Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/115069
Hill Bill Dominates Legislative Session splitting the employee increase for three years will be applied to the Highway Patrol-Game WardenDCI Plan. One other note regarding the health of the Wyoming Retirement System: the system���s investments earned a 14% return in 2012, according to reports to the WRS Board in February. This level of return is good news and means the plans will show better funding ratios as time goes on. Thanks to WEA���s Ken Decaria and Kathy Vetter and others in the Coalition for a Healthy Retirement System who worked hard to guide the pension legislation through a long, difficult process. G overnor Matt Mead signed ���administer the Teacher of the Senate File 104 on January Year program 29, 2013, and appointed a long-time educator, Dr. James O. ���establish rules and regulations Rose, as the Interim Director of the regarding seclusion & restraint Wyoming Department of Education. ���This was not an easy decision,��� ���assist districts with protocol Governor Mead said. ���We spend regarding concussions/head more than almost any other state on injuries our students. I am proud of that. I am proud of our great teachers, amazing ���establish guidelines regarding school facilities and our professional storage and disposal of toxic administrators. But, as we ask them to chemicals/other hazardous do more we must be accountable at substances the state level too. This bill addressed a structural problem in a system that ���provide professional existed for many years. As education development for schools and has become more complicated we teachers, including up to 5 have been mired down. This change regional workshops a year. allows us to focus on educational excellence for our children.����� The Wyoming Education Association monitored SF0104, but did not take Dr. Rose has a Ph.D. in Education for many reasons. from the University of Wyoming. He a formal positionthe ramifications is currently the Executive Director of We investigated status of the and monitored the the Wyoming Community College bill.����The WEA was aware of the Commission. ongoing conflicts between the state superintendent and legislators.����Our The process of selecting a permanent interest is in promoting constructive, workable policies that promote director requires the Wyoming State quality education and student Board of Education to provide three names to the Governor. The Governor success. It does not appear at this point that there is anything productive selects from those names and to be accomplished by the WEA appoints a director by December 1, 2013. That appointment is subject to piling on the political conflicts between branches of government. Senate confirmation. The WEA���s role will continue to be in regard to providing input to This bill does not eliminate the try to help shape practical, viable position of State Superintendent education policies and practices.����In of Public Instruction. This bill the short term, the elected officials designates what the specific duties on both sides of this controversy will are now of the State Superintendent. be here for a while, and there is no Those duties retained are: ���solution��� that will instantly fix the problem.����What we need right now ���general supervision of the is for everyone to try to work through state���s public schools the conflicts and do the best we can to move education forward in ���adopt rules and regulations Wyoming.�� necessary for the proper & effective general supervision of the public schools, and annual reporting to the Legislature on their general status SPRING 2013 Spring 2013.indd 19 | wyoea.org 19 3/11/13 2:48 PM