DSEA Action!

Legislative Outlook Looking ahead to the next legislative session The second session of the 147th Delaware General Assembly reconvenes in January for six months. But just because the General Assembly isn't in session now, doesn't mean that nothing is happening. Joint Finance Committee puts focus on public education funding This fall, for the first time, the JFC held meetings during the legislative recess. Normally they only meet during session, which begins January 14. These fall meetings allowed the committee to discuss issues away from and in advance of the hectic environment of the regular budget calendar. According to DSEA's Kristin Dwyer, dir. of legislation and political organizing, "JFC Chairs Sen. McDowell and Rep. Melanie Smith are going above and beyond to ensure that members of their committee are up-to-date on every aspect of the state budget." According to JFC Chair Melanie George-Smith in an email newsletter from the Democratic Caucus, the Joint Finance Committee addressed several key parts of the budget during its recent sessions, including these three: overcoming the resistance to reform how property is assessed in Delaware and the resulting tax base for school districts. Health Care Delaware's share of the state-federal health care plan for those in need, Medicaid, has grown rapidly in recent years. Significant steps already have been taken to bring down the cost of the program, but more needs to be done. The committee evaluated ideas for pushing more preventive care measures, intended to keep Medicaid patients healthy and away from costly treatments later in life. Also, the JFC looked at ways to curb abuse of the Medicaid system and root out fraud. Public Paratransit The cost of providing reliable public transportation for Delaware's elderly and disability communities is well above national averages. The committee heard about plans in the works at DelDOT to overhaul the state's transit system, including proposals to raise decades-old rates and fees. The committee also discussed the need to improve the quality of paratransit service. The Joint Finance Committee will begin its formal budget review process for fiscal year 2015 in February, with Governor Markell unveiling his proposed budget in January . Education The Joint Finance Committee discussed the need to determine which programs are working and which ones are not, and to reallocate funding accordingly Members also . talked about the need to ensure that school programs serving special needs students have the funding they need. This included, of course, a discussion of school "units" and how they are allocated. The committee also talked about the state's equalization formula, which most agree doesn't work. This is tied to the need to somehow www.dsea.org School nurses and DSEA lobby for nurse preparation regulations that reflect today's nursing education The Professional Standards Board (PSB) - in response to Senate Bill 51, which tightened the requirements for teacher preparation last year - has proposed regulations for issuance of an initial license which would require school nurses to complete traditional student teaching and pass the PRAXIS I test as evidence of general knowledge, skill @dseafan and ability to be a school nurse. These requirements are superfluous for nurses. Today's accredited school nursing programs require three years of both supervised clinical and field experience as well as an exit exam - developed and owned by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. - that is specifically designed to test the knowledge, skills and abilities essential for the safe and effective practice of nursing at the entry level. In October, DSEA and the Delaware School Nurses Association began lobbying the Professional Standards Board to include both teachers/specialists and school nurses. The PRAXIS and student teaching requirements are superfluous to nurses, and make it more difficult for nurses to enter the profession. Many people are surprised to learn that school nurses today are not only RN's (Registered Nurses), but also have bachelor degrees in nursing. While teachers must earn 90 clock hours of professional development every five years in order to maintain their license to teach in Delaware, nurses (no matter where they practice) must complete 30 CEUs every two years, as well as the 90 clock hours every five years to keep their school nursing certificate. A nurse in every building for real? There is an informal caucus of state legislators concerned with education called the Kids Caucus. Led by Rep. Melanie MarshallSmith, the Caucus is looking to find a way to fund a full-time nurse in every public school building. Right now, one only needs to be available, which means that buildings can share nurses. Tax Intercept bill would benefit school districts by millions ouse Bill 27 allows school taxes and property taxes to be "intercepted" (collected) on behalf of the counties, from pay checks of taxpayers who are delinquent in their payment. The current law prohibits garnishing wages for school taxes. As a result, millions of dollars of property taxes owed to school districts and local governments go uncollected. These taxes, when delinquent, are difficult to collect. Tax intercept programs have been successful in collecting child support and other obligations owed the state. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Dan Short (R) and Darryl Scott (D) and Sen. Brian Pettyjohn (R). It was introduced last session when it passed in the House. It is currently assigned to the Senate Finance Committee. 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