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2014 Legislative Briefing. BTU Membership Meeting May 28, 2014. Terence Cooper Director of Policy & Legislative Affairs AFT-Maryland. Job Protections for Maryland’s Educators: Higher Ed. Collective Bargaining.
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2014Legislative Briefing BTU Membership MeetingMay 28, 2014 Terence CooperDirector of Policy & Legislative AffairsAFT-Maryland
Job Protections for Maryland’s Educators:Higher Ed. Collective Bargaining Collective bargaining rights should be extended to graduate employees, adjunct professors, and full-time faculty members who work for the University System of Maryland.
The Correctional Officers Bill of Rights AFT-Maryland supports the passage of legislation that extends to the correctional officers of Baltimore County the same administrative procedures in use in Cecil, Garrett, Harford, and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland.
Workplace Violence Prevention AFT-Maryland supports the creation of legislation that calls for a center for the study of workplace violence and the implementation of the best practices that minimize opportunities for violence against workers.
Full Pension Funding AFT-Maryland supports the passage of legislation that fully funds the state’s pension plan.
Pre-K Expansion The fiscal year 2015 budget includes $4.3 million to expand pre-kindergarten for four-year-olds, contingent on enactment of Senate Bill 332 (passed).
Special Grants to Small Schools The General Assembly restricted $595,085 for special grants to small school systems with declining enrollments, contingent on the enactment of Senate Bill 534/House Bill 814 (bothpassed), to restore 50% of a reduction in total direct education aid.
Prevailing Wage Senate Bill 232/House Bill 727 (both passed)lower, from 50% to 25%, the share of total school construction project costs that must be paid by the State in order for the prevailing wage requirement to apply. Under the bill all projects that exceed $500,000 will now be required to pay prevailing wages.
State Early Childhood Advisory Council House Bill 461(passed) codifies the State Early Childhood Advisory Council. The purposes of the council are to (1) coordinate efforts among early childhood care and education programs; (2) conduct needs assessments concerning early childhood education and development programs; and (3) develop a statewide strategic report regarding early childhood education and care.
Senate Bill 676/House Bill 116 (both passed) prohibit any performance evaluation criteria for teachers and principalsfrom using student growth data based on State assessments to make personnel decisions beforethe 2016-2017 school year, except in the case where a local school system and the schoolsystem’s exclusive employee representative have agreed to use student growth data based onState assessments in an agreement made after January 1, 2014, but before March 1, 2014. Thebills also clarify that the model performance evaluation criteria for teachers and principals are thedefault model performance evaluation criteria.
House Bill 427 (passed) requires Maryland State Department of Education to develop and implement a program to provide sudden cardiac arrest awareness to coaches, school personnel, students, and parents in collaboration with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), each local board of education, and other experts and stakeholders.
House Bill 812 (passed) requires all middle schools to meet the requirements of the high school Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) programs developed by each local board of education. Therefore, each middle school is required to have an AED on-site and an individual trained in the operation and use of an AED present at all middle school-sponsored athletic events.
House Bill 1001 (passed) requires MSDE to submit a proposed waiver request from specific provisions of ESEA to theLegislative Policy Committee (LPC) of the General Assembly before submitting the request tothe USDE. The bill also requires MSDE to allow theLegislative Policy Committee at least 30 days after the committeereceives the proposed waiver request to review and comment on the proposed waiver request.The bill takes effect June 1, 2014, and does not apply to the waiver extension request discussedabove that MSDE recently submitted to USDE.
Senate Bill 503/House Bill 1366 (both passed) require public high school students to complete, as part of the health or physical education curriculum, instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that includes hands-only CPR and the use of an automated external defibrillator AED beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2016 school year.
House Bill 1332 (passed) establishes a Task Force to Study Sports Injuries in High School Female Athletes. The task force must submit to the Governor and the General Assembly an interim report by December 31, 2014, and a final report by December 1, 2015.
House Bill 883 (passed) requires the Office of Public Health Services (OPHS) in DHMH to conduct a study of safe and healthy school hours for Maryland public schools.
House Bill 413 Parental Notice (passed) requires the Office of Public Health Services (OPHS) in DHMH to conduct a study of safe and healthy school hours for Maryland public schools.
Senate Bill 701/House Bill 798 (both passed) require each local school system to provide to the parentsof a child with a disability verbal and written information about access to habilitative servicesincluding a copy of the Maryland Insurance Administration’s Parents’ Guide to HabilitativeServices at certain times during the child’s life.
Senate Bill 120 • (passed) adds the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to the list of public agencies that must request that the local school superintendent appoint a parent surrogate if a child is suspected to have a disability.
Senate Bill 857/House Bill 922 (both passed) require that the State Board of Education and each localboard of education ensure that adapted, allied, or unified physical education and athleticprograms are not only available but also adequately funded by the local board of education.
Senate Bill 1066/House Bill 1181 (both passed) repeal the scheduled termination of the Fairness in Negotiations Act and require the Public School Labor Relations Board (PSLRB) to report to the General Assembly on the number and disposition of its cases, in addition to other related information, by August 1, 2018.
Senate Bill 876/House Bill 811 (both passed) establish a Summer Career Academy Pilot Program for three years beginning in the summer of 2015.
House Bill 265 (passed) establishes a Task Force to Study How to Improve Student Achievement in Middle School. If the task force concludes that the findings and recommendations set forth in the Southern Region Education Board (SREB) report would be feasible and appropriate for the State, the task force must develop a Collaborative Action Plan to create a statewide framework for redesigning the middle school experience for students in grades 6 through 8. A report with findings and recommendations is due by December 1, 2014.