleges and universities to participate” bill. Harris, I think we have enough studies and reports.
Senate Bill #72: The Senator Bryan Townsend “I hate Mark Murphy bill” doesn’t have the luster it had when everyone’s favorite joke was the Secretary of Education. Buh-bye!
Delaware Legislators Add More Education Bills: Librarians, Charter School Audits & School Board Voter Eligibility
148th General Assembly, Education LegislationIn the final month of the 148th General Assembly before they take their six month recess, three new education bills are on the plate. These ones deal with school librarians, a clarification on a pending charter school audit bill, and new rules for voter eligibility in school board elections.
State Rep. Paul Baumbach wants to make sure no school librarians lose their jobs. I fully support this bill, but we also need them for art, music and other classes that all children used to enjoy but are on the cutting floor in many of our schools.
More from Kim Williams with Delaware charter school audits. This is good, but we are still waiting on results from at least three charters and their audits in the state auditor’s office.
I’m not sure how I feel about this bill. I’m going to have to digest this one.
The Season Of Myths 