New Hampshire School Boards Association
Legislative Bulletin
January 23, 2009
A Brief Summary of Education Issues at the State House
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Department of Education Presents to Joint Meeting of House Education and Finance
Commissioner Lyonel Tracey, along with Division Directors, appeared before a joint meeting of the House Finance and Education Committees, and gave a comprehensive overview of programs and services of the Department of Education. Topics covered included working goals of the Department, specifically in the areas of Adequacy and Accountability. Follow the Child and data collection relating to assessment initiatives were highlighted, including the Initiative for School Empowerment and Excellence (i.4.see), the web-based Performance Tracker program allowing for various methods of disaggregating student assessment data, and an improved Special Education data collections system. The upcoming change to age 18 for compulsory school attendance was also addressed in terms of extended learning opportunities and four high school pilot programs were highlighted: Franklin, Newfound, Laconia and Manchester Central.
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Right to Know Law Violations and Penalties
HB 425 proposes a civil penalty of between $250 and $1,000 on any public official or employee who violates the Right to Know Law "in bad faith." Any fees collected are to be deposited into a fund at the Attorney General's Office, to support remedial training for anyone violating the law and so ordered by the court. The bill is scheduled for a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, January 27, at 1pm in room 208 of the Legislative Office Building (LOB).
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School District Legal Concern
HB 197, relative to apportionment of damages in civil actions. Remember HB 143 from 2007? This same bill requires damages in a lawsuit to be allocated among those defendants who remain in the case at the time of the verdict. This creates an undue pressure for settlements when a defendant, who may be minimally liable, could inherit the full financial responsibility for an award if the remaining defendants settle prior to a verdict. It is possible that a defendant with a majority of the responsibility, e.g. 90% at fault, could settle prior to a verdict; the remaining defendant, with only 10% fault, would then be liable for the entire award, less any money paid the plaintiff by the settlement, despite being minimally responsible for the injury. Under existing law a defendant in a case involving multiple defendants can be held liable only for his proportionate share of the damages. HB 197 would change the law and is an issue for school districts, which can be targeted as deep-pocket defendants. The 2007 legislation almost became law, passing both the House and Senate, but was then vetoed by Governor Lynch.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact the Judiciary Committee Chair and express your opposition to this bill and the potential increased financial exposure to school districts. ______________________________________
Upcoming Labor Legislation
HB 231 repeals a provision requiring inclusion of an automatic continuation clause in collective bargaining agreements with public employees. This bill repeals the language adopted last session in HB 1436, requiring the continuation of "any pay plan" in a contract after its expiration when a new contract has not been settled. This bill reflects a specific NHSBA Resolution that was adopted last week at the NHSBA Delegate Assembly.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact the Labor Committee Chair and express your support for this bill. During these tough economic times, unions will have little incentive to negotiate when they are assured that salary increases are forthcoming.
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HB 46 implements binding arbitration for unresolved public employee contract negotiations. In districts where the governing body and the legislative body are the same, the bill stipulates that parties shall accept the neutral party's findings and recommendation and cost items shall be deemed approved. For those districts with school meetings, the determination of the neutral party shall be final and binding upon the parties for the period prescribed by the neutral party.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact the Labor Committee Chair and express your opposition to this bill and the change to the negotiations process, allowing an unelected third party to mandate costs and appropriations on the school district. ______________________________________
HB 305 gives non-emergency public employees the right to strike. This bill would amend current law and allow strikes by "non-essential" public employees, including public school teachers.
ACTION ITEM
Please contact the Labor Committee Chair and express your opposition to this bill and how it would disrupt not only labor relations in the school district but also the educational programs of our students.
For the complete text of any bill, go to the general court web site and enter the bill number, e.g. HB114, SB38 or CACR2 (no spaces!), and make sure the Session Year is 2009.
For more information on specific legislation, please call Dean Michener, NHSBA Director of Governmental Affairs at 603-228-2061, or email: deanm@nhsba.org.
