Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/145076
Legislative Wrap-Up Performance Fund. Any eligible school can apply for funding, but will be subject to the provisions of SB148 (see below). While House Bill 165 represents a major step forward in reforming the process by which charters are started, re-authorized and closed, the conversation on how charters schools operate should not stop here. Enrollment Preference Task Force to look at "preference" practices of our schools During the public debates in both the House and the Senate, legislators raised concerns that will be addressed by the Enrollment Preference Task Force established by another piece of legislation this year, HB 90, which has also been signed by the Governor. We look forward to participating in that effort with an eye toward ensuring that all Delaware students have a fair and equal chance to attend their public school of choice, whether it is a community public school, a magnet school, a vo-tech school, or a charter school. In addition, HB 90 also prohibits any public schools from discriminating in its enrollment practices. • It allows districts to request supplemental application information from choice students only to the extent it requires the same information from attendance zone students; • It limits the supplemental criteria a receiving district may use to evaluate choice applications - after that, districts must use a lottery system; and • It removes the provision that allows districts to reject applications of students with special needs. Districts would also be required to accept choice students until each school and/or program has reached 85% of its capacity The bill does . allow schools to prohibit students from enrolling in subsequent years for certain transgressions. Districts are now required to hold a public information session about www.dsea.org choice and enrollment opportunities by October 31, and report estimated capacity and projected enrollment information to the Department of Education by November 30. Those estimates may be revised until January 30. It also standardizes choice applications and deadlines across districts effective July 1, 2013. Charters to share innovations Originally proposed as a Senate Amendment to HB165, SB147 encourages the sharing of best practices in all public schools. This legislation requires charter schools to include innovation information in their annual reports, and requires the secretary of Education to report how successes at charter schools can be implemented throughout Delaware's public education system. The Committee for Promoting Charter-District Collaboration established in this law will consider the current state of collaboration between public charter schools and traditional public schools, and will develop recommendations for strengthening such collaboration. We successfully lobbied for an amendment which adds a representative of DSEA to the Committee for Promoting Charter-District Collaboration, for a total of three representatives – the same as the Charter School Network. Transparency for competitive grants Also originally an amendment to the charter school bill, SB148 promotes transparency in government spending on competitive grants administered by the Department of Education. The Department will publish on its website the eligibility requirements, criteria and successful applications for every competitive grant it administers. Both SB 147 and SB 148 passed both chambers and await the Governor's signature. With Speaker of the House Pete Schwartzkopf in Legislative Hall are Adele Jones (center), active member of the Indian River E.A., and the DSEA Executive Board, and Sue Rosenberg, a former colleague, now retired. They are a "team" lobbying for our Coalition of State Workers United in support of the bill to add state worker representatives to the State Employee Benefits Committee. They and other members who gave of their free time to come talk to legislators are why SB 21 – a DSEA and Coalition priority – is still alive. State Workers United Team lobbying worked! B21, the State Employee Benefits bill, is a priority of ours as well as The Coalition of State Workers United - a strong coalition of 14 Delaware state worker unions. This bill would put two state worker union representatives on the State Employee Benefits Committee (SEBC). It has passed the Senate, but stalled in the House Administration Comm. House leadership told the Coalition of State Workers United two weeks before the session ended that the bill won't run this year in S Teacher Prep bill strengthens and solidifies preparation programs Senate Bill 51 will also require Delaware's four colleges and universities that prepare teachers to track and report data on the effectiveness of their programs. It also requires new teachers to pass both an approved content-readiness exam and performance assessment before receiving an initial license. These assessments and passing scores will be developed or identified in collaboration with Delaware educators. The bill also speaks to Special Education. Special Ed teachers will need to demonstrate content knowledge if they plan to teach in a secondary subject. the House. They invited us to meet with the bill's lead sponsor, Rep. Larry Mitchell, this summer on this legislation, with a commitment to move compromise SEBC legislation in January The Coalition will . indeed meet with Rep. Mitchell, but the current bill remains our priority . Thanks to everyone who came from many of the Coalition unions to lobby legislators about this bill which would, we believe, improve the SEBC. The lobbying definitely made a difference. General Assembly reconvenes next January he 147th General Assembly of the State of Delaware resumes next January 2014, and ends on June 30, 2014. Bills already introduced but not yet voted up or down, are still alive next year. To see all of the bills that DSEA is tracking, go to www.dsea.org/PoliticalAction/ Home.html. To see a particular bill and its status, go to http://legis. delaware.gov/LIS/LIS147.nsf/ home?openform and plug in the Bill Number. T July 2013 DSEA ACTION! 5