Political and Beyond

Legislative Session 2011 “The Aftermath”

Budget SB 2000  MDCPS per student funding down from  -7.89% per student ($ lost per student)  State average down -7.53% per student ($ the point here is that we lost more )  A portion of the cut to the district is off-set in each budget by directly taxing employees for retirement.  The remaining cut will need to be balanced by cutting the current MDCPS budget. (layoffs, furloughs, salary roll-backs, etc. 1 st budget hearing held Wednesday and the cuts are evident See SP-1)

Tax Revenue Limitation (Constitution) TABOR SB 958/HB 7221 PASSED Places a constitutional amendment on 2012 ballot If passed, places revenue caps in the state constitution that would limit growth of the state budget (No budget increases)

Adequacy Lawsuit FUND Education Now filed an Adequacy suit in February 2010: Judge denied the state’s request for the case to be dismissed. Status: Pending FEA, Florida School Board’s Association and Superintendent’s Association are also considering action.

Education Personnel- "Teacher Quality" SB736/HB7019 (Wise/Fresen) PASSED  50% of the teacher’s evaluation linked to student performance on FCAT or similar test  New hires will be required to be on performance pay salary schedule and will no longer be eligible for PSC  Current employees have option to join new hires on performance salary schedule and annual contract

FEA Legal Challenge(s)? FEA is evaluating SB 736 for one or more legal challenges. SB 736 imposes unilateral changes to salary and working conditions for teachers in all 67 Florida counties. SB 736 may conflict with Chapter 447 and the Florida Constitution. Status: Pending

Class Size SB 1466 (Simmons) & 2120/ HB 5101 PASSED Redefines/Reduces “Core Classes” and provides statutory flexibility that did not pass in November as a change to Constitutional requirements. MDCPS has already implemented this flexibility in the School Allocation Handbook for the coming school year. FEA and others considering legal action.

Parent Lawsuit? Fund Education Now and other Parent Groups are considering challenges to the “revised” guidelines. Parents of AP students are the most vocal as AP is no longer “core” FEA is providing support to parent groups as they have stronger legal standing to challenge this revision.

Retirement SB 2100 (Budget)/ HB 1405 (Workman) PASSED  All employees will contribute 3% of Gross Salary to their retirement  Employees in DROP excluded.  Drop is maintained but at 1.3% interest paid rather than 6.5%  New hires will be subject to 8 year vesting and benefit determined on highest 8 year salary Rather than the current 6 and 5 years respectively.

FEA Lawsuit 6/20/2011: Complaint filed in Leon County Circuit Court, including a request for Injunctive Relief 6/30/2011: Injunction Hearing. Temporary Injunction Denied. 10/26/2011: Scheduled Trial Date

Dues Deduction Elimination SB 830 (Thrasher)/HB 1021 (Dorworth) FAILED  Would have eliminated payroll deductions for union dues  Would have restricted how unions spend dues regardless of how it was collected  Senator Thrasher has stated this will be filed again

Union Mandatory Membership Levels HB 1023 (Plakon) FAILED Would have decertified all unions that had less than 50% membership as of July 1, 2011

Arbitrary Union Decertification SB 1720(Hays)/HB 1025(Brodeur) FAILED Would have allowed any member to request a decertification vote at anytime

AEA Lawsuit / Rick Scott Lawsuits Similar Legislation to SB 830 was passed in Alabama. AEA challenged the statute and it was declared unconstitutional. Court cited “Free Speech” and “Equal Protection.” Rick Scott successfully challenged Florida Statutes intended to limit an individual’s ability to spend money in a political race by raising the issue of “Free Speech.”.

Church/State Separation SB 1218(Altman)/ HB 1471 (Plakon) PASSED Constitutional Amendment to change the state’s establishment clause Would remove a significant hurdle to the further expansion of vouchers FEA filed lawsuit to block from ballot

FEA Lawsuit 7/20/2011: Filed Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief “The proposed constitutional amendment cannot lawfully be submitted to Florida voters because the Amendment’s ballot title and summary language are misleading as to the true effect of the proposed Amendment.” No hearing date scheduled

What to Expect- Session 2012 Redistricting, redistricting and more redistricting (Opportunity) More “Teacher Quality” Attacks More “Privatization” of Schools More Budget Cuts More Attacks on Class Size Amendment More Cuts to Retirement & Benefits More attacks on Employees and their Unions

Session 2012 Committee Weeks of 2012  Week of September 19  Weeks of October 3, 17, 31  Weeks of November 14  Weeks of December 5 Session 2012 January 10, 2012 – March 9, 2012

Legislative Relationships We all need to build relationships in order to increase our impact Be prepared to speak by following our web page, Facebook and Twitter Write, call, visit locally with your legislator

Redistricting- What you can do… Visit - Write, call, visit your legislator Hearings being held state wide to “listen” to the public Steward video taping at United Way Breakfast

Redistricting Hearings Miami, Wednesday, 17-Aug 10am-2pm – Miami Dade College 300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL South Miami, Wednesday, 17-Aug 6pm-9pm – FIU College of Law SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33199

How can you get involved NOW… Write, call, visit your legislator… Make a commitment to attend one or two local events for Miami-Dade Delegation – August 30 th Senator Anitere Flores Town Hall Meeting, Kendall Village Center Civic Pavilion, 8625 SW 124 th Street, Miami, – August 13 th Dade Delegation Job Fair (Hosted by Senator Flores, Reps. Trujillo, Bileca, Nuñez), 11am-2pm, Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, 500 SW 127 th Avenue Make a commitment to attend one or two UTD events (Teacher Talk, Happy Hours) Create a Facebook or Twitter Account Follow the UTD Facebook and Twitter accounts: – FB: In the search engine on Facebook, type United Teachers of Dade and like us. – Twitter: In search engine on Twitter, UTD_AFT1974 and follow us Join UTD Legislative Committee

How can you get involved DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR… Write, call, visit your legislator… Stay informed by following UTD information streams Use your 10 minutes at every staff meeting Absentee Ballot recruiting Make a commitment to attend one or two UTD events Target Tallahassee- Week of January 20

How can you get involved NEXT SUMMER… Write, call, visit your legislator… (hopefully you are seeing a theme here ) Volunteer to call UTD members regarding candidates and issues Volunteer to work for UTD endorsed candidates Talk to everyone you know about the upcoming election and what schools need

2010 Election Calendar 08/14/2012 PRIMARY ELECTION (Registration Closing - Jul. 16) 11/06/2012 GENERAL ELECTION (Registration Closing - Oct. 9) All absentee ballot requests must be signed by the voter and received by the Elections Department no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 6th calendar day prior to the election.