David Hecker
President

Lois Lofton Doniver Secretary-Treasurer

Louise Somalski
Legislative Coordinator

December, 2006

Links to current Advocacy Campaigns
may be found in the Legislative Action Center

93rd Legislative Session Ending

The 93rd Session of the Michigan State Legislature is scheduled to adjourn on December 14. All legislation that is still pending will be dead at Sine Die. The 94th legislative session will convene on January 10th. We expect many of the same issues to resurface again next year. AFT Michigan will fight hard to fend off detrimental bills and enact beneficial ones.

The deadline to get this report printed and mailed to our members was after session December 13. The Legislature will hold session on Thursday and BIG THINGS can happen on the last day of session. You will be updated in the January 2007 Capitol Report.

Thanks for your support and assistance in the past and we look forward to working with you in the future.

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Revenue Shortage Estimated at $400 Million

The State's fiscal experts are estimating a shortage of as much as $500 million in the budget for fiscal year 2007. The House Fiscal Agency currently estimates the state's combined General Fund and School Aid Fund gap at between $250 and $350 million. The Senate Fiscal Agency calculates the amount at approximately $400 million.

The current school aid fund budget was based upon the presumption that there would be a $94 million carry-forward in the unused revenue from the last fiscal year. It is now apparent that this is not going to happen. The balance from last year is going to be zero or slightly negative.

Also the economy is taking the wind out of the state's sales tax. Because the sales tax mostly goes to fund the school aid fund, that means fewer dollars for schools. The school aid fund was recently estimated downward by $170 million below the revenue estimate reach last May.

A third factor is the cost of the anticipated resolution of the property tax dispute case between Dow Chemical and the City of Midland. The resolution of that tax is expected to be a $61 million hit on the school aid fund.

Another issues include the decline in the state's total number of pupils. That means that less money has to go out, however, the state is also not collecting as much as expected on the18 mill State Education Tax.

We will have better information to work with after the January 10th Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference.

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Michigan Promise Grant

Senate Bill 1335 (Cherry, D-Burton) would create the Michigan Promise Grant Act (formerly known as Merit Award) that would provide grant awards to Michigan students beginning with the high school class of 2007. The bill would repeal the current Merit Award Act effective September 30, 2017. House Bill 6302 (Hunter, D-Detroit) would amend that act to eliminate eligibility for the Merit Award Program beginning with the high school class of 2007.

Under Senate Bill 1335, students completing two years of postsecondary education (associate's degree, two-year certificate, vocational education program, or 50 percent of the academic requirements for a bachelor's degree) would receive a Michigan Promise Grant of $4,000. The payment schedule for this grant award would vary depending on a student's high school exam performance:

• Students not qualifying on the Merit Exam but completing two years of postsecondary education would receive an award of $4,000 after those two years.
• Students qualifying on the Merit Exam and completing two years of postsecondary education would receive $1,000 per year in the first two years and $2,000 at the end of two years. Students qualifying on the Merit Exam who did not complete two years of postsecondary education would still receive the $1,000 payments in their first two years of postsecondary enrollment.

Students completing a vocational training program requiring less than two years to complete would be eligible for a prorated award amount.

Students would have to meet several additional requirements to receive an award under the new act:

• Complete three credits each of college-preparatory math and science in high school (beginning with the high school class of 2011; applies only to the $2,000 in exam-based payments).
• Take the Merit Exam.
• Enroll at an approved postsecondary institution in Michigan or a military service academy within two years of becoming a high school graduate (two-year period would be extended for service in armed forces or Peace Corps).
• Complete the postsecondary education requirements (associate's degree, etc.) within four years of initial enrollment at a postsecondary institution.
• Achieve a cumulative college grade point average of 2.50 for courses, including transfer credits, completed toward the postsecondary education requirements (except for students completing vocational education programs that do not record grades).
• Not have received a Merit Award under the current Merit Award Act.
• Submit a written certification of his or her eligibility for an award.

The Department would pay the Promise Grant to a postsecondary institution on a student's behalf. The institution would apply the money received to the student's outstanding indebtedness, if any, and deliver the balance of the money to the student, except that a $1,000 award to the student not completing the classes for which he or she enrolled would be returned to the Department. The bill states that no obligation would be created for a postsecondary institution to loan or advance money to a student for the payment of tuition or other costs.

Senate Bill 1335 has been ordered enrolled and is on the way to the Governor for her signature.

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Education Flexibility Contracts Moving

House Bill 4079 and House Bill 4080 (Palmer, R-Romeo) would amend the Revised School Code and the State School Aid Act, respectively, to make their requirements and the rules promulgated under them subject to waiver under an ed-flex contract.

The contract would allow the state superintendent of public instruction to waive for a district, for up to five years, certain provisions of state and federal law that were identified in a performance-based contract having clearly defined and measurable performance goals.

Except for health and safety requirements, teacher certification requirements, and most additional requirements placed on public school academies, any requirement imposed on a school district, or any rule promulgated under the code or the act, would be subject to waiver.

Under House Bill 4079, the state board of education could override the state superintendent's approval of an education mandate rollback contract.

These bills have been reported out of the Senate Education Committee and are on the floor of the Senate. The Governor vetoed similar bills last session.

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PSERS Retirement Beneficiary

Senate Bill 1017 (Jelinek, R-Three Oaks) would permit a "retirant" to select a new spouse as a retirement allowance beneficiary if a previous spouse dies or if the retirant was not married at the time of retirement. The bill would take effect on January 1, 2009.

Currently, if a retirant selects a beneficiary and the beneficiary dies before the retirant, the retirement benefit reverts to a straight retirement allowance payable during the remainder of the retirant's life. Senate Bill 1017 would create an exception to this provision for a retirant whose spouse dies and who later remarries and for a retirant who was not married on his or her retirement date and marries after that date.

If an individual selected a beneficiary under the bill, the retirement allowance could not be greater than the actuarial equivalent of the retirement allowance that the retirant otherwise would be entitled to under a straight retirement benefit with no additional payments to be made upon his or her death.

Upon the retirant's death, an individual who became a retirant allowance beneficiary as allowed by the bill would not be a health insurance dependent, and would not be entitled to health insurance benefits, with the following exception: A surviving spouse selected as a beneficiary could elect to receive insurance coverage if the surviving spouse is responsible for payment for the elected coverage, and the payment is made in a manner prescribed by the retirement system.

Senate Bill 1017 has passed the Senate and is on its third reading in the House.

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FY 2006-07 Capital Outlay Budget

Senate Bill 1081 (Prusi, D-Ishpeming) allocates funds for college and university construction projects. AFT Michigan represented universities and community colleges would receive funds as follows:

Senate Bill 1081 has been reported out of the House Appropriations Committee and is currently on the floor of the House.

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Endorsement Nullification

Senate Bill 1327 (Kuipers, R-Holland) would allow the State Board of Education to nullify a teacher's grade level certification or endorsement upon request if it has not been used for 12 or more years.

Under current law, the State Board of Education may, at a teacher's request, nullify one or more grade level certification included on the teacher's teaching certificate if the grade level certification has not been used for 10 years or more.

Senate Bill 1327 has discharged by the House Education Committee and are currently on the House floor for action.

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Personal Curriculum for Special Education & Transfer Students

Senate Bill 1427 (Kuipers, R-Holland) would amend the recently enacted Michigan Merit Core Curriculum, in which a parent or legal guardian can request a personal curriculum that modifies certain aspects of the requirements. This bill would amend provisions dealing with the personal curriculum option for special education and transfer students to do the following:

• Specify that a personal curriculum approved for a student would have to incorporate as much of the subject area content expectations for the credits required under the Michigan Merit Curriculum as practicable "for the pupil."
• Allow the parent of a student who transferred from out-of-state or from a nonpublic school and had completed at least the equivalent of two years of high school before the transfer, to request a personal curriculum for the student.
• Require a personal curriculum for a student who had transferred from out-of-state or from a nonpublic school to include math in his or her final year of high school, and if the student were enrolled in the school for at least one full school year, require that math course to be at least Algebra I.
• Require the parent or legal guardian of a student for whom a personal curriculum had been approved to be in communication with each of the student's teachers at least once every calendar quarter.
• Permit a student who was at least 18 years of age or an emancipated minor to act on his or her own behalf under these provisions.
• Allow a school district to award a high school diploma to a student who successfully completed his or her personal curriculum, even if it did not meet the requirements of the Michigan Merit Standards required under the code.

Senate Bill 1427 has is currently awaiting action on the House floor.

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School Board Conflict of Interest Policy

House Bill 6287 (Pastor, R-Livonia) would require that by July 1, 2007, each Michigan school board and Public School Academy Board adopt and implement a conflict of interest policy concerning the use of public funds. It would also require the Department of Education to develop and distribute to school districts a model conflict of interest policy.

This bill is very similar to the ISD conflict of interest law that was enacted last session. House Bill 6287 has passed the House and is currently before the Senate Education Committee.

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School Employee Strikes

House Bill 6528 (Pavlov, R-St. Clair) would require that a public school employer immediately notify the Michigan Employment Relations Commission of any suspected strike. Under the bill, if a school employer failed to notify the commission within 24 hours after a strike started, then a parent (or legal guardian) of a student could notify the commission of the strike.

In addition, a parent (or legal guardian) of a student enrolled in a school or program operated by a public school employer could institute a civil action against the employee bargaining representative, in order to recover actual expenses incurred because of a strike. "Actual expenses" is defined as expenses of obtaining alternative child care and includes lost wages if a parent or guardian must leave employment to care for the student.

Current law requires that a public school employer notify the commission of any strike among its employees, and the commission must conduct a hearing within 60 days after receiving the notice. House Bill 6528 would require the commission to conduct a hearing within seven days.

House Bill 6528 was placed for a vote on the floor of the House, but was 8 to 10 votes short of the 56 votes required for passage. Further action on it was postponed thus allowing it to be voted on again until the end of session (sine die).

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Hiring Non-Certificated Teachers

House Bill 5963 (Elsenheimer, R-Bellaire) allows a school district or nonpublic school to hire a non- certificated, non-endorsed teacher to teach in Grades 7-12, full-time or part-time, if he or she meets all of the following requirements:

• Possesses at least an earned bachelor's degree from an accredited post-secondary institution.
• Has a major or a graduate degree in the field of study in which he or she will teach.
• If the teacher wants to teach for more than one year, has passed both a basic skills examination and a subject area examination in the field of specialization in which he or she will teach.
• Is annually and continually enrolled and completing credit in an approved teacher preparation program leading to a teaching certificate.
• Is assigned to work with a mentor teacher.

House Bill 5963 would expand the hiring provision to nonpublic schools, as well as to teachers in grades 7 through 12, and also would eliminate the specific list of courses, along with the State Board's authority to designate courses for which non-certificated teachers could be hired.

House Bill 5963 would retain the provisions prohibiting a school district from hiring a non- certificated teacher to teach a course if the district is able to hire a certificated, endorsed teacher and requiring that the teacher's planned program be on file with the school district lead to teacher certification within three years.

House Bill 5963 was place for immediate passage but consideration of the bill was postponed temporarily.

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Unlimited Charter Schools in Wayne County

House Bill 4319 (LaMar Lemmons III, D-Detroit) would allow Wayne County Community College to act as an unlimited authorizing body for charter schools in Wayne County. While we support our members at Wayne County Community College partnering with school districts. We should not allow the Legislature to set up Wayne County Community College to compete with local school districts in Wayne County.

As originally written, the bill also allowed Bay Mills to act as an unlimited authorizing body for charter schools in Wayne County. This provision was deleted by amendment on the floor of the House. A vote was taken on the floor of the House, but was approximately 10 votes short. The board was cleared allowing it to be voted on again until the end of session (sine die).

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Michigan Business Tax and School Employee Health Care Not Moving

Governor Granholm's Michigan Business Tax proposal to replace the Single Business Tax, and the $1.9 billion it produces, will not move through the Legislature during the lame duck session. The Senate and House will not be extending its session into the week before Christmas and have no plan to take up the five-bill package during the lame duck session.

House Speaker Craig DeRoche also reported that there will be no action taken on the School Employee Health Care Package in the House during the lame duck session (SB 895, SB 896, and SB 897).

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