The legislature continues to churn its way toward final adjournment on Tuesday with an agreement on transportation funding being the main hold up. All of the important public school bills have been dealt with by both the House and the Senate. Only a few education bills still await the Governor’s signature.
Here is a short synopsis of the fate of most of the bills the IEA has been following this session.
| BILL # | TOPIC | WHERE IS IT? | WHAT DOES IT DO? | IEA POSITION |
| HB 65 | SBAC | House Ways and Means Committee | Would require the Supt. of Public Instruction to begin the process of removing Idaho from the SBAC testing requirements and remove the SBAC as a requirement for graduation | OPPOSE |
| HB 110 | Mastery-Based Education | LAW | Governor’s Task Force Recommendation Recommends shifting to mastery-based system; authorizes SDE to conduct awareness campaign; establish committee to identify roadblocks and potential solutions; create an incubator program | SUPPORT |
| HB 113a | Parental Rights | LAW | Emphasizes the rights of parents and legal guardians having a fundamental right to make decisions re: the care, custody, education and control of their children. | MONITOR |
| HB 168 | Idaho Education Network | LAW | Provides $3.6 million for FY 15 to SDE to be used to reimburse school districts for contracting for broadband for remainder of 2014-15 school year | SUPPORT |
| HB 169 | One Year Master Agreements | LAW | Consensus legislation between IEA and Idaho School Boards Association-removes sunset on 1 year master agreements | SUPPORT |
| HB 190 | Background Checks | LAW | Shifts $11.00 payment for administration costs associated with fingerprinting from individual applicant to SDE | SUPPORT |
| HB 222 | Career Ladder Teacher Pay Plan | House Education Committee | Changes teacher certification to 2-tiered system; requires residency certificate holders to earn ‘endorsement’ to move to professional certification; moves salary allocation formula for instructional employees from experience/education to student achievement/overall proficiency rating on evaluation; provides for leadership premiums and mastery teacher premiums | OPPOSE |
| HB 246 | Anti-Bullying | LAW | Provides for anti-bullying training and orientation to help staff recognize and appropriately intervene should bullying occur. | SUPPORT |
| HB 296 | Career Ladder | LAW | Changes teacher certification to 2-tiered system; requires residency certificate holders to earn ‘endorsement’ to move to professional certification; moves salary allocation formula for instructional employees from experience/education to student achievement/overall proficiency rating on evaluation; provides for leadership premiums and mastery teacher premiums. Requires teacher involvement in decisions regarding student achievement, allows only those students who have been in attendance 80% of the time to be included in determining whether student achievement or growth targets are met, requires that if funding is not continued, continuing contract status cannot be withheld. | SUPPORT |
| HB 300 | 6th Grade Alternative Funding | LAW | Extends funding and services to 6th grade students who are identified and enrolled in alternative programs to ensure they are better prepared for 7th grade | SUPPORT |
| HB 307 | Public Kindergarten Pilot Program | House Ed Committee | Establishes a voluntary three-year Public Kindergarten Preparedness Pilot Program within five locations in the state to determine the effect of such programs | SUPPORT |
| HB 311 | Tax Cuts | Senate Transportation Committee | Increases fuel tax by 7 cents and distributes it for use in repair of roads;adjusts the tax rate from 7.4% to 6.7% for the most wealthy Idahoans; removes the sales tax from food/groceries, and
eliminates the grocery tax credit
|
OPPOSE |
| HB 313 | Career Counseling | Awaiting Governor’s signature | Governor’s Task Force RecommendationAllows state funding to hire college/career advising; defines the duties of an academic and college/career advisor; training requirements for these advisors; requires annual reports by local district on effectiveness on college/career advisor programs | OPPOSE |
| SB 1050 | Advanced Opportunities | LAW | Governor’s Task Force RecommendationConsolidates all advanced opportunities for secondary students into one chapter of Idaho Code; removes dual credit cap; removes 10% cap for 8 in 6 program and provides clarification | SUPPORT |
| SB 1070a | Alternate Assessment for Graduation | House Education Committee | Requires that an alternate route be provided, if a standards achievement test is required for graduation. | OPPOSE |
| SB 1071 | Civics Test for Graduation | Awaiting Governor’s Signature | Requires Idaho students, as a condition of graduation, to pass a test on 100 basic facts of US history and civics taken form the US Citizenship Civics Test—the same test that all immigrants applying for US citizenship must pass. | OPPOSE |
| SB 1085 | SBAC | Senate Education Committee | Directs Supt. of Public Instruction to begin the process of removing Idaho from the SBAC testing requirements and removes SBAC test as a graduation requirement | OPPOSE |
| SB 1088a | Teacher Contracts/RIF | LAW | Consensus legislation between IEA and ISBA. Removes sunset date and makes permanent law allowing school districts to increase or decrease salary or contract days as long as they first declare a RIF; sets criteria and conditions under which a district may declare a RIF | SUPPORT |
| SB 1096a | Parental Rights | House Education Committee | Affirms parental rights in education; outlines how school districts shall inform parents of their right to object to materials or to withdraw their child from an activity or class and provides for annual notice to parents | OPPOSE |
| SCR 105 | Common Core Review | HELD in Senate Education Committee | Requires the SDE to review language arts and math standards in 2015 | OPPOSE |
