Text of the bill and brief summary
The information below was updated on 12-14-23 to reflect the most recent version of the bill after amendments from the Fiscal Policy Committee.
- SB 7000 (full text) is one of three bills proposed by the Senate PreK-12 Education Committee that focuses on deregulation of public schools. The focus for SB 7000 is on regulations regarding personnel.
The bill makes many proposed changes that FEA, our local unions and our members have been advocating for in order to strengthen retention in our schools. Some of the proposed changes include:
- Allowing instructional personnel to earn multiyear contracts (Lines 527-551)
- Removing the requirement for advanced degree supplements to only be awarded if the degree is in the teacher’s area of certification. (Line 332)
- Removing the requirement that highly effective instructional personnel on the “performance pay schedule” receive a raise at least 25% greater than anyone else. (Line 386)
It’s not all good news, however. The bill also adds further restrictions on collective bargaining. The following are just some of new restrictions:
- Incentives for effective and highly effective teachers (Line 431)
- School district calendars (Line 447)
- The awarding of multi-year contracts (Line 448)
- Click here to see the entirety of the proposed new restrictions on collective bargaining.
- Additionally, the bill would require student performance measures to be 50% of a teacher’s evaluation up from the current requirement of 33%. (Line 636.)
What’s Next
The bill has passed the Senate. The House companion is radically different. In the coming weeks the respective chambers will need to come to some compromise.
Talking Points
Leveling the playing field between public, charter and private schools is necessary in order to create a robust public school system that attracts and retains highly trained teachers and education staff professionals, and ensures students are learning and thriving. While the Senate Deregulation packages contains some good items, the bills also contain more regulation and restrictions on collective bargaining.
- Allowing instructional personnel to once again earn multi-year contracts is a step in the right direction to ensuring teachers stay in the profession, instead of being forced out because of bad policy and fringe politics. Multi-year contracts help provide stability to teachers and help them better integrate into their school system and their communities.
- By undoing some of the burdensome regulations on teacher pay that have caused compression and stagnant wages, we can continue to move in the right direction toward attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers in the state.
- But progress is undone when leaders narrow the scope of collective bargaining. When teachers and staff participate in collective bargaining, it doesn’t just benefit members of a union- it lifts up every teacher and every staff members in that community. By requiring student performance measures to be 50% of a teacher’s evaluation— up from the current requirement of 33% — leaders are telling teachers that no matter what successes their students see, its not enough.
- SB 7000 (full text) is one of three bills proposed by the Senate PreK-12 Education Committee that focuses on deregulation of public schools. The focus for SB 7000 is on regulations regarding personnel.
The bill makes many proposed changes that FEA, our local unions and our members have been advocating for in order to strengthen retention in our schools. Some of the proposed changes include:
- Allowing instructional personnel to earn multiyear contracts (Lines 524-547)
- Removing the requirement for advanced degree supplements to only be awarded if the degree is in the teacher’s area of certification. (Line 329)
- Removing the requirement that highly effective instructional personnel on the “performance pay schedule” receive a raise at least 25% greater than anyone else. (Line 383)
It’s not all good news, however. The bill also adds further restrictions on collective bargaining. The following are just some of new restrictions:
- Incentives for highly effective teachers (Line 428)
- School district calendars (Line 443)
- The awarding of multi-year contracts (Line 444)
- Click here to see the entirety of the proposed new restrictions on collective bargaining.
- Additionally, the bill would require student performance measures to be 50% of a teacher’s evaluation up from the current requirement of 33%. (Line 632.)
- 8-0 : Senate PreK-12 Education Committee, 11-15-23. (Senators Osgood and Yarborough both had excused absences from the meeting.)
SB 7004 has been referred to the Fiscal Policy Committee for what will likely be its final committee stop before heading for a vote in the full Senate.
The bill could be heard in the Fiscal Policy Committee as soon as Dec. 5. We’ll know by Nov. 28 if the bill is placed on the agenda for the Dec. 5 meeting.
Check back soon.
