Franklin County Democrats

• On Monday, they wanted to fund religious institutions (i.e., private corporations)
• On Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, they wanted to fund more private corporations, Virtual Charter Schools AND wanted to tamper with and make more political Missouri’s Non-Partisan Court Plan
• On Wednesday, Curtman offers HCR41 to oppose Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from Missouri

NEA Legislative Update  
Week 7, No. 2, February 14, 2012
By Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES OMNIBUS BILL RE UNACCREDITED DISTRICTS

The Senate General Laws Committee approved SCS/SB 451 (Jane Cunningham) on February 14.  The original bill pertained only to additional authority regarding shared educational services, but the SCS incorporates the provisions of SB 706 (Jane Cunningham) relating to unaccredited districts.

SCS/SB 451 includes numerous provisions regarding unaccredited districts, including a tax-credit style voucher for students of unaccredited districts to attend private schools and authority for other districts or district cooperatives to operate charter schools in unaccredited districts.
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HERE IT IS – OUR LEGISLATORS TRYING TO BREAK DOWN SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

(see 2nd item in Legislative Update for 2/13/12)

Missouri NEA Legislative Update Week 7, No. 1, February 13, 2012
By Otto Fajen MNEA Legislative Director

SCHOOL LEVY ELECTION DATES

The Senate Financial & Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee heard SB 569 (Will Kraus) on February 13. The bill eliminates both the February and June election dates for public elections.  The Association opposes the bill.  School districts rely on local tax funding to build and operate schools.  School districts should have the option to hold elections at the February and June dates.  Any bond elections on such dates must have strong community support to reach the two-thirds majority required for passage.

PUBLIC FUNDS TO RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS

The Senate General Laws Committee will hear SJR 47 (Scott Rupp) on February 14.  The SJR would remove the existing constitutional provision to keep public funds from being given to religious institutions.  The General Assembly is responsible for establishing and maintaining free public schools, not private or religious schools.  Association believes that public funds should support public schools and opposes the joint resolution.

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WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION AND WHISTLE-BLOWER LAW

Last week the Senate again took up SCS/SB 592 (Brad Lager) for floor debate on February 1.  It was in session debating the bill for nearly fifteen hours before reaching an agreement to end the filibuster effort at about 1:20 a.m. It endorsed legislation early February 2 that would change the state’s workplace discrimination laws.

Wes Duplantier of The Associated Press wrote in The Columbia-Missourian:

Fearful of reversing decades of hard-fought civil rights gains, Democrats held the Senate floor for hours Wednesday and into early Thursday morning, vowing to block a preliminary Senate vote on the bill.

That bill would require workers who bring wrongful termination lawsuits to prove discrimination was a “motivating factor” – not simply a contributing factor – in the employer’s action. The legislation also would apply to other wrongful discrimination actions, such as the denial of promotions.

In cases where employers were found to have wrongfully discriminated, the legislation would tie punitive damages to a company’s number of employees, with a maximum award of $300,000. Political subdivisions, such as city governments, would not be liable for any punitive damages.

I encourage you to read Wes’ full article (linked above) to hear how especially Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a member of the Legislative Black Caucus who led the filibuster effort by speaking against the original bill for 10 hours, plans to continue to oppose this  erosive piece of legislation.

Personally I enjoyed listening to the live audio cast during the hour or so after midnight. Senator Chappelle-Nadal read from the works of famous black authors, notably Langston Hughes of the Harlem Renaissance.

The House brought up HB 1219 (Kevin Elmer) briefly on February 1 for floor debate and then placed the bill on the Informal Calendar. The MNEA opposes HB 1219. The bill is substantially the same as SCS/SB 592.

Missouri NEA Legislative Update
Week 6, No. 2, February 7, 2012
By Otto Fajen MNEA Legislative Director

CHARTER SCHOOLS

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee will meet in executive session on February 8 to consider HB 1228 (Tishaura Jones).  The bill expands the authority for charter schools to cover the entire state, expands the list of entities allowed to sponsor charter schools, creates a statewide chartering commission and makes several changes designed to improve the accountability and transparency of charter sponsors and charter schools.

The Association believes that charter schools need to meet the same standards of accountability, transparency and respect for the rights of students, parents and  staff as apply to district-operated public schools.  Currently, serious remedial action is needed to improve that accountability for sponsors and charter schools, and the state should adopt and implement those reforms and verify that they are working to ensure charter schools meet those standards before considering expansion of charter school territory or sponsorship.  Accordingly, the Association opposes the bill and will seek to limit charter school legislation to correcting those deficiencies without concurrent expansion of either charter school geography or sponsorship.

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Another Important Voting Day in 2 Months – APRIL 3

Please support Education in Franklin County by supporting and campaigning for approval of
“Proposition I” – a proposal to expand and improve facilities in the School District of Washington. The plan includes construction of new facilities and renovation of existing buildings to provide the educational environment that our students deserve. The proposal is on the April 3 ballot.
Websites to help you:

http://citizensforgreatschools.org/cfgs/

http://www.facebook.com/SDofWashington

http://www.sdow-mo.schoolloop.com

if you click on the Quick Links bar, Prop I, you will get information about the proposition:

http://www.sdow-mo.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1325750068276

THANKS FOR CONSIDERING THIS REQUEST TO MAINTAIN THE QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR OUR CHILDREN.

Missouri NEA Legislative Update    Week 6, No. 1, February 6, 2012

By Otto Fajen    MNEA Legislative Director

BUDGET COMMITTEES

The House Appropriations-Education Committee will meet on February 7 to begin the analyst markup phase for the DESE budget books for the K-12 schools budget.  The meeting gives committee members the opportunity to ask questions of staff regarding the various programs in the DESE budget.

VOTER ID

The House again debated HB 1104 (Shane Schoeller) on February 6, but did not bring the bill to a first round (Perfection) vote.  The bill is implementing legislation for SJR 2, regarding voter photo ID requirements, should it be approved by voters.  The bill requires a person seeking to vote in a public election to provide election officials a photo identification.  Missouri NEA believes voting is a constitutional right that should not be restricted by unnecessary voter photo identification requirements or other additional barriers to the voting franchise.  The Association opposes the bill.

Missouri NEA Legislative Update
Week 5, No. 2, January 31, 2012
By Otto Fajen     
MNEA Legislative Director

ACTION ALERT:  HOUSE COMMITTEE TO HEAR TENURE REPEAL BILL

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee will hear HB 1526 (Scott Dieckhaus) on February 1.  The bill eliminates the current tenure law for new hires, and places new hires into a system of contracts of up to four years.  The bill also substantially changes the existing tenure law, eliminating seniority as a factor in decisions regarding reduction in force.  The Association strongly opposes the bill.

The bill also includes numerous mandates regarding teacher evaluation systems, such as requiring at least fifty percent of evaluations to be based on student test scores and prohibiting districts and employees from designing evaluation systems within collective bargaining negotiations.

ACTION NEEDED:  Your help is needed!  Please call, write or e-mail to urge your state representative to oppose HB 1526, the Tenure Repeal Bill. The following link will connect you to the MNEA Legislative Action Center Action Alert on HB 1526.

Type in your zip code and the alert will automatically be directed to your state representative.  The Action Alert contains a brief summary and a brief, editable message box to help you send an email to your state representative on the issue.   Your message will have a greater impact if you personalize the message and add your own concerns regarding the bill.

Write Your Representative

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Missouri NEA Legislative Update
Week 5, No. 1, January 30, 2012
By Otto Fajen     MNEA Legislative Director

ACTION ALERT: VOTE “NO” ON PAYCHECK DECEPTION ATTACK ON WORKERS

The Senate may act on one or more bills attacking labor unions when the members convene for floor debate during this week’s session.  The Senate Small Business and Industry Committee approved SCS/SBs 553 and 435 (Dan Brown) and the bill is on the Senate calendar for floor debate.    The bill eliminates authorization for public labor union payroll deductions for payment of union dues. The bill also revises authorization for public labor union payroll deductions for political action.

The Association strongly opposes the bill.  This attack is just more of the same old politics.  All employees have the constitutional right to an effective union voice in their employment and to work together to support  political campaigns without undue interference from state policies that would undermine those rights.

ACTION NEEDED:  Your help is needed!  Please call, write or e-mail to urge your state senator to oppose SCS/SBs 553 and 435, the paycheck deception attack. The following link will connect you to the MNEA Legislative Action Center Action Alert on SCS/SBs 553 and 435.

Type in your zip code and the alert will automatically be directed to your state senator.  The Action Alert contains a brief summary and a brief, editable message box to help you send an email to your state senator on the issue.   Your message will have a greater impact if you personalize the message and add your own concerns regarding the bill.

Write Your Senator

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Missouri NEA Legislative Update
Week 4, No. 2, January 24, 2012
By Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director

CHARTER SCHOOLS

The House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee will meet on January 25 to hear HB 1228 (Tishaura Jones), and the Senate Education Committee will meet later that same day to hear SB 576 (Bill Stouffer). Both bills expand the authority for charter schools to cover the entire state, expand the list of entities allowed to sponsor charter schools, create a statewide chartering commission and make several changes designed to improve the accountability and transparency of charter sponsors and charter schools.

The Association believes that charter schools need to meet the same standards of accountability, transparency and respect for the rights of students, parents and staff as apply to district-operated public schools. Currently, serious remedial action is needed to improve that accountability for sponsors and charter schools, and the state should adopt and implement those reforms and verify that they are working to ensure charter schools meet those standards before considering expansion of charter school territory or sponsorship. Accordingly, the Association opposes both bills and will seek to limit charter school legislation to correcting those deficiencies without concurrent expansion of either charter school geography or sponsorship.

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Please lend your voice to oppose the legislators’ ongoing efforts with regard to workplace discrimination and whistle-blower law, and Voter ID legislation.

Missouri NEA Legislative Update     Week 4, No. 1, January 23, 2012

By Otto Fajen
MNEA Legislative Director

WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION AND WHISTLE-BLOWER LAW

The Senate took up SCS/SB 592 (Brad Lager) for floor debate on January 23, but did not bring the bill to a first round or Perfection vote. After discussing the measure for more than an hour, the Senate placed the bill on the Informal Calendar, a sort of parking lot for legislation that may be brought up again later this year whenever the Senate is in session. Further debate is expected on this bill, perhaps later this week.

The Association opposes SB 592. The bill makes several harmful changes to the state’s anti-discrimination law in employment, disability and housing and significantly limits and weakens “whistle-blower” protections.

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