The Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the Senate will reconvene on Monday, September 24 at 1:00 PM.

GOVERNOR CORBETT    

The Governor has signed the following education-related bills into law:   

• House Bill 1307 (Rep. Milne, R-167) 
  
  • Allows a school district to satisfy the requirement that it operate an elementary school by operating such a school, converting a school building to a charter elementary school, contracting with an education management service provider or paying tuition for students residing in the school district to attend school in another school district upon the agreement of both school districts.

• Adds a new Article VI-A entitled "School District Financial Recovery" to the Public School Code. Under this new article, the Department of Education is required to develop and implement an early warning system to identify and provide technical assistance to districts in financial watch status; The new article provides for: Declaration of school district financial recovery status; Appointment of a Chief Recovery Officer for school districts in financial recovery status; Financial recovery plan; Processes for moderate and severe financial recovery school districts, Establishment of a financial recovery transitional loan program, Termination of financial recovery status; and Receivership (if the school district fails to approve the financial recovery plan, fails to implement the plan or achieve the criteria set forth in the plan during the 5-year transition period after termination of financial recovery status, or votes to proceed with the appointment of a receiver.)  

• Requires the Department of Education to post intermediate unit reports on subsidies and funds received, and their annual reports on the PDE website by March 1, each year.  

• Contains similar language as HB 1901 pertaining to superintendent and assistant superintendent contracts; however, the effective date for the superintendent contract provisions contained in HB 1307 is 60 days. In HB 1901, the changes would apply to superintendent and assistant superintendent contracts entered into or renewed after November 1, 2012.  

• Creates a professional and temporary employment pool for employees from a school district where students have been reassigned to another school district (Duquesne School District).  

• Allows a high school student to wear a military dress uniform at a graduation ceremony if the student has fulfilled all requirements, is eligible to participate in the ceremony, and has completed basic training, and is an active member of the United States Armed Forces.  

• This legislation is now Act 141 of 2012.                                                                                                                  

• House Bill 1343 (Rep. Baker, R-68) provides guidelines to allow State-owned universities and PASSHE employees to enter into agreements for economic development transactions that inure to the benefit of the State-owned university and PASSHE employees; provides for applied doctorates at state-owned universities; and provides for faculty provisions. The act also excludes the population of a state or federal facility that conducts a recycling program administered by the state or federal government when determining compliance with the recycling law. This legislation is now Act 104 of 2012                                               

• Senate Bill 157 (Sen. Fontana, D-42) establishes a task force on homeless children's education within the Department of Education to conduct a study of the homeless child population and their educational needs in Pennsylvania. The act provides for the contents of the study and for a report to be submitted to the General Assembly and Governor. This legislation is now Act 123 of 2012                                                                                                        

• Senate Bill 449 (Sen. Vance, R-31) amends the Public School Code to require Department of Public Welfare, in consultation with the Department of Education, to develop child abuse recognition and reporting training programs for educators and independent contractors. This legislation is now Act 126 of 2012  

• Senate Bill 1308 (Sen. Tomlinson, R-6) authorizes the State System of Higher Education and its employees to enter into certain economic development agreements; provides for approval and notice, for reports and for limitations. The new act authorizes state-owned universities and system employees to enter into economic development agreements that inure to the benefit of the State-owned universities and system employees. "Economic development agreement" is defined as an agreement that allows a State-owned university to develop and market intellectual property owned or created by a State System of Higher Education employee. This legislation is now Act 132 of 2012                                                                                                           

• Senate Bill 1322 (Sen. Smucker, R-13) amends the Public School Code, in State System of Higher Education, by adding that the system may enter into an agreement with any entity for the cooperative use of supplies or services. All purchases and agreements made pursuant to this subsection shall be the result of a system of competitive bidding and in accordance with Pennsylvania law. This legislation is now Act 134 of 2012  

EPLC Education Notebook is published by The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC).  Permission to reprint or electronically redistribute the Notebook in whole or in part is granted provided attribution to EPLC is provided.  The Education Policy and Leadership Center is an independent, non-partisan and not-for-profit organization.  The Mission of the Education Policy and Leadership Center is to encourage and support the development and implementation of effective state-level education policies to improve student learning in grades P-12, increase the effective operation of schools, and enhance educational opportunities for citizens of all ages.