Presented by: John R. Woolums, Esq. Director of Governmental Relations Maryland Association of Boards of Education

MABE’S EDUCATION ADVOCACY IN ANNAPOLIS  The 2016 session convenes on January 13, 2016 and adjourns on April 11,  Approximately 2500 bills will be introduced  Approximately 350 on education funding & policy issues

MABE’S LEGISLATIVE PROCESS  Committee Meetings: Bill Highlights, Advocacy Reports, Budget Updates, Guest Speakers, and Votes on Bill Decisions.  Bill Decisions by the Legislative Committee: Staff recommends positions for the Committee’s action on selected bills.  Examples: Governor/Leadership-sponsored bills, major new initiatives, bills involving inter-jurisdictional issues, and requests for MABE positions on local bills.  Note: Most MABE positions are determined by staff in accordance with adopted Resolutions & Positions.  Committee Chair: Attends leadership meetings & presents testimony on priority bills.

MABE’S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES MABE’s top priorities for the 2016 Legislative Session include:  Support for continued governance autonomy for local boards of education to set education policy and school budgets; and opposition to unfunded mandates  Support for full State funding for Maryland’s outstanding public schools  Support for robust State funding for school construction and renovation projects  Support for sustained local government investments in education

MABE’S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY INITIATIVES Supports legislation to create a commission to make legislative and funding recommendations in order to update and improve Maryland’s school finance system Supports a per pupil funding allocation for prekindergarten students, including a 0.5 FTE for half-day students and 1.0 FTE for full-day students, without any off-setting reduction in compensatory education funding

MABE’S CAPITAL BUDGET PRIORITIES Supports a state funding level of at least $350 million for school construction and renovation projects for FY 2017 to provide the State’s share of approved projects to build, renovate, and improve school facilities throughout Maryland. Supports the pursuit of innovative funding policies and strategies to maximize the capacity of state and local bonding authority in support of school facility project funding.

2016 SESSION PREVIEW HIGHLIGHTS  Governor’s Proposed State Budget  No BRFA – Budget Reconciliation & Financing Act  Governor’s Approach to Mandated Funding  Governor’s Legislative Agenda and Education Bills  General Assembly’s Education Bills  General Assembly Veto Override Votes

STATE BUDGET PROCESS  The annual State Budget is prepared by the Governor and submitted to the General Assembly at the beginning of session.  A balanced budget is required.  Maryland’s Constitution prohibits the General Assembly from increasing appropriations for the Executive Branch.  The legislature’s role is limited to reducing or eliminating budget items.

EDUCATION FUNDING AND THE STATE CONSTITUTION Article VIII, Section 1, of the Maryland Constitution mandates that the General Assembly “shall by Law establish throughout the State a thorough and efficient System of Free Public Schools; and shall provide by taxation, or otherwise, for their maintenance.” Section 3 further provides that “The School Fund of the State shall be kept inviolate, and appropriated only to the purposes of Education.”

GOVERNOR’S FY 2017 BUDGET Mandated Funding  K-12 Funding, including GCEI under SB 183 (2015)  No BRFA – Budget Reconciliation & Financing Act  Proposal to make mandated funding contingent on sufficient revenues?

MARYLAND’S $40.5 BILLION FY 2016 BUDGET

STATE AID TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

MANDATED EDUCATION FUNDING

STATE AND LOCAL FUNDING Current  State formulas guarantee a foundation amount and weighted per pupil amounts for special needs students  Local governments must meet Maintenance of Effort minimum  Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI) not fully funded in FY 2016 Pending ? GCEI funding mandated in FY 2017 ? Nonrecurring cost exclusions being pursued by counties ? Adequacy Study report due in late 2016 ? Teacher retirement cost shift burden increases in FY 2017

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION Current  FY 2016 capital budget provides $275 million to the Public School Construction Program; $6.1 million to the Aging Schools Program; and $4.6 million to the Qualified Zone Academy Bond Program  Baltimore City Schools $1 billion initiative  $20 million for high growth counties Pending ? Enhancing role of alternative financing ? Relaxing prevailing wage requirements ? “Lighter” construction standards to reduce costs

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION Alt ernative School Construction Delivery During the 2015 legislative interim, there have been discussions regarding different approaches to school construction and the costs associated with alternative delivery compared to traditional public school construction methods. Both IAC and MSA have been asked to report on potential cost savings associated with alternative methods.

NONPUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING Current  $5.7 million for the Nonpublic School Textbook Program  $3.5 million for grants to reimburse private and parochial schools for facility projects Pending ? Tax credit financed funding for nonpublic/parochial school tuition and other student expenses

CHARTER SCHOOLS Current  Charter School Improvement Act passed in 2015  Allows enrollment preferences based on student needs and attendance area  Repeals the State Board’s chartering authority; sole chartering authority is the local board of education  Grants hiring and operating flexibility to eligible high performing charter schools Pending ? Funding and expenditure study report due in late 2016 ? Baltimore City School System/Charter Schools litigation

SPECIAL EDUCATION Current  Burden of proof on the party filing the complaint (usually parents)  2013/2014/2014 bills failed to shift the burden to school systems  2014 laws enhance communication and transparency  2015 law expands blind/visually impaired student services Pending ? Reintroduction of bill to shift burden of proof to the school system ? Mandating translation of IEPS; or Training for paraprofessionals ? New dyslexia education program being studied/developed

PREKINDERGARTEN Current  Half-day PreK mandated to be available for economically disadvantaged four year olds (attendance not mandated)  The Prekindergarten Expansion Act passed in 2014 created a competitive grant program, with a 300% of poverty income threshold, to broaden the availability of prekindergarten and school readiness services. Pending ? Mandating state and local per pupil funding for PreK students ? Kindergarten readiness assessment (KRA) reforms

COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE AGE  In 2012, the General Assembly enacted legislation to raise the compulsory attendance age from 16 to 17, to be followed by an increase to age 18  Beginning with the 2015–2016 school year, the age of compulsory school attendance will increase from 16 to 17 for any child who turns 16 on or after July 1,  Beginning with the 2017–2018 school year, the age of compulsory school attendance will increase from 17 to 18 for any child who turns 17 on or after July 1, 2017.

STUDENT ASSESSMENTS & INSTRUCTION Current  2010 Common Core agreement, Education Reform Act, Race to the Top grant award  2013 law mandated new college readiness assessments (effective )  2014 law created the Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards (MCCRS) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) Implementation Review Workgroup  2015 law created the Commission to Review the Use of Assessments & Testing  2015 State Board regulations delay linking PARCC tests to the HSA graduation requirements (only Government and Biology for 2 years) Pending ? Testing legislation & ESEA/ESSA related initiatives

COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS The 2013 College and Career Readiness and College Completion Act  Mandates testing juniors for college readiness beginning in (PARCC Common Core Assessments)  Mandates transitional courses for seniors not meeting the assessment standards beginning in  Mandates 4 years of high school math ( )  Creates a new dual enrollment payment system ( )

PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT 2015 Law  Establishes the State Public Information Act Compliance Board and the Office of Public Access Ombudsman.  The board must receive, review, and resolve complaints alleging that a custodian of a public record charged an unreasonable fee (limited to fees of more than $350). The board must issue a written opinion as to whether a violation occurred and order the custodian to reduce the fee and refund the difference, as appropriate.  The Office of the Attorney General must post all of the board’s written opinions on the OAG website. Pending ? Body Camera Legislation

POST LABOR DAY SCHOOL START Post-Labor Day Start Date Mandate  2015 bill (failed) would have prohibited any public school under the jurisdiction of a local board of education from being open for pupil attendance before the day after Labor Day. Pending ? Reintroduction, with/without amendments

LATER (MORNING) SCHOOL START TIMES  2015 bill (failed) would have established an Orange Ribbon for Healthy School Hours certification in the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE)  To recognize local school systems that create, implement, and enforce school start times that are consistent with those recommended by MSDE, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)  Standards: A local school system may not have (1) an elementary school requiring a student to be in class before 8:00 a.m. and board a school bus before 7:00 a.m. and (2) a middle or high school requiring a student to be in class before 8:30 a.m. and board a school bus before 7:30 a.m.

DIABETES MANAGEMENT PROGRAM  2015 bill (failed) would have required the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), in consultation with other experts and stakeholders, to establish guidelines for the training of school employees to become trained diabetes care providers.  Each local board of education must require each public school within its jurisdiction to establish a Student Diabetes Management Program that includes training for employee volunteers to provide diabetes care services to students. Pending ? Reintroduction, with/without amendments

SCHOOL-BASED HEALTH SERVICES 2014 bill (failed) would have expanded the scope of mandated school health services to include behavioral health services. The bill would have ate Bill 262 would expanded the mandate in current statute which states that, “With the assistance of the county health department, each county board shall provide adequate school heath services,” by adding, “including behavioral health services.” Pending ? Reintroduction, with/without amendments

SCHOOL SAFETY ENFORCEMENT FUND Senate Bill 83: Public Safety – School Safety Enforcement Fund (Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention)  FOR the purpose of renaming the School Bus Safety Enforcement Fund to be the School Safety Enforcement Fund; expanding the purposes of the Fund to include enhancing school safety; expanding eligibility to receive grants from the Fund to county boards of education; repealing a provision of law restricting the Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention from making a grant from the Fund exceeding a certain amount of money in a fiscal year for use in a single county; making conforming changes; and generally relating to the School Safety Enforcement Fund.

STAY TUNED! MABE Legislative Committee Meetings (Session starts Jan. 13) Feb. 1, 2016 February 12, 2016 Legislative Day Luncheon (11:00-1:00) Legislative Committee meets (10:00-11:00) Feb. 29, 2016 Mar. 14, 2016 April 4, 2016 (Session ends April 11) Apr. 25, Session Wrap-Up Go to MABE’s Annapolis Advocacy Center for: 2016 Legislative Positions & Priorities 2016 Legislative Positions & Priorities MABE Testimony & Bill Status Reports MABE Testimony & Bill Status Reports Legislative Committee Materials Legislative Committee Materials Priority Issues Advocacy Toolkit Resolutions

THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY John R. Woolums, Esq. Director of Governmental Relations Maryland Association of Boards of Education 621 Ridgely Avenue, Suite 300 Annapolis, MD