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Special Education and Department of Education Rules
HB 1360, as passed by the House, makes several changes to the Dept. Education rule-making process. It requires written notice to the House and Senate Education Committees of any proposed rules with a solicitation for comment. It also requires both committees to meet jointly next year to review all state board of education rules and prepare a report by December 2013. NHSBA is supporting a proposed amendment that was offered during testimony this week requiring special education rules to comply with federal law, including the provision directing states to minimize the number of rules, and identify those that exceed federal law. The proposed amendment also stipulates that any rule, "avoid imposing on school districts unreasonable, unnecessary, or unduly complex procedural burdens... (and) respect the principle that the Legislature, rather than the State Board of Education, should decide whether to exceed the minimum requirements of federal law."
ACTION ITEM
Please contact your local senator, and specifically members of the Senate Education Committee,expressing your support for the proposed amendment. The language represents our best opportunity yet to address NHSBA's priority resolutions and specific call to amend NH law so that only the state legislature, not the state board of education via rulemaking or any other process, decides when it is appropriate for state law to exceed federal law. School board members have a long history of concern with agency rules that impose state requirements in excess of federal requirements. These concerns emanate from not only local experience, but also review of State Dept. of Education memos informing districts of the areas in which state rules exceed Federal IDEA regulations. It may well be appropriate for state requirements to exceed federal law, but those decisions should be reserved for the elected legislature, not a state agency, especially when it imposes costs.
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Proposed Expansion for Legal Challenges to Governmental Actions
HB 1510 will allow any taxpayer in the jurisdiction of the taxing district to have standing to petition for relief without having to demonstrate that his or her personal rights were impaired or prejudiced. This change would allow any individual taxpayer to bring a legal challenge when the person feels aggrieved by a governmental action. If every taxpayer can challenge any government expenditure or action, courts will cease to function as a court, but rather will play the role of a general complaint bureau. In effect, HB 1510 would give control to the minority to stop any government action or spending with which they disagree. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill, voting 4-1 in recommending Ought to Pass; the bill will be considered by the full Senate next week. Please share your concerns with your senator.
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Health Costs and "Status Quo"
HB 1206 requires public employers and employees to share equally any cost increase caused by the fulfillment of continuing obligations for employee insurance benefits under an expired contract. While better than leaving the entire obligation to the public employer, the problem is that this still seeks to circumvent the statutory process of legislative approval of cost items. When districts are at impasse, the public employer should not be obligated to appropriate or expend any sum of money greater than the amount appropriated and expended in the final year of the agreement. Thus NHSBA supports efforts to require the employee to pay any increase in the health cost when at impasse. This would also provide an incentive for unions to reach agreement during the negotiations process. The bill remains under consideration in the Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee. Please share your concerns with members of the committee who will soon be making a recommendation on the bill.
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Charter School Students at Regional Technical Centers
HB 1202 amends the definition of "sending district" as it applies to students attending regional vocational education programs and adds specific language relative to chartered public school students attending such programs. For students attending a chartered public school, the sending district shall be the school district in which the student resides. This places transportation and financial responsibility on school districts for placement/attendance decisions over which the district has no authority. The Senate Education Committee voted 5-0 to recommend Interim Study on the bill. We appreciate the committee's understanding of this complex issue. Please contact your senator and urge support of the committee's recommendation for further study.
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Local Control and Curriculum Decisions
HB 1403 has been scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Education Committee next Tuesday, May 1, at 1:00 pm in rooms 306-308 of the LOB. Prompted by concerns with provisions of the International Baccalaureate program, the bill requires that school curriculum and instruction shall only meet school approval standards if such curriculum and instruction promotes state and national sovereignty and is not subject to the governance of a foreign body or organization. The bill also establishes a committee to study issues relating to the International Baccalaureate program in New Hampshire. The bill states that proof of governance of a foreign body or organization may be demonstrated in several ways, including, but not limited to: (a) Use of a specific name to promote the school, such as "world school"; or (b) Required inspections or visits to ensure compliance with programs, rules, or polices of the foreign body or organization; or (c) A requirement that arbitration of disputes relating to the implementation of any program be conducted outside of the state of New Hampshire, or be settled by, or in accordance with, any source of legal authority other than state or federal law.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit educational foundation focused on the student. It has three programs for students aged 3 to 19 intended to help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills necessary to live learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world. NHSBA remains concerned that such a requirement could supersede decisions of local school districts in their choice of curriculum and instructional methodology, and impact districts that may have already adopted such programs and methods. There are many options and sources available for implementing curriculum, with many originating outside the US. Elected boards are responsible for making decisions about the delivery of instruction in their schools, and school boards have statutory flexibility in implementing diverse educational approaches tailored to meet student needs. Indeed, in RSA 193-E:2-a, the statute states, "It is the responsibility of local teachers, administrators, and school boards to identify and implement approaches best suited for the students in their communities to acquire the skills and knowledge included in the [curriculum] frameworks, to determine the scope, organization, and sequence of course offerings, and to choose the methods of instruction, the activities, and the materials to be used."
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Retirement Issues
SB 229, the Senate position establishing a Study Commission to make recommendations on whether the current NHRS system should be replaced with a defined contribution plan for all new hires, had a public hearing in the House Special Committee on Public Pension Reform. NHSBA supports such a study; with review of the experience in other states and the net effect on current NHRS account balances. We also remain concerned with potential transition costs of $1.2 billion to close the current Defined Benefit Plan and an estimated $83 billion increase to the unfunded liability. NHSBA also supported inclusion of an appropriation to cover anticipated costs associated with expert consultants and research reports for such an important undertaking. The Commission's report would be due on or before December 1, 2013.
SB 228, repealing the provisions establishing the assessments for excess benefits to be paid by public employers in the retirement system ("spiking penalty"), had a public hearing in the House Special Committee on Public Pension Reform. NHSBA strongly supports this bill that will repeal penalty assessments on districts that were simply following the rules of NHRS. Retirement reform adopted last year has put us on a self-correcting path, and the real origin of the "problem" is in how the legislature originally defined "earnable compensation", including end-of-career severance benefits in the calculation of an employee's annual pension benefit. Please share your support for this bill with committee members.
SB 83, enabling municipalities and school districts to create Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) trusts, also had a public hearing in the House Special Committee on Public Pension Reform. This bill allows creation of a trust to better manage long-term cost implications of any post-employment retirement benefits that the district may have incurred. Pre-funding some of the obligation makes sense because investment returns actually help pay for some of the benefit, thereby reducing the taxpayers total cost.
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Official Ballot Issues and Default Budgets
HB 1329 proposes yet another change to the definition and calculation of default budgets in SB 2 communities and districts. The bill would require default budgets to include any reductions made by the governing body in the proposed operating budget. Such a proposal could result in unintended consequences when the proposed operating budget includes certain appropriations that would be offset by reductions in other areas. Only including the proposed cuts could result in a greater net reduction to the overall budget. NHSBA supports the Senate Public and Municipal Affairs Committee vote of 5-0 to Interim Study the bill, stating the matter should be included in SB 238, which establishes a committee to assess the form of government in towns that have elected the official ballot referendum form of meeting. Having passed the Senate, SB 238 remains in the House Municipal & County Govt. Committee where a proposed amendment is being considered to clarify the scope and content of the study.
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