On Wednesday, the House adopted significant changes to our 'tenure law' when it passed SB 196 on a 253-105 roll call vote. The bill makes revisions to the statutes in order to strengthen the authority of local school boards and hold teachers accountable. NHSBA supports SB 196, which will accomplish the following:

1. Increase the number of years from 3 years to 5 for the additional rights and protections provided in 189:14-a. This allows more time to assess a teacher before making a final decision. A longer probationary period makes sense due to the potential for incurring high termination costs for poor performing employees;
2. Narrow the scope of appeals available for nonrenewals, making any request for review by the State Board of Education the exclusive remedy.
3. Prohibit any form of arbitration or other binding resolution for grievances on nonrenewals. Any such provision would become null and void upon the expiration of the contract. These are local issues that require local solution, and should not be subject to an outside third party making decisions that impact school districts. Under the State Board review, local decisions would be upheld unless found to be clearly erroneous;
4. Prohibit Reduction in Force (RIF) language based solely on seniority for nonrenewals and layoffs. Such "Last In First Out" language hampers many of our school districts, where contractual provisions require layoffs to be determined by seniority, not quality. Barring the use of such seniority clauses will help keep the best teachers working with our students.

ACTION ITEM

It is important to contact your local senator, voicing your support for this proposal and urging the Senate to concur with the House version. The bill restores many provisions that existed from 2003 - 2008 and were based on findings of a task force created by Governor Shaheen. These changes will give more local discretion to school boards, streamlines the process of appeal for teacher contract nonrenewals, and will benefit student performance. It maintains rights for teachers, including notice requirements, and for any hearing on a nonrenewal, the burden of proof is on the superintendent by a preponderance of the evidence. 

The House Municipal and County Government Committee met this week and recommended passage of a spending/tax cap bill on a 12-4 vote. This bill has not yet been scheduled for full House consideration, but may be up for a vote as soon as June 1.

SB 2, relative to adoption of spending caps by municipalities, includes traditional and official ballot (aka SB 2) district meetings as well as city and town charter forms of government. This enabling legislation allows districts and towns to adopt the provisions of a new section added to the municipal budget law (RSA 32). Local adoption of a tax cap may be either a fixed dollar amount or a fixed percentage applied to the taxes raised in the prior fiscal year. While the cap would apply to the budget submitted by the governing body (school board), the legislative body (district meeting) is not similarly restricted and may increase, or decrease, the amount of any appropriation or the total amount of all appropriations. 

The House Education Committee met this week and voted 12-4 in support of a recommendation of Ought to Pass as Amended on a proposal to study vouchers and tax credits to support nonpublic education. The full House is scheduled to vote on the recommendation next week.

SB 67 will establish a committee to study the implementation of an education tax credit plan in NH. The charge to the committee is to study the authorization of an education tax credit plan that could include a credit against the Business Profits Tax for cash contributions from businesses to support the education of students at nonpublic schools. Also included is a charge to study the establishment of tax-exempt scholarship granting organizations that would award grants to offset the cost of attending nonpublic schools. An interim report and recommendations for legislation would be due this November (2011), with a final report due in November 2012. 

The House Special Committee on Education Funding Reform met this week and voted 11-4 in support of amending the senate version of adequacy funding to reflect the original House position, but with additional changes. The full House will likely vote on the recommendation when it meets on June 1.

SB 183 amends the calculation and distribution of adequate education grants. The committee recommendation replaces the senate language with most provisions contained in HB 337 as passed by the House. In addition, it now provides additional funds for each third grade pupil who has tested at the proficient level or above in the reading component of the state assessment. It also provides for a similar reduction of funds for each such pupil who does not test at the proficient level in reading. The bill continues to contain a hold harmless provision ensuring that municipalities receive the same level of funding for fiscal years 2012 and 2013 that they received in FY 2011.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously to amend the House version of Adequacy, HB 337, with language reflecting the Senate position previously adopted in SB 183. The full Senate will vote on the committee recommendation when it meets next Wednesday. 

SB 3: The Committee of Conference on SB 3 continues to meet with further work scheduled for next week. Deliberations have focused on part-time employment and return to work issues, special duty pay, definitions of both earnable compensation and average final compensation, and the composition of the NHRS Board of Trustees.

Budgetary Concern with Retirement Remains an Issue

While reform to the retirement system will continue to be reviewed within the Committee of Conference on SB 3, the state share of retirement contributions continues to be uncertain. While current law returns the state share to 35% in July, budget writers continue to look for a net savings in reform measures that reflect the state's dollar commitment at the 25% level. As state budget deliberations continue, it appears that the state is assuming any savings accrued to the pension system based on reform provisions and increased employee contributions can be considered as representing the state share on behalf of local employers. Any direct share in the state paying a percentage of local rates this July may be at risk. The total rate for teachers will increase 30% in July. With retirement reform, increases will be moderated, but without any state contribution, any actual local savings will be lost since local governments may now be paying the entire state share. 

The House adopted the following bill this week:

SB 90, directing the SAU Legislative Oversight Committee to study the consolidation of SAUs. The House adopted significant changes to the original bill passed by the Senate. In addition to expanding the duties of the SAU oversight committee, which currently monitors the organization and dissolution of SAUs, the bill extends such oversight to include cooperative school districts. It requires the committee to study consolidation of SAUs into primarily one SAU per county with the exception of Hillsborough and Rockingham, which would have 2 SAUs each. The bill now also modifies the SAU withdrawal statutes that were just re-written last year following recommendations of the Oversight Committee, and also makes changes to the authorized regional enrollment area (AREA) laws. Finally, this bill provides for a suspension of the required 180-day school year in recognition of snow emergency days for the 2010-2011 school year only, negating the need for Dept. of Education waivers this year. The SAU and AREA provisions within the bill were originally introduced in HB 369, but Senate Education Committee concerns with that bill led to it being tabled in the Senate.