Legislative Update November 24, 2015

Tuition Tax Credit / Voucher Proviso for private school tuition tax credit for exceptional needs students for 2015-2016 school year Scholarship Funding Organizations established to manage contributions from individuals and businesses Could be move to codify for 2016-2017 school year SCSBA Belief SCSBA opposes any state or federally-mandated efforts to directly or indirectly subsidize elementary or secondary private, religious, or home schools with public funds. SCSBA Rationale No evidence to confirm increase in student achievement Vast majority of scholarships awarded to students who are already enrolled in private school State is not funding public schools at level required by law

No Child Left Behind Congress rewrote 2002 law this summer Conference committee approved compromise Full Bill ready for lawmakers to read by November 30th House could vote as early as December 2nd Bill Highlights Continue testing requirement, but states will decide whether or how to use student performance to assess teachers, students, and schools Encourages caps on total amount of time students spend taking tests Reduces Federal role in education Barred from mandating standards No federal sanctions for underperforming schools

Other Issues to Tackle Uniform school board elections and training Education funding reform Teacher pay and performance Transportation

Our Aiken County Schools are Succeeding! Playoffs?... Don’t talk to me about playoffs…. Midland Valley Silver Bluff Ridge Spring-Monetta Good Luck!!!! Our Aiken County Schools are Succeeding!