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On Wednesday, the
Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee held a public
hearing on several bills — including the first explosive education
issue of the session. SB 6929, introduced just yesterday by
Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe, chair of the Committee, and others, would
prompt major changes in K-12 education. Effective May 1, 2011, the
bill would repeal virtually the entire education code located in
Title 28A of the Revised Code of Washington. Two specific sections
would be added to a new Title 28A. The first section would recodify
the current RCW 28A.320.015. This current section of law provides
that local board of directors of each school district has broad
discretionary power to determine school district policies that
promote the education of students and the effective, efficient or
safe management and operation of the school district. The section
also retains current law that school boards must comply with the
Open Public Meetings Act. The second section provides an
encouragement to interested individuals to inform the Legislature by
December 1, 2010, as to any additional legislation that needs to be
enacted prior to the repeal taking effect.
Sen. McAuliffe
introduced SB 6929 because she has been listening to our concerns
about unfunded mandates and the many burdensome education laws that
are on the books. Attempts have been made to carefully go through
each and every section of the education code and select sections
that are outdated or no longer needed. Unfortunately, every time
this exercise is conducted the outcome is inconsequential. For
example, following the adoption of HB 1209, Washington’s Education
Reform Act of 1993 (which had the goal of increasing flexibility of
local school districts so they could determine how best to realign
their own systems to best meet the needs of students), the
Legislature establish the Joint Select Committee on Education
Restructuring. After months of meetings to review and hold hearings
on what education laws should be repealed, only a few minor
technical changes were made. Why? Because just about every
education law has some kind of constituency and those constituent
groups came out in force to ensure “their” law wouldn’t be
eliminated. While it is unlikely SB 6929 will ultimately be adopted
by this Legislature, it does signal a certain amount of discontent —
and a willingness to listen to our concerns about unfunded mandates
and the need for flexibility.
Another bill of
interest heard today in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education
Committee was SB 6450. Initiative 900, authorized by the
voters a few years ago, requires that state and local governments
(including school districts) undergo performance audits conducted by
the State Auditor (these are in addition to current financial
compliance audits). I-900 included a funding source to ensure the
State Auditor could carry out the required audits. The Initiative,
however, did not include any kind of funding for those local
governments which must be audited. SB 6450 would require that
school districts and Educational Service Districts be reimbursed for
the costs they incur to gather or assemble the information requested
by the performance audit team. Tim Eyman, sponsor of I-900, was on
hand today to oppose the bill, saying it was intended to “gut” the
Initiative. State Auditor Brian Sonntag also testified against the
bill, saying that this was the first he’d heard about concerns
regarding costs to comply with the audits. Apparently he was not
listening when his office invited WSSDA, WASA, AWSP and the
Association of ESDs to an information session to discuss I-900
audits with us. Representatives of the education community
pointedly informed the Auditor’s staff that undergoing these audits
would be costly.
Later this evening,
the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee will meet
again in executive session to adopt several bills. We’ll provide
information on that action in tomorrow's Update. |
