------Original Message-----
From: Cheryl L. Semmel [mailto:csemmel@usa-ks.org]
Sent: Tue 4/29/2008 6:38 PM
To: USA Office
Cc: Cheryl L. Semmel
Subject: USA|Kansas Legislative Update

USA|Kansas Legislative Update

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Prepared by: Dodie Wellshear, Government Relations Consultant

Economic downturn puts fourth-year funding in jeopardy

A team of Kansas economists called the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group has forecast revenue estimates to be nearly $150 million under what had been previously projected for the coming year. Although a number of legislative leaders have been supportive of adding a fourth year of base funding to the 2006 school finance plan, as included in the conference committee report on SB 531, the projected economic downturn puts the $37.2 million funding recommendations at risk-especially as neither chamber has yet adopted SB 531, which would add $59 to the Base State Aid Per Pupil in FY 2010.

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee met separately to draft their Omnibus Budget proposals.
The Omnibus Budget is drafted each year in the Veto Session of the Legislature and is to include funding for policy initiatives and other items not funded in the "mega-budget" for state agencies in the regular session.

Neither the House nor the Senate included funding for the FY 2010 BSAPP or the $9.0 million recommended for Medicaid Replacement Aid in FY 2009, as these are in SB 531, which still needs to be adopted by both chambers. Both committees considered and rejected most other K-12 education funding increases, including Teacher Mentoring and Professional Development.

The only significant funding increase was made by the Senate committee, which proposed adding $11.1 million of Children's Initiatives Fund (master tobacco settlement) dollars for an early childhood education block grant. This is likely to be a sticking point between the House and Senate Omnibus proposals, as the House proposed using Children's Initiatives funds (CIF) to pay for increasing Medicaid costs. And although Medicaid does cover children's services too, this would also fund adult programs and that would be a diversion from dedicating CIF to children's programs, as has been the case since this fund was initiated.

The conference committee report on SB 531 is likely to be run on the House and Senate floors very soon after the Legislature reconvenes on April 30th. Following is a recap of what is included in that report:

* Fourth Year Base Funding-$59 BSAPP increase for school year
2009-2010, for a total of $37 million to be held in the Keeping Education Promises Trust Fund (lockbox).

* Medicaid Replacement Aid-$9 million to be placed in a new
special education fund that will be distributed to district and special education cooperatives based on the total headcount of students receiving Medicaid services on March 1 of every year. This measure is set to sunset after three years, in 2010, following a Special Education Task Force study of special education funding distribution.

* Special Education Task Force-A task force comprised of 11
voting members would be appointed to study special education/Medicaid funding and make recommendations to the Legislature. One appointment each will be made by the Senate President, Senate Minority Leader, Speaker of the House, and House Minority Leader. USA|Kansas will make three appointments that are to both represent the three size categories detailed in the bill and to include a school business officer and a special education director. The Kansas Association of School Boards will also have three appointments that are to reflect the bill's three size categories, and KNEA will have one appointment that is to be a special education teacher. The Commissioner of Education or her designee would sit on the Task Force as a non-voting member.

* Hold Harmless for High- and Medium-Density At-Risk-Amends the
high density at-risk weighting and creates a new "medium density" at risk pupil weighting, and establishes a "hold harmless" funding provision for those districts that no longer meet at-risk density requirements. Districts have an enrollment of 40-50% at-risk (free
lunch) student would qualify for the new medium density weighting of 0.06. Districts with an enrollment of 50% or more free lunch students or an enrollment of at least 35.1% at-risk students and an enrollment density of at least 212.1 students per square mile would continue to qualify for the high density at-risk pupil weighting, at a factor of 0.10. Any district that loses eligibility for continuing either the medium or high density at-risk weighting would be covered by a new "hold harmless" provision that allows the district to receive the greater of the current school year's weighting, the previous year's, or a three-year average. This provision would have a three-year sunset.

* School District Consolidation Incentives-Would allow school
district consolidation agreements to include a "dual majority" vote requirement-each district must have a majority voting favorably-for approval. The bill amends current law regarding consolidation incentives as follows:

o Two districts with less than 150 students would receive only
two years of combined budget protection, effective in 2011 (would retain current law provision of three years until July 1, 2011);

o Consolidations involving enrollment of 150-200 students in each
district would receive four years of the combined budget; and

o District consolidations with more than 200 students in each
district or consolidations involving three or more districts would receive five years of the combined budget.

* Dyslexia/ Compulsory Attendance-Students with dyslexia or
other reading disorders would be allowed to be absent for 60 minutes at the beginning or ending of the school day to participate in alternative education programs, without being considered truant under the State's compulsory attendance statute.

* Ten-Mile Bus Rule- Would allow students living more than ten
miles from the school in their home district to attend school in an adjoining district, if the receiving district agrees to accept and provide transportation for the student.

Legislative Post Audit releases new K-12 report on ESL teacher preparation

The Legislative Division of Post Audit (LPA) today released a new K-12 Education audit: Assessing the Quality of English as a Second Language in Teacher Education Programs. The central question of the audit was "whether teacher education programs in Kansas colleges and universities adequately prepare new teachers to teach ESL students."

To answer the question, LPA surveyed second- or third-year teachers who have not received an ESL endorsement to determine how prepared teachers felt and to identify the factors influencing their preparedness.

Overall, 60% of the teachers surveyed reported feeling inadequately prepared to teach ESL students. Further, these teachers said they felt even less prepared to teach ESL students than they did students with disabilities. More troubling, teachers who felt the least prepared to teach ESL students were those who felt least-prepared to teach all students.

The survey responses indicated that Fort Hays State University and Emporia State University are doing the best job preparing teachers to teach ESL students. The most deciding factor in preparedness seemed to be the "hands-on" experiences offered by these two universities. Recommendations of the 591 teachers completing the survey emphasized the hands-on training, as well as requiring more dedicated coursework and foreign language training. However, requiring additional coursework and making it more difficult to obtain a teaching license, LPA cautioned, must be weighed against the need to address the growing teacher shortage in our state.

A copy of the report may be found by going to http://www.kslegislature.org/postaudit/audits_perform/08pa08a.pdf.

Legislative Post Audit Committee orders audit of KSHSAA

Spurred by concerns of select legislators, the Legislative Post Audit Committee approved a performance audit of the Kansas State High School Activities Association. Some of the concerns outlined included KSHSAA's governance structure, revenue-sharing of school-sponsored events, and certain limitations on lengths of seasons, travel and contact with their coaches. The audit will seek to answer three key questions aimed at these concerns:

1. How does the governance structure of KSHSAA compare to the
structures in nearby states?

2. How do the KHSAA's policies on membership fees and sharing gate
receipts from athletic events compare to the policies in nearby states?

3. How do the KHSAA's policies that regulate the lengths of
seasons and the amount of contact between coaches and students compare to the policies in nearby states?

The audit was endorsed by the Legislative Educational Planning Committee and the Kansas Association of School Boards.