• Week 7: March 16, 2009
• Week 6: March 9, 2009
• Week 5: March 2, 2009
• Week 4: February 23, 2009
• Week 3: February 17, 2009
• Week 2: February 9, 2009
• Week 1: February 2, 2009

• Week of March 2, 2009
• Week of February 23, 2009
• Week of February 16, 2009
• Week of February 9, 2009
• Week of February 2, 2009
• Week of January 26, 2009
• Week of January 19, 2009

March 13, 2009
It’s done. The final gavel fell on the 2009 Utah Legislature late last night. I never thought I’d see a six-percent cut to the public education budget and call it a “win,” but that’s essentially what happened. There’s no question that if it weren’t for our friends at NEA and the thousands of NEA members calling Congress to secure education funding in the federal stimulus package we would be in a much more dire situation today.

I’ll share some of my overall thoughts on the session in a later post, but for now, here’s a summary of a few education-related items that passed or died yesterday:

The FY 2010 public education budget was approved. It includes the following:

• An overall six percent net FY2010 budget cut, 17 percent without the federal stimulus backfill;
• WPU value remains the same as last year at $2,577;
• Enrollment growth funded at $53 million for 13,494 new students—did not fund about $20-30 below-the-line growth (as explained in my post of March 11);
• The educator salary adjustment was funded at $148.3 million (same as last year) with no growth money added;
• Quality teaching block grant of $77.6 million was eliminated, but this does not mean all Quality Teaching days are eliminated (Legislators stated a number of times on both the House and Senate floor that the dollar amount of the line item was being cut, but whatever budget cuts that occur at the local level need to be shared by all employees);
• $300,000 one-time for a pilot program for performance pay was funded by taking money from the teacher salary supplement program started last year for math/science teachers;
• $10 million one-time for classroom supplies was funded (same as last year);
• The remaining $5 million of the $20 million ($15 million had previously been cut) appropriated last year for performance pay was cut—leaving no funding for the program;
• USDB salary adjustment was funded at $580,000;
• Removed the moratorium on charter school funding growth after 2010;
• The Singapore math pilot was not funded;
• The basic levy rate was increased for the first time in many years from .00125 to .001303;
• $5 million of minimum school program FY2009 non-lapsing balances was allocated for $1,000 signing bonuses for new educators in FY2010

We started the day concerned about several bills we did not support that appeared to have a chance at passing:

• The “take-a-test-and-teach” bill, Senate Bill 48, died in the House on a vote of 17-49-9. I want to thank all those who took the time to write their Representatives. It really made a difference in keeping teaching a true profession.
• After much debate, Senate Bill 159, the Singapore Math bill, failed in the House on a vote of 30-43-2. Most of the floor arguments focused on local control and objections to spending money to initiate new programs in a year of cuts.
• A substitute Senate Bill 199: Equal Recognition of School Parent Groups also failed in the House by 30-43-2. The substitute bill would have put the responsibility on school districts to develop local parent involvement policies. We joined the PTA in opposing this bill.
• Several other bills we opposed died without going to a final vote:
• Senate Bill 61: Home School Student Participation in Extra-Curricular Activities had passed the Senate Education Committee but failed on the Senate floor with 16 ‘no’ votes. It was ‘circled’ on the Senate board, but was not heard again.
• Senate Bill 64: Administrative Rules Revisions flew under the radar initially. It soon became clear that, if passed, the bill would give the legislature unprecedented control over contractors selected by state departments. The bill passed the Senate but was not voted on by the House.
• Senate Bill 77: Grants for Licensed Teacher Amendments passed the Senate, but did not make it out of the House Rules Committee. Thanks are due to many National Board Certified Teachers who testified against this legislation.
• The sponsor of Senate Bill 195, which would have suspended 401(k) matching contributions for state employees, said he would pull this bill, but it remained on the board until the session closed without going to a vote.

One bill we supported that did not pass on the last day was House Joint Resolution 13: Resolution on Teacher Performance Pay. This had passed unanimously in the House earlier in the session, but did not see the light of day in the Senate.

And, one bill passed yesterday we did not support, HB 328: Teacher Quality Amendments. This bill allocates $300,000 for a (yet another!) pilot teacher compensation program. Grants will be awarded to two elementary schools that will spend a year developing performance pay programs. We opposed the bill primarily because of the cost in this year when cuts are being made, among other reasons. Only Sens. Kevin Van Tassell and David Hinkins joined Senate Democrats in voting against HB328.

March 12, 2009
We’ve arrived. It’s the last day of the 2009 Utah Legislature. I’m so proud of the work of our Legislative Team and all the other UEA members who have supported us. Our voice has been heard—in some cases falling on deaf ears, but heard none the less.

We had about 12 educators join us yesterday for our final Educator Day on the Hill, mostly from Davis and Jordan School Districts, along with UniServ Directors and local presidents from Jordan, Davis, Weber, Northern and Bonneville.

Legislative Team members Vik Arnold and Susan Kuziak made presentations to both the House Democratic Caucus and the Senate Democratic Caucus. The thrust of the presentation was to explain our concerns about the education funding bill, House Bill 2: Minimum School Program Budget Amendments, and the attempt by Sen. Howard Stephenson to insert a long-term funding strategy for charter schools into the bill. By mid-afternoon we learned that Sen. Stephenson had agreed to remove this part of his amendment as long as the funding for charter school “growth” was included. Attempts to add this provision during Tuesday’s House debate were unsuccessful.

The UEA worked with Sen. Stephenson to ensure that necessary funding for the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind (funding that had been unintentionally omitted) was amended into HB2. Credit should be given to Legislative Team member Courtney White for noticing this oversight. (As an aside, Legislative Team member Vik Arnold suggested to Sen. Stephenson they might use the Singapore math funding to help pay for the USDB salary increase. The bold request prompted a wry smile from the Senator.)

The UEA also worked with Sen. Greg Bell to make it clear during the debate on HB2 that, although the Quality Teaching Block Grant line item was used as the “vehicle” for reducing public education’s budget by $77 million, it was NOT the intent that teachers should bear a disproportionate share of the overall cut to education. In other words, the “pain” needs to be shared equally by ALL employee groups, and not borne on the backs of just the teachers through the loss of their Quality Teaching Days. The intent of the Legislature is that individual school districts will be responsible to make decisions on specific cuts.

Senate Bill 48: Teacher Licensing by Competency Amendments, the “take-a-test-and teach” bill, was finally heard on the floor of the House today, after being “kept” in House Rules for three weeks so it did not have to be heard by the House Education Committee (where it would have likely failed). Several representatives spoke eloquently against the misguided attempt to water down the value of a teaching credential, pointing out that effective teaching requires more than just an ability to demonstrate “book knowledge” or subject area expertise alone. Rep. Kory Holdaway mentioned the effort over the past eight years under NCLB to ensure that teachers are “highly qualified.” Rep. Laura Black mentioned how grateful the passengers of US Airways flight #1549 must have been to have had a pilot with both knowledge and skills obtained through years of training. Rep. Rhonda Menlove pointed out that over 1,000 teachers are currently employed via some kind of alternative licensure program. And, Rep. Carol Spackman Moss said we need to resist this attempt to allow would-be teachers to “practice” on our kids. Fortunately, this bill went down in flames, failing on a vote of 49 to 17, with 9 being absent.

March 11, 2009
On Monday afternoon the UEA Legislative Team met with Governor Huntsman to discuss funding issues for the 2009-10 school year. While it appears most of the work is done, and a net budget cut of six percent seems likely for public education (see my explanation of HB2, below), UEA Executive Director Mark Mickelsen was able to share some new information with the Governor. According to a recent update from NEA, we've learned that if a state demonstrates 67 percent of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund is inadequate to prevent immediate layoffs in public and higher education, then the state may request 90 percent of the Fund be released in phase one. The Governor's staff will look into this matter to see if Utah can apply for the larger amount.

We also discussed with Gov. Huntsman the possibility of teachers, and ONLY teachers, being subjected to proposed cuts in the Quality Teaching Block Grant. While the legislature is telling us these decisions will be determined “at the local level,” we expressed concern that teachers will be asked to shoulder the burden rather than have cuts borne across the board. We also discussed strategies for enhancing long-term funding for public education going forward, so that the state's tax structure imbalance can be addressed and leave public education less dependent on "one-time" fixes like we're looking at now. We suggested diverting some of the revenue currently going into the Transformation Investment Fund back to the General Fund, since the state can bond for transportation, thereby providing an on-going revenue source for both higher and public education.

House Bill 2: Minimum School Program Budget Amendments passed the House yesterday on a vote of 52-22 and now moves to the Senate. The bill remains much the same as the proposed budget passed by the Executive Appropriations Committee and described in my post of March 9. Highlights (or perhaps lowlights) of the bill include:

1. A net cut for public education of about six percent. The ongoing cut to education is 17 percent, with the remainder “backfilled” by one-time money, primarily from the federal economic stimulus package.
2. Elimination of the quality teaching block grant. Rep. Kory Holdaway indicated in floor debate that public education reductions needed to be across all employee groups. Rep. Laura Black explained the challenges associated with eliminating the days and how it would negatively impact teacher pay. Sen. Lyle Hillyard told the UEA Legislative Team he would express during debate of the bill in the Senate that the intent of the legislature is teachers not bear the brunt of budget cuts but that the cuts should be shared by all. Holdaway told the Legislative Team at lunch he had been advised by legislative counsel that intent language was not needed in the bill to make it clear cuts should be shared by employee groups because any reference to furlough days had been omitted from the Quality Teaching section of the bill.
3. Underfunding enrollment growth by $20-30 million compared to the last two years. The bill funds enrollment growth in the WPU, but growth in items calculated “below-the-line”—such as educator salary adjustment, other block grants, to- and from-school transportation, social security and retirement, and other items—is not funded. The Legislative Team visited with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, the State Office of Education, and numerous legislators about the underfunding. There seems to be a resignation among legislators that there is just no more money available this year.
4. No salary increase for Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. USDB salary increases lag one year, based on the previous year’s average teacher salary. The amount needed to fund this increase is $548,000. Legislative Team members Vik Arnold and Courtney White visited with Sen. Howard Stephenson about the situation. He was willing to include the increase in HB2. Work will still need to be done to get this item funded.
5. A moratorium on charter school enrollment growth beginning in 2010. There was an attempt to amend HB2 in the House to overturn this moratorium, but the amendment failed. Nearly every Utah County legislator and Rep. Greg Hughes spoke in favor of the amendment. Rep. Ron Bigelow spoke eloquently against it. He indicated that the appropriate approach to dealing with the issue would be to raise taxes and is concerned that enrollment growth for school districts next year may not be funded. We understand Sen. Howard Stephenson has drafted a substitute bill that would allow for charter school enrollment growth for 2010 and beyond. If this passes in the Senate, the bill will go to Conference Committee to be ironed out, in which case it will be important that House representatives not recede from their position.
6. Classroom supply money was funded at the same level as previous years.

Sen. Dan Liljenquist has indicated he will withdraw Senate Bill 195: Public Employee Defined Contribution Amendments, which would suspend the 1.5 percent state 401(k) match for all state employees for one year. However, the bill was quietly placed on the Senate second reading calendar and circled Monday. We’ll continue to watch this until it goes away.

The Senate voted down Senate Bill 241: Instructional Expenses Requirements, the so-called “65-percent solution,” Monday on a vote of 12-17. We applaud Republican Sens. Greg Bell, Lyle Hillyard, Jon Greiner, Allen Christensen, David Hinkens, Ralph Okerlund, Kevin VanTassell, Stephen Urquhart, and Peter Knudson who joined all Senate Democrats in opposing this bill. It’s possible the sponsor could try to resurrect SB241, but the Senate will be hearing House bills most of the rest of the session…we always remain vigilant.

Senate Bill 199 (First Substitute): Equal Recognition of School Parent Groups remains problematic for our friends at the PTA. The PTA opposed the original bill, then tentatively agreed to a substitute bill. After receiving feedback from PTA members across the state and following a review of the bill by Utah PTA’s attorneys, they concluded that, although the intended purpose of the bill is to increase parental involvement, the unintended consequences will actually limit parents’ access to our schools. They fear, as we know from experience, that equal access policies can turn into no access. The PTA now opposes this bill. SB199 has passed the Senate and is now on the third-reading calendar in the House.

March 9, 2009
We’ve arrived at the final week of what has been one of the most difficult Legislative sessions in recent memory, at least in terms of funding. The Executive Appropriations Committee presented its FY2010 budget proposal (see pages 9-10 for the public education budget) Friday. The proposal leaves in place the 17-percent reduction for public education, then replaces more than half of that with one-time money, primarily from the federal stimulus package. The net effect is a six-percent reduction for public education.

The new proposal restores “Professional Staff Cost Formula” money, which is used mostly to fund steps and lanes. It also restores the $10 million line item for classroom supply money and adds nearly $300 million in a line item for “Social Security & Retirement.” Cut from earlier proposals was $77 million designated for Quality Teaching Block Grants. According to legislators, local school districts will be left flexibility within the budget to reduce the impact of these quality teaching cuts. The UEA Legislative Team is working with lawmakers to build intent language in the final budget bill that would ensure any cuts are spread among all public education employee groups.

Also eliminated from the budget was the remaining $5 million (from $20 million originally allocated) for teacher performance pay in this school year. Funded in the new proposal are $250,000 for Singapore math grants (down from an original request of $1.5 million) and enrollment growth. This budget is preliminary and certainly can change before the gavel falls at midnight March 12. We’re told this proposal depends in part on flexibility with some of the federal stimulus money.

At six percent, public education would take a far less severe cut than other state departments. I attribute that to the efforts of NEA members who rallied to include public education as part of the federal stimulus package and locally to UEA members who have visited, called and e-mailed state legislators. We’ve heard from lawmakers that your efforts are making a difference. Lots can change in these final few days, so we need to keep the pressure on our lawmakers to maintain funding for our basic classroom needs. See my post of March 4 for ways you can get involved before the session ends.

Teachers Mary Lamb (center) and Celeste Simmons from Hillsdale Elementary in Granite School District, meet with Rep. Kory Holdaway during UEA’s Educator Day on the Hill March 6.

March 6, 2009
This morning we enjoyed excellent participation in our Educator Day on the Hill. We had more than 30 people representing us, including 20 educators who had not participated before. It was exciting to see these teachers, each wearing an “Educator Day on the Hill” sticker, lined up outside the House floor waiting to visit with their legislators. We still have one more opportunity for teachers to join us next Wednesday, March 11.

Lawmakers continue to tell us hearing from their constituents is very beneficial, whether in person, by phone or by e-mail. See my post of March 4 for ways you can get involved before the session ends.