Senators Push School District Mandate-Relief Legislation Package

Pennsylvania school districts could see a host of state requirements lifted if a set of bipartisan proposals wins state Senate and House approval.

The bills range from those covering school district hiring practices to how bids for public contracts are managed and advertised.

“The challenges of a $4-billion state deficit also brings with it the opportunity to unshackle our public schools, to innovate and respond to community needs while assuring basic accountability to our state standards,” said Senate Education chairman Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin. “This task will not be easy, as these various so-called protections have been built into the public school code.”

Piccola was joined in the launch of the legislative package by Senate Education Minority chairman Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester, who said legislators do not agree with all the bills, but the time has come to do something.

“The choice is either to let public education be destroyed because of this unsustainability, or take this moment in time to strengthen public education, to strengthen all types of education, so we can preserve good education for every student,” said Dinniman. “What we do agree on…is the discussion on mandate reform has to begin and has to begin now.”

Several school education and administration groups came out in favor of the package of bills, including the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.

“PASA supports efforts by members of the General Assembly to enact a new mandate waiver program,” the association said in a news release. “PASA also supports efforts to provide permanent relief to school districts, intermediate units and career and technical centers from state mandates that rob resources that could otherwise be directed towards improving student achievement.”

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association also commended the school district mandate relief package.

"Unfunded and underfunded mandates continue to hinder school district budgets across Pennsylvania," the PSBA said in a statement. “In these challenging…economic times, it is essential that the (state) take a strong look at the genesis of the mandates it has imposed on local school districts, re-evaluate their purposes, and find ways to reduce, and more importantly, eliminate the mandates that do not allow school districts to operate effectively and efficiently.”

Dinniman said that some of the requirements date back to 1949, with some even going back to the 1800s, as earlier codes were incorporated into the Public School Code when it was formed in 1949.

Eighteen bills were included in the legislative package aimed at eliminating financial mandates on school districts.

S.B. 202, introduced by Dinniman, expands certification for principals and teachers, including college certificates, “normal” school diplomas or certificates, residency certificates, intern certificates and “such other kinds of certificates as are issued under the standards prescribed by the State Board of Education.”

S.B. 293 and 296 address the threshold that triggers the requirement to bid public contracts from $10,000 to $25,000, and allows for adjustments to be made based on inflation.

S.B. 329 suspends the provision of nonessential reports from school districts to the state Department of Education in years where state education funding is cut, meaning it could include the 2011-2012 fiscal year.

S.B. 537 requires a two-thirds vote by school boards to raise property taxes, though the current annual increase cap of 1.3 mills would not be affected.

S.B. 612 allows for economic furloughs for teachers and requires a proportionate reduction of school administrators. An exception is included if administration reduction is deemed “burdensome.” The provision of “last in, first out” protecting seniority rights of teachers and other staff would not apply unless it was provided for with collective bargaining rights. Wythe Keever, spokeman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the largest public school teachers’ union in the state, said the organization was seeking common ground with the senators but said S.B. 612 was concerning. “We are realistic,” said Keever. “We know in this difficult economic time that there is a high likelihood that this kind of legislation will pass. What we would like to see is some more clearly defined criteria that would trigger the ability of individual schools to furlough teachers for economic reasons and we are absolutely opposed to the so-called performance-based layoffs.” Keever said the performance-based furloughs have several methodological problems and have the potential to negatively impact school districts.

S.B. 801 would allow multiple contracts to be covered in a single bid.

S.B. 802 would allow school districts to hire either school certified nurses or registered nurses, which Piccola said could save school districts around the state a total $160 million. The Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners has come out against this piece of legislation. Morgan Plant, a spokesperson for the group, said it could leave schools with nurses unqualified for their jobs and expose school districts to lawsuits. “The myriad requirements for federal and state reporting and mandates are…very challenging,” said Plant. “Are you going to pull a nurse out of a doctor’s office and stick them in a school and expect that they’re going to know everything they’re supposed to do? No, you’re not.” In a statement, the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners' president, Cheryl Mattern, said the proposal could be “harmful.” “Lowering standards for school nurses in Pennsylvania’s schools who care for children who may be medically fragile or suffer from life threatening diseases is a false economy,” said Mattern. “This legislation is short-sighted, will not dramatically improve the financial situation of school districts, and most importantly may be harmful to our children.”

S.B. 803 would lift the mandate requiring school districts to advertise public contract bids in local newspapers, instead allowing them to also advertise on the Internet.

S.B. 814, formerly S.B. 250 from last session, would reauthorize the Mandate Waivers program that expired on June 30 and would require bidding for school construction projects as both single and multi-prime bids--bidding as a total package and as individual bids. The passage of this bill would contradict S.B. 801.

S.B. 844 would waive districts showing academic yearly progress from participating in administrator training conducted in Harrisburg.

S.B. 857 would repeal a portion of the school code requiring that increases in basic education funding from the year previous be used only for new programs and the expansion of existing programs.

S.B. 858 would permit school districts to hire certified superintendents or candidates with a graduate degree in business or finance.

S.B. 869 would suspend the requirement that school districts on a state border provide transportation for students to attend out-of-state private schools. In Gettysburg School District, this costs $40,000 a year.

S.B. 870 would repeal the entitlement in the Public School Code for 10 paid sick days per year and for paid sabbatical leave, instead leaving those issues to the collective bargaining process.

S.B. 871 would suspend the requirement and state funding for continuing education and professional development for teachers.

S.B. 872 would suspend the requirement for schools to establish a Concurrent Enrollment Committee, though districts would still be allowed to keep them. This bill would leave it up to districts to determine their policies on dual enrollment.

S.B. 873 would require the education secretary and the State Board of Education to review and overhaul the state Department of Education’s process for school construction and reimbursement. “Before the General Assembly abandons its authority to set minimum quality standards, each mandate should be reviewed to see if it still has educational value,” Keever said. “If an individual mandate has no educational value then perhaps it can be eliminated, but if a mandate has educational merit then legislators should consider it very carefully before making changes.”

Darwyyn Deyo is a reporter for PA Independent.