Day 33: Tuition Tax Credit Amended11882 on 3/13/2013
Action on education-related bills was all in subcommittees today.

Money Does Not Follow the Child Here Either
SB 243, amending the provisions of the tuition tax credit program, was heard in the Income Tax Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee today.  Readers may recall that this bill adds a requirement that students attend at least six weeks of a public school to be eligible for the voucher, but an amendment on the Senate floor last week added three exceptions to that requirement (See Day 28 report).  One of those was a religious exception.  Today's version struck that exception and made a few more changes to the changes.
 
Sen. Charlie Bethel, a Governor's floor leader, presented the bill to the Subcommittee as "a school choice project to which the Governor is bringing transparency and accountability."  When questioned about the attendance requirement, Sen. Bethel noted the program is intended to be one for public school students to transfer to private schools.  If students already in private school used the program, they would not be making a school choice, they would just be making school cheaper.
 
When discussing the process for a student to transfer from one private school to another, it turned out the student can go to another private school if it has funding availablility (or presumably pay their own way).  The money already awarded to the student doesn't follow him or her but reverts to the student scholarship organization.  Wow.  Local public schools have been criticized loudly and frequently for not sending funding with the student, but today's information didn't bring one cirtical comment.  Not one peep.
 
Supporters of the program all asked for the $50 million cap + inflation be increased.  The rest of us asked that it not be.  The second hearing and Subcommittee vote on the bill may be tomorrow.  Please note the version online is not the current one which also was not available at the hearing.
 
House Education Academic Support

The House Education Academic Support Subcommittee passed three bills which move on to the full committee.

  • SB 68 requires schools to Celebrate Freedom Week in September by including  instruction in a variety of topics related to the founding of the USA.  The bill was amended to remove the requirement that students recite excerpts from certain historic documents.  Instead, local schools may recommend that teachers have students  recite from the documents.  Another amendment removed the provision allowing a parent to opt out a student from the recitations since it would no longer be required.
  • SB 100 reestablishes the Career and Technical Education Advisory Commission which is to review and recommend on issues related to CTAE.
  • HR 552 urges the implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs and  for compliance of rules and regulations related to the amount of time school counselors spend advising students.

Senate Starts Budget Process

The Senate Education Appropriations Subcommittee had representatives from the Department of Education present the '14 budget today.  They compared the Governor's version and the House version for the Senators.  Our next look at this budget will probably be when it is voted out of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
 
Thursday, March 14th
The House will convene at 9:30 AM; the Senate at 10 AM
8:30 AM Senate Education & Youth Academic Achievement Subcommittee will meet in 307 CLOB to hear HB 131, on dual enrollment credit
 
1 PM Senate Education & Youth Committee will meet in 307 CLOB to hear the following:
  • HB 337, stockpiling auto-injectable epinephrine
  • HB 354, relating to DECAL oversight of child care centers
  • HB 537, prohibiting county board of education members in certain population levels from holding other county offices
  • HB 131 if voted out of Subcommittee