Legislative Report (Vol. XXVI No. 11) March 23, 2007

Teacher Quality Stalls

The House Education Committee was forced to postpone discussion of the Teacher Quality Legislation this past week in an effort to resolve disagreement on several issues. Issues being discussed include the process for determining professional development needs of the teachers and the district and whether career ladders need to be implemented immediately or to provide for pilot programs initially.

We expect some type of resolution on these issues next week and the eventual passage of the bill by the committee. It is apparent that some changes in the bill will be passed thus it will eventually need to return to the Senate for them to accept or reject the changes made by the House.

To date there has been no discussion of changing the inclusion of AEA staff in the legislation. We will of course be lobbying to make sure they leave AEA staff in the bill as passed by the Senate.

Other

• The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously passed SF 447 this past week. The bill provides incentives for LEA reorganization and sharing and also includes funding for AEA to AEA sharing opportunities.
• AEAs will hold a legislative reception for members of the General Assembly from 7:30-9 on Tuesday. Last session more than half of the legislators attended.

LEGISLATIVE BILL STATUS

As of March 23, 2007

*Denotes bills having a direct impact on AEAs

Bold italics indicate a change in status or bill number from the previous report