The House Education Committee met in executive session Tuesday and took the following votes on recommendations for several key bills. Please contact your local legislators and make sure they are aware of your position on each of these important bills. The committee recommendations are scheduled for House votes on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.
[OTP means Ought to Pass - OTP/A means Ought to Pass as Amended - ITL means Inexpedient to Legislate]
HR 21, urging the department of education to conduct a survey of New Hampshire educators to provide feedback about the impact of current educational programs in the state: recommendation is OTP on 14-6 vote.
HB 1411, requiring notice of the decision against rehiring be provided to educational support personnel. Proposed amended language requires written notice to education support personnel and non-certified employees of the intent to continue, or not, that employment into the next school year. Such notification may also contain "special circumstances as defined by the employer". There is NO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION since the committee vote was tied at 10-10.
Without a committee recommendation, the House will be provided two statements, one in support of the bill and one in opposition. NHSBA opposes this bill since it interferes with local policy and bargaining matters by mandating written notice to education support personnel and non-certified employees, a significant change in local employee/employer labor relations and an intrusion into local control issues. It also provides a vague reference to "special circumstances" that may be included in the notice, leaving this subject to possible different interpretations.
HB 1412, requiring due process and just cause for all educational support personnel: recommendation of ITL was unanimous on 20-0 vote.
NHSBA supports the recommendation to kill this bill that mandates due process protections and just cause. The phrase "just cause" has no specific meaning, but instead is left to outside judges/arbitrators to apply in given circumstances. That is exactly the reason that school districts in NH have long resisted its inclusion in collective bargaining agreements, or in the alternative, have strictly limited its application to specified disciplinary actions. And, the NH Supreme Court has determined that it is an issue that school boards are not required to bargain because of its likely intrusion on the exercise of legitimate managerial rights. In short, the phrase "just cause" is an undefined phrase, subject to unilateral interpretation by outside forums, and has been recognized as potentially encroaching on governing bodies ability to manage the personnel systems in public schools.
HB 1414, requiring that evaluations of teachers who are employed by the school district shall be based on multiple, reliable, and accurate measures. A proposed amendment required the department of education, with the professional standards board, to review certification/recertification requirements in rules and align them with "nationally recognized teacher and administrator personnel evaluation standards". It also requires that evaluations of teachers must be based on multiple research-based measures and not be exclusively linked to the test performance of students in the teachers' class. Exclusion for application to the dismissal, nonrenewal and bargaining statutes is proposed.
The amendment was adopted on a 13-7 vote, but the motion OTP/A failed 9-11, and a subsequent motion of ITL failed on an 8-12 vote. The motion Refer for Interim Study was adopted 12-8.
NHSBA supports the Referral to Interim Study. The bill is not ready for passage: it attempts to mandate an evaluation process that is usually determined by local bargaining, it refers to evaluations based on "multiple research-based measures" without any definition, and then requires evaluations to be based on certification and re-certification requirements, confusing certification eligibility standards with performance expectations on the job.
HB 1453, requiring schools to give notice to legal guardians of certain school programs which address health, sex education, sexual orientation or gender identity, or political activism. A proposed amendment requiring schools to communicate in a "timely" manner using whatever method of communication it chose to ensure parental notification, failed on a tie vote (10-10). A subsequent motion of ITL was then adopted 15-5.
NHSBA supports the ITL recommendation. This bill adds "political activism" to the notice requirements, which is undefined and could be interpreted in many varied ways. The remaining elements of the bill are already addressed in current statute and required policy.
HB 1479, requiring body mass index be assessed in all pupils in grades one, 4, 7, and 10 who have not opted out for religious reasons: ITL on a 16-4 vote.
NHSBA supports the ITL motion. There is a cost associated with this new requirement, the only reason to opt out is religious, and there are confidentiality concerns. Hearing and vision screenings are done in schools since they are requisite components in determining a child's 'readiness' for education, and whether any accommodations are necessary, unlike this attempt to calculate a BMI.
HB 1523, revising the statute on pupil safety and violence prevention to include harassment, intimidation, bullying, and cyberbullying: recommendation of OTP/A on a 19-1 vote.
NHSBA supports this bill with reservations. Though NHSBA supports efforts to curb bullying in schools, the definition of "bullying" contained in the bill is significantly broad and potentially vague, bringing many types of student behavior and actions under the umbrella of "bullying".
HB 1580, stating that parents have a natural, fundamental right to determine and direct the education of their children. The bill also exempts children who are receiving educational instruction from a parent from the compulsory attendance requirements: ITL on a 12-7 vote.

Update on House Action
The House met in session on Wednesday and tried to make up lost time due to delays from last week. Status of the following bills of interest to school board members is as follows:
[OTP means Ought to Pass - OTP/A means Ought to Pass as Amended - ITL means Inexpedient to Legislate]
HB 1224, NOT CONSIDERED, scheduled for Mar. 3, relative to employee background investigations, with an amendment that provides additional information including arrests, charges pending disposition, or convictions of the applicant: recommendation is OTP/A.
HB 1469, PASSED - OTP, providing that the number of days in the school year may be defined by department of education rules which specify an equivalent number of hours: the bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
HB 1346, KILLED - ITL, removing the limit on the state board of education's authority to grant charter status to chartered public schools. HB 1495, a similar bill relative to approval of charter schools, passed last week and was referred to the Finance Committee, which has scheduled a work session on the bill for March 4.
HB 1284, KILLED - ITL, requiring the posting of draft minutes in two public places within five business days.
HB 1142, KILLED - ITL, changing the minimum number of signatures required to petition a warrant article from 25 to 2% of the legal voters.
HB 1522, NOT CONSIDERED, scheduled for Mar. 3, allowing cities and towns to amend their charters to permit a tax cap on the city or the school district budget: recommendation is ITL.
HB 1674, KILLED - ITL, relative to adequate education grants and the statewide education property tax. This bill permanently extended the "transition period" to education grants, i.e. the hold harmless minimum level and the collar on increases in grants. However, this issue is not entirely resolved, as other bills on adequacy funding remain to be considered.
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Public Hearing Scheduled on Proposed Suspension of Building Aid
SB 486, prohibiting the Department of Education from making any building aid grants for projects approved on or after June 30, 2010 until June 30, 2012, will have a public hearing before the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, March 2nd at 10:15 in room 103 of the Legislative Office Building (LOB). This bill is in response to the recommendation of the Building Aid Study Committee, created last June during budget deliberations (see interim report of the Building Aid Study Committee).
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