2023 House Bill 4355

House Fiscal Agency Analysis

House Bill 4354 would amend 1947 PA 336, the public employment relations act (PERA), to permit the inclusion of certain topics during collective bargaining for public school employees. House Bill 4355 is a companion bill that would make complementary updates to the State School Aid Act. Among other excluded topics, PERA currently provides that decisions about the development, content, standards, procedures, adoption, and implementation of certain subjects cannot be included in collective bargaining negotiations between a public school employer and a representative of its employees. The impact of those decisions on an individual employee or the bargaining unit are also prohibited topics. These restricted subjects are: • A public school employer’s teacher placement policy. • A public school employer’s policies regarding personnel decisions when conducting a reduction, eliminating a position, recalling or hiring employees, or making any related decisions. • The performance evaluation system, including decisions concerning the content of a performance evaluation of an employee. • The policy regarding the discharge or discipline of a teacher. • The format, timing, or number of classroom observations. • The policy regarding the method of compensation, including decisions about how an employee performance evaluation is used to determine performance-based compensation. • The notification to parents and legal guardians required under section 1249a of the Revised School Code.1 The following subjects are also prohibited from collective bargaining negotiations: • A public employer’s decision whether to enter into an intergovernmental agreement to consolidate services. • The procedures for obtaining a contract for the transfer of functions or responsibilities under such an agreement. • The identities of any other parties subject to the agreement. House Bill 4355 would amend the State School Aid Act to remove the current prohibitions on collective bargaining agreements entered into by a school district or intermediate school district that include automatic payroll deductions for union dues2 or methods of compensation that do not comply with section 1250 of the Revised School Code.