Below are notes taken during the meeting of the House Common Education Committee held on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. It is not a complete transcript of everything that was said. The bills are ordered as they appeared on the agenda, not in the order in which they were discussed during the meeting. Links provided take you to more information about the bill including the actual language and vote details.

HB2285 – Schools; extending dates for teachers to complete examinations – Virgin*

Virgin: A two year extension of the bill we passed last year. Allows Special Ed teachers to become highly qualified.

Kern: is there a possibility we may need to extend this again? Virgin: looking at making it permanent, but not everyone is comfortable with that. Kern: if we make it permanent, would that cause teachers to drag out getting proper certification? Virgin: I think that is the concern. I’m going to talk with Teacher Prep.

Cannaday: isn’t it a possibility that the qualifications for Special Ed aren’t permanent which is another reason for an extension? Virgin: yes, thank you.

Bill passes unanimously.

HB2306 – Schools; modifying and deleting certain school requirements – Coody*
Coody: clean-up bill that brings statutes up to date.

Kern: what is the difference in the committee substitute? Coody: I’ll ask Jessica Russell w/ SDE to answer that. Russell: just makes the language stronger.

McDaniel: it appears there are four different things being addressed, can we just list those? Russell: deleting requirement for SDE to have an architect. We pay $50K for one but can only make recommendations, so it’s not needed. Trying to get rid of duplicative reporting. And clarifying about highest mark being reported on the transcript.

Bill passes unanimously.

HB2492 – Schools; high school curriculum credit given for college credit earned – Cannaday* LAID OVER

HB2511 – Schools; deleting limitation on approved reading screening instruments – Coody*
Kern: can you share why we’re removing “no more than three”? Coody: right now we have three screening instruments. This allows them to approve more if they desire.

Bill passes unanimously.

HB2700 – Schools; Epinephrine injectors – Fourkiller*
Fourkiller: going to take current law a bit further, allowing schools to keep epinephrine injectors on campus in a locked area. These injectors helps counter allergic reactions, allowing time for ambulance to arrive.

Kern: what’s the possibility of a school employee being wrong and what are the consequences? Fourkiller: most food allergies are undiagnosed and students don’t find out until the first reaction. There will be training involved, similar to diabetic insulin injections.

Passes unanimously.

HB2727 – Schools; substitute teachers – Inman*
Virgin (presenting for Inman): it’s a local control issue. Removes limitation of 20-days for a substitute in any one assignment.

Kern: would this mean across the state we won’t have uniformity in how many days a substitute can work? Virgin: it could be different.

Ryan Owens, CCOSA Director of Legislative Services: state law says substitutes can work a maximum of 100 days. This deals with assignment in a district.

OKC Supt. Karl Springer: this would grant more flexibility to districts and allow us to take more control of what we’re doing, so it’s a good change.

Condit: a teacher has a long term illness. Currently a substitute can only go in for 20-consecutive days and this allows the substitute to stay longer? Virgin: yes.

Bill passes unanimously.

HB3000 – Schools; school board continuing education requirements; expanding prohibition – Newell*
Nelson offers amendment that makes sure re-appointment is not a loophole. Cannaday: is there an unintended consequence of a board member fails to meet all the training requirements, he resigns and is reappointed, it blocks flexibility. Nelson: it stops that loophole, yes.

Amendment passes unanimously

Ownbey: is this a major problem we’re having where school board members? Newell: I had a supt approach me about this because a member purposely didn’t go through training, resigned, ran again and won and still didn’t go through training.

Bill passes 13-2 (Cannaday, Virgin voting nay)

HB3089 – Schools; changing the length of the school day – Nelson*
Nelson: extends the school day to not less than 6.5 hours instead of the current 6.

Kern: so if they go from 6 to 6.5 they get to have fewer school days? Nelson: they could, yes.

Springer: I represent the largest district in the state. It took us 107 years to go from 6 hours to 6 hours, 20-minutes. The kind of challenges we have, six hours doesn’t make it. 6.5 doesn’t either, but it’s a step in the right direction. What we want to be able to do is extend our school day so our students get a better chance of getting a good education. Putnam City has a 7 hour school day. We’re trying to move the floor of what we expect just a little bit. I would hope districts would not decrease the number of days. We’re trying to come up with solutions to problems which are huge. Teachers are contracted for a 7.5 hour school day. What we’re trying to do is add 30-minutes to the amount of teaching time.

Coody: would you say that we wouldn’t have a superintendent who would shorten the school year? Springer: I think we’re committed to doing what’s best for education. Supts will be for more opportunities, not less.

Nelson: a lot of district had to extend the school day because of the storms and teachers told me they liked it because they didn’t feel rushed. Is that what you heard? Springer: lengthening the day just a little bit can create a more calm, serene environment. I experienced the same thing you did.

Cox: you said school boards are already lengthening the day. Are they also increasing teacher pay? Springer: districts with collective bargaining is one reason you don’t have districts with longer school days. As the state gains revenue, I can see us adding more days. Denver public schools is calling for a 40-hour work week for its teachers.

Roberts: I just don’t see this increase resulting in learning anything more. Springer: I would beg to differ. It’s a huge increase where we can focus on instruction.

Cannaday: isn’t it true you can already extend the day 30-minutes and that if you really wanted a change you would have increased the 1080 hour requirement. Nelson: my primary goal would be getting to a base of 6.5 hours per day. But I would welcome a friendly amendment. Cannaday: I see this as a way of circumventing labor negotiations with teachers, would you agree? Springer: no, I see this as the legislature recognizing the need for more education. Over 14-years of education, we’re talking about adding almost a year of education. But I could see where you could have that idea.

Jordan: why do you need this bill if a district can do it already? Nelson: we’re trying to make value statement as a legislature that we want a longer school day. It’s a more cost-effective way of getting more education.

Nollan: we’re creating a mandate where you (Springer) would be adding just 10-more minutes so this would be seen as micromanaging. Nelson: why do we have schools? To educate children and the longer we can do that every day is a good thing. yes this is a mandate. I think it’s a big deal. But it’s not micromanaging.

Kern: isn’t this more rearranging the time for the teacher as opposed to increasing the time for the teacher? Springer: absolutely. We’re not talking about mandating something that’s not already there. Our teachers are there and working their tails off. What we need to be able to do is recognize that unless we do something, we won’t be successful. This 30-minutes is muscle we can use to lift our schools.

Condit: unless we change the 1080 requirement, if you go to 6.5 hour days you’re talking 166 days. Springer: I think you’ll find that the districts focused on what’s best for children will be adding more days or at least staying at 180 rather than going to 166.

Ownbey: I haven’t had any superintendent from my district to do this. Is this just an OKC problem? Springer: I think for more district it takes years to increase the school day. Nelson: every state around us has at least a 6.5 hour day.

McDaniel: isn’t it true that it’s $11M to add another day to the school year and that’s the crux of the problem?

Debate
Jordan: I agree with the goal, but there’s the local control issue plus this can already happen in any district. It’s going to change every schedule and only those on the board know how best to arrange the day. It’s just another mandate.

Cannaday: I have no depth of knowledge of OKC schools. Springer says we need to stop not being successful. I don’t think the 9 districts in my district should be blanketed like that.

Kern: I think there are more fundamental problems in education. This isn’t increasing time teachers would be working. I don’t think this bill is the answer to what we need.

Nelson: there are some things I’ll never understand. We have people concerned we’re mandating we go 6.5 hours. Well we have a mandate for 6 hours right now. Let’s take that away and give districts billions of dollars to districts and let them do what we want. We’re not talking about creating a standard, it’s increasing the standard. We’re talking about establishing a new base so we’re not the bottom of the barrel. To me this is a common sense approach. We’re not micromanaging any more than we are right now.

Bill fails 4-11