Session Review: Education
Senators passed education legislation addressing a range of issues from teacher performance pay to community college funding.
LB1014, sponsored by Malcolm Sen. Ken Haar, allows future proceeds from wind and solar leases of the Board of Educational Lands and Funds to be used to fund teacher performance pay.
School districts and their collective bargaining agreements will be required to set performance factors that could include improving professional skills and knowledge, classroom performance or instructional behavior and instructional outcomes.
Beginning in 2016, if 75 percent of school districts reach such an agreement in a given year, the commissioner of education will be required to notify school districts of the amount of their apportionment attributable to wind and solar leases and available for teacher performance pay. The amount available for performance pay is capped at $10 million per year.
If a school district fails to include a system for teacher performance pay within its local collective-bargaining agreement, funds specified in the bill will be returned to the state treasurer within one month for statewide redistribution on a per-pupil basis.
If the 75 percent requirement is not met in 2016, 2017 or 2018, the bill’s provisions will be eliminated.
LB1014 passed on a 45-2 vote.
LB235, introduced by York Sen. Greg Adams, permits the Board of Educational Lands and Funds to issue leases for wind and solar energy production. The bill limits the initial term of wind energy leases to no more than 40 years and exempts wind and solar leases from the public bidding process required for agricultural leases.
The bill passed on a vote of 45-0.
Senators also worked to resolve funding disputes between state community colleges.
LB1072, also introduced by Adams, terminates the current funding formula and dissolves the Nebraska Community College Association on June 30, 2011. The bill retains the amount of aid for each community college for the 2010-11 school year as follows:
- $27.1 million for Southeast Community College;
- $18.4 million for Metropolitan Community College;
- $12.8 million for Northeast Community College, including Nebraska Indian Community College and Little Priest Tribal College;
- $11.9 million for Western Community College;
- $8.3 million for Central Community College; and
- $8.3 million for Mid-Plains Community College.
The six community college presidents will work together to develop a new funding formula and reorganize a community college association.
LB1072 was passed on a 49-0 vote.
Senators passed a bill changing several provisions relating to learning communities.
LB1070, introduced by Adams, modifies the learning community coordinating council’s tax levy authority. Currently, the council may levy up to 5 cents for elementary learning center facilities and up to 50 percent of the capital costs for approved capital projects.
Under the bill, the council can levy up to 2 cents for facility leases and remodeling and for up to 50 percent of focus school or program capital projects. Up to 1 cent may be levied for elementary learning center employees and pilot projects, although no more than 10 percent may be used for employees.
The bill also changes the learning community student allocation funding in the educational service unit distribution formula.
Under the bill, 70 percent of the adjusted student allocation in learning community districts is attributed to the ESU and the remaining 30 percent is attributed to the learning community. After this year the bill stipulates a 90-10 percent split.
LB1070 also:
- makes technical changes relating to property tax relief funds and in lieu of taxes;
- allows expenses to be paid to non-voting members of learning community coordinating councils;
- changes learning community reporting provisions;
- provides an allowance for the first year of focus school operation; and
- eases the restrictions on terminating an elementary learning center executive director.
LB1070 was passed on a 47-0 vote.
Senators also passed a bill that eliminates per diem payments for learning community coordinating council members.
Valentine Sen. Deb Fischer said she introduced LB937 to make benefits consistent for learning community board members and school board members.
LB937 was passed on a 38-8 vote.
School districts are allowed to unify through interlocal agreements under a bill passed by senators this session.
LB711, introduced by Ewing Sen. Cap Dierks, allows school districts to create new unifications. The bill also allows school districts to continue as a unification even if another district withdraws or a unification dissolves.
Unifications are local systems of school districts brought together through an interlocal agreement. While unifications are treated as single school districts for most purposes, each school district receives its own calculation for state aid and maintains the election of its school board members. A unification board, which determines a general fund levy, is composed of school board members from participating districts but building funds and bonding are the responsibility of the individual school districts.
Under LB711, districts are required to include in the interlocal agreement a plan regarding the division of liabilities and assets upon the partial or complete termination of a unification. Currently, when a district withdraws or a unification dissolves, the assets and liabilities are divided pursuant to a declaratory judgment.
The bill also sets March 10 as the certification date for state aid to schools.
LB711 was passed on a 47-0 vote.
Senators also passed a bill that requires the state Department of Health and Human Services to set health screening schedules for school districts.
Currently, school districts are required to screen every student for vision, hearing and dental health in the first quarter of each school year.
LB713, introduced by Grand Island Sen. Mike Gloor, requires the department to determine which screenings should be performed and establishes a method for gathering student health data for schools.
The bill allows an exemption from health inspections if a student provides written documentation from a doctor stating that the child recently has been inspected. Parents also may opt out of the screenings.
LB713 passed on a 48-0 vote.
Senators approved a bill that changes income qualifications and increases the maximum dollar amount of awards given under the Nebraska Opportunity Grant Act – formerly the Nebraska Scholarship Act.
Under LB956, introduced by Adams, students with an expected annual family contribution of $6,000 or less will qualify for awards. The $6,000 threshold will increase each year by 2.5 percent. The maximum award amount under the act is increased from 25 to 50 percent of tuition and fees for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Finally, the bill renames the Nebraska Scholarship Act as the Nebraska Opportunity Grant Act to clarify that the awards are need-based and not contingent on a student’s academic credentials.
The bill passed on a 48-0 vote.
An earlier eligibility date for children to begin kindergarten was approved this session.
Under LB1006, introduced by Adams, children are eligible if they are 5 years old by July 31, beginning with the 2012-13 school year. Previously, the cutoff date was Oct. 15.
The bill includes an exception for children who turn 5 between Aug. 1 and Oct. 15 if they perform adequately on a school assessment. The bill also requires school boards to adopt an assessment procedure to determine if a child is capable of kindergarten-level work.
LB1006 was passed on a 47-0 vote.
Finally, senators passed an education bill that changes administrative procedures ranging from state aid formula deadlines to student data sharing.
LB1071, introduced by Adams, sets Oct. 15 as the deadline for schools to provide to the state Department of Education information relating to the state aid to schools formula. Currently, different deadlines are set for different types of information.
Under the bill, the deadline for the certification of state aid is changed from Feb. 1 to April 1 for 2011, and March 1 for each year thereafter.
LB1071 provides for the calculation of state aid for unified systems and makes changes related to the early childhood education programs to be included in the calculation of state aid, as well as district responsibilities for students participating in open enrollment.
The bill also changes the graduate program requirements for the Enhancing Excellence in Teaching Program to include graduate studies other than teacher education programs.
Among other provisions, LB1071:
- removes a redundant reporting requirement for county assessors to certify taxable value of school districts;
- clarifies residency provisions for school districts;
- modifies qualifications for preschool programs that receive state aid funds; and
- harmonizes the calculation of unused budget authority with recent changes in the budget authority provisions for school districts.
The bill includes provisions from two other bills introduced by Adams that relate to schools.
Provisions from LB957 require the board to adopt a policy for sharing student data with the University of Nebraska Regents, the Nebraska State Colleges board of trustees and the board of governors from each community college area.
Provisions from LB1069 define the educational service unit coordinating council as a political subdivision, but do not grant taxing authority.
The ESU funding formula currently contains two hold harmless provisions based on aid received in prior years. Under LB1069, the hold harmless provisions instead are based on prior year needs and the distance education and telecommunications allowance will be subtracted.
LB1069 requires that only school purchases of technological hardware totaling more than $10,000 be subject to approval by the Nebraska Information and Technology Commission. The bill also clarifies that schools are not required to join Network Nebraska, a series of service contracts providing access for schools and government to a high-speed telecommunications network.
LB1071 was passed on a 49-0 vote.
Two education bills did not advance from general file this session.
Senators declined to advance a bill to select file that would have required schools to develop student allergy plans.
LB72, introduced by Bellevue Sen. Abbie Cornett, would have required the state Department of Education, in consultation with the state Department of Health and Human Services, to develop and make available policy guidelines for the management of students with life-threatening allergies.
The policy would have included annual education and training for school personnel on management of students with life-threatening allergies, procedures for maintaining a file for each student at risk for anaphylaxis and strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to anaphylactic causative agents in schools.
LB72 failed to advance on a vote of 21-27.
Lawmakers also voted to bracket a bill that would have restructured the Nebraska School Activities Association and required the association to follow state open meeting and records laws.
The NSAA comprises 312 member schools and oversees high school sports and other activities.
Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery said he introduced LB1021 after an interim study revealed issues at the NSAA ranging from disproportionate representation to lack of public access to the association.
The bill stipulated six equally distributed districts based on student participation levels and would have allowed any educator who holds a Nebraska teaching or administrative certificate from a member school to be eligible for election to a leadership position.
Senators voted 27-13 to bracket the bill.
