Comments (0) | Link to this story | Send to a friend | Print Story

Three dollar bills

Three K-12 education special project bills survived the Senate Appropriations cutting room floor on Tuesday. Each bill heads to the Senate floor today with just one dollar attached to them

Committee members passed Senate Bill 233, which establishes the critical needs teaching scholarship program for student’s looking to enter the teaching profession in a critical needs curriculum area and stay in South Dakota after completing their degree. SB 233 passed on an 8-0 vote.

If passed, the final dollar amount appropriated from the general fund would be used to start a trust fund for the program.

ASBSD is monitoring the bill.

Senate Bill 76 passed the committee on an 8-0 vote as well, but was amended along the way.

SB 76 reached Senate Appropriations as a bill that created a grant program for ESAs and school districts. However, the provision allowing school districts to apply for grants was removed, leaving ESAs as the only possible grant recipients in the new version.

ASBSD is monitoring the bill.

Committee members voted unanimously to pass Senate Bill 229, which appropriates one-time dollars from the general fund to school districts for Career and Technical Education programs. Initially, SB 229 appropriated $1.5 million for CTE programs.

ASBSD is opposed to the bill.

Today marks "Crossover Day" and the bills must be passed to the House or deferred by the end of the day. For updates on these bills, check the ASBSD blog and bill tracker.

Special projects stopped

Four special project bills were deferred to the 41^st legislative day in Senate and House Appropriations.

House Bill 1166, which would have rewarded teachers in school districts with bonuses based on the percentage of graduates not taking remediation courses upon entering higher education, and  House Bill 1172, which called for the appropriation of $1.5 million from the general fund in the form of one-time dollars for school districts to use on career and technical education courses, were voted down by House Appropriations last week.

House Appropriations members deferred House Bill 1183, which called for the appropriation of funds to put a computer and Internet access into the homes of preschool aged children to prepare them for school, on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, Senate Appropriations committee members tabled Senate Bill 188, which would have provided $500,000 in funding, taken from the general fund, for the Teach for America grant program.

Comments (0) | Link to this story | Send to a friend | Print Story

Scholarship program bill moves on

Senate Education committee members gave unanimous approval at this morning’s committee meeting to a bill resurrecting a piece of last year’s controversial education reform, House Bill 1234.

Senate Bill 233 would establish the critical needs teaching scholarship program for student’s looking to enter the teaching profession in a critical needs curriculum area and stay in South Dakota after completing their degree.

“Everyone, generally, thought (the scholarship) was a good idea,” Sen. Tim Rave (25) said about the scholarship program from HB 1234 during his testimony in support of the new bill. “We have a problem in the number of graduates in our high needs teaching areas.”

Rave said 532 South Dakota teachers retired in 2012 and 482 graduated with teaching degrees.

SB 233 would provide scholarships for student’s looking to enroll in teaching programs at South Dakota universities. Five million dollars would be appropriated from the general fund to kick start the program’s trust fund.

Agenda adjustment bill passed

The House Local Government passed (13-0) a bill that would require government bodies post the date, time and location on a proposed meeting agenda.

Rep. Stace Nelson (19) said House Bill 1158 was introduced to correct the oversight of meeting agenda information. HB 1158 moves on to the entire House.

Bus inspection bill another step closer

Senate Bill 41, which would allow school districts to use an approved inspector to inspect school buses, passed the House Transportation committee on a 12-1 vote.

The bill expands the requirement that bus inspection be completed only by the highway patrol and gives school districts the choice on inspectors. The bill now heads to the House floor.

ASBSD will continue to update these pieces of legislation, and many others, on the ASBSD blog and bill tracker.

Comments (0) | Link to this story | Send to a friend | Print Story

Public employees would no longer be able to collectively bargain wages, benefits and working conditions if lawmakers endorse a measure filed in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

The bill, filed as HB 1261, states that no individual may participate in collective bargaining if they work in the public sector, including K-12 schools. The bill does allow public employees to express a “view, grievance, complaint, or opinion on any matter related to the conditions or compensation of public employment.”

Last year, Wisconsin political leaders earned national attention during a battle to eliminate collective bargaining. The measure passed, and Gov. Scott Walker is now facing recall for his pursuit of the plan.

Sen. Stan Adelstein, R-Rapid City, and Rep. Brian Liss, R-Sioux Falls, are prime sponsors of the measure.

Comments (0) | Link to this story | Send to a friend | Print Story

South Dakota lawmakers will consider eliminating continuing contract rights and due process rights for all teachers, according to legislation filed in the South Dakota House of Representatives.

House Bill 1145 would apply to veteran teachers the same non-renewal procedures that currently apply only to teachers with less than four years of service. If passed, school districts would be able to dismiss any teacher without providing justification and the teacher would no longer have the right to contest the dismissal at a school board hearing.

The measure leaves intact laws that require just cause and due process for terminating a contract. State law currently makes a distinction between termination and nonrenewal. Termination voids the contract during the term of the contract, while non-renewal refers to severing employment prior to the next contract year.

The measure is sponsored by Rep Betty Olson, R-Prairie City, and Sen. Corey Brown, R-Gettysburg.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard has also proposed modifying continuing contract laws, but the governor’s measure has not yet been made public. The governor has said he will propose the elimination of continuing contract rights for new teachers only, and that staff currently afforded due process and continuing contract would not lose it.

Comments (0) | Link to this story | Send to a friend | Print Story