Introduced
by
To codify in statute the powers and structure of a state “education achievement authority” (already created by means of an administrative “interlocal agreement”), which is an office in the Department of Education tasked with managing, overseeing or contracting-out the operations of public schools deemed to have failed academically.
Referred to the Committee on Education
Reported without amendment
With the recommendation that the substitute (H-2) be adopted and that the bill then pass.
Substitute offered
To replace the previous version of the bill with one that among many other changes caps at 50 the number of academically failed schools the proposed authority can take over.
The substitute passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To mandate that an academically failed school taken over by the authority must be operated under all the same state student testing and reporting rules that apply to conventional public schools.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require rather than permit the state to appoint a “school reinvention and transformation team” to advise a school taken over by the authority, comprised of representatives of various specified interests, including the management of the failed school.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require the authority to hold a monthly public meeting in each academically failed school that it takes over.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require that the initial members of the authority board appointed by the Governor all serve for four-year terms, rather than the staggered terms proposed by the bill.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To repeal the law authorizing charter schools.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To place the proposed authority under the state school board rather than a separate board appointed by the governor.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To essentially give the state Board of Education veto power over the authority taking over an academically failed school.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To impose the document disclosure requirements of the state Freedom of Information Act on any charter school management company contracted to run one of the academically failed schools the authority takes over.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To strip out a provision establishing that the proposed authority is presumed to legally possess the powers and duties authorized by the bill unless the state Court of Appeals rules otherwise within 60 days, and also a provision requiring annual student progress reports from the authority to the legislature.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To establish a 2019 sunset on the proposed authority.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To strip out a provision establishing that the proposed authority's funding is subject to the same school aid act funding provisions as other public schools.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require "complete educational and organizational audits" of the academically failed schools on the potential authority takeover list, and give those schools more time to implement the audit findings, including renegotiating any problematic union agreement provisions, before being taken over by the authority (which causes its union contracts to be invalidated). Also, to restore an academically failed school district taken over by the authority to its prior management as soon as student performance has been brought into the "normal range," or when the specific problems identified by the amendment's audit are resolved.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To strip out provisions invalidating the union collective bargaining agreement of an academically failed school taken over by the authority.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To strip out provisions invalidating the union collective bargaining agreement of an academically failed school taken over by the authority, and giving the authority other powers over academically failed schools.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To phase-in an eventual cap of 50 on the number of academically-failed schools the authority could manage.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To clarify details related to special education in the affected schools.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require the proposed authority to notify the school board of a failed school in the first week of January that it will be taking over one of their schools during the year.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To also allow a failed school to be placed under the management of the local Intermediate School District as an alternative to the proposed authority. If the ISD failed to fix it then the school could still be taken over by the authority.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To mandate that any previous employees of the failed school who are hired by the authority would have to be left in the (underfunded) state school pension system, where their future benefits would continue to accrue.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Passed in the House 57 to 53 (details)
Referred to the Committee on Education
Substitute offered
To replace the previous version of the bill with one that revises several provisions of the House-passed bill. Specifically, the House-passed cap of 50 on the number of academically failed schools the authority can take over is not included, but an 18-month "embargo" on any additional districts being taken over was added.
The substitute passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To make explicit that the EAA is subject to the state Freedom of Information Act, require it to have a conflict of interest policy for board members, disclose its budgets on a website, use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, have annual audits and more. Upon reconsideration the amendment was adopted.
The amendment passed 27 to 11 (details)
Motion to reconsider
R the vote by which the amendments offered by Senator Hopgood were adopted.
The motion passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To reconsider the vote by which the Hopgood transparency amendment passed.
The amendment failed 15 to 23 (details)
Amendment offered
by
To strip out a provision asserting that the bill does not "supersede, alter, or terminate" the "interlocal agreement" by which the EAA was originally created.
The amendment failed 18 to 20 (details)
Amendment offered
by
To create an exception to a provision that allows the EAA to use deficit financing to fund a school's operations. This would not apply if the school has experienced a decline in the number of studenets.
The amendment failed 12 to 26 (details)
Amendment offered
by
To essentially prohibit any new schools from being transferred to the EAA.
The amendment failed 17 to 21 (details)
Amendment offered
by
To essentially establish that the EAA is subject to the state Freedom of Information Act, require it to have a conflict of interest policy for board members and supervisors, disclose its budgets on a website, use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, have annual audits and more. Specifically, the amendment would prohibit the entity from borrowing to pay for the operations of a school it has taken over unless it meets those standards.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Passed in the Senate 20 to 18 (details)
To codify in statute the powers and structure of a state “education achievement authority” (already created by means of an administrative “interlocal agreement”), which is an office in the Department of Education tasked with managing, overseeing or contracting-out the operations of public schools deemed to have failed academically.
Motion
by
That the bill be given immediate effect.
The motion passed 26 to 12 (details)
To concur with the Senate-passed version of the bill.
Substitute offered
by
To adopt a substitute version of the bill that generally grants less authority to the state to take over management of academically failed schools, and limits the number of failed schools subject to state reform actions.
The substitute passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To establish that a school under EAA authority and that improves to no longer being in the bottom 5 percent for four years in a row would no longer be subject to EAA authority.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require a "post audit" of the EAA every three years.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To establish that "an entity exercising the functions" of the EAA is considered a public body subject to the state Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require academic progress at a school under EAA authority be measured by standardized testing data recognized by the state rather than some other testing data used by the school.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require a school to be among the worst 5 percent in the state for it to be considered for EAA takeover.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To subject all schools under EAA authority to the same state laws and regulations which apply to conventional school districts. Among other things this would essentially prohibit converting these schools into charter schools.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To prohibit converting schools under EAA authority into charter schools.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To require the EAA to submit annual reports on the finances and academic performance of schools under its authority.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To establish that all employees "hired or brought in" to a school under EAA management must be enrolled in the state-run defined benefit pension system. Note: Most charter school employees are not enrolled in this costly system.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To give the state Board of Education rather than the Department of Treasury the authority to determine if an EAA school meets transparency standards required by the bill to be eligible for state funding.
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
The amendment failed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To only permit the EAA to have 27 academically failed schools under its authority through June, 2016, 39 schools through June, 2017 and 50 schools thereafter.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To establish that no state loan guarantee would apply to debt assumed by a school under EAA authority.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To allow and establish a process for Intermediate School Districts to assume management of an academically failed local school as an alternative to the EAA this assuming authority.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Substitute offered
by
To adopt a substitute that would replace the EAA with a new system of academic performance audits and “technical support.” State takeovers of failed schools would no longer be authorized, but a proposed “reform office” could impose an “implementation plan” if, following appeals of dismal audit findings, a failed school’s “stakeholders” did not agree on a program to address those findings. Failed schools whose management has already been taken over by the EAA would be returned to their previous governing body’s control.
The substitute failed by voice vote
Passed in the House 56 to 54 (details)
To codify in statute the authority of a state “education achievement authority,” which is an office in the Department of Education tasked with reforming public schools whose performance is in the bottom 5 percent for two consecutive years. Not more than 50 schools could eventually be subject to this office's authority (phased in through June 2017), and their management could be transferred to a charter school or another conventional school district. Alternatively, the local intermediate school district could choose to take over a failed school's management.
