Today was the deadline for bills to pass the chamber in which they originated.
See how your legislators voted on education bills that survived today’s deadline and which bills died on the calendar without a vote:
Teacher Pay Raise
HB 530 – VOTE YES Passed full House – see House vote, goes to Senate committee(s) – 43,000 starting salary; annual step increases beginning in year 3 with larger increase at year 25; average pay raise of $4,506; $2,000 pay raise for assistant teachers
SB 2444 – VOTE YES Passed full Senate – see Senate vote, goes to House committee(s) – $39,000 starting salary in 2022-2023 and $40,000 starting salary in year 2023-2024 and thereafter; annual step increases beginning in year 1 with larger increases at years 5, 10, 15, 20, 25; average pay raise of $4,785; phased in over two years
SB 2443 – VOTE YES Passed full Senate – see Senate vote, goes to House committee(s) – was amended* to include language of SB 2444, Senate Teacher Pay Raise Bill: $39,000 starting salary in 2022-2023 and $40,000 starting salary in year 2023-2024 and thereafter; annual step increases beginning in year 1 with larger increases at years 5, 10, 15, 20, 25; average pay raise of $4,785; phased in over two years
Cuts to State Revenue
HB 531 – VOTE NO Passed full House – see House vote, goes to Senate committee(s) – decreases state revenue by $1.5-billion, putting school budgets and teacher pay in jeopardy
Pre-K
HB 1246 – VOTE YES Passed full House – see House vote, goes to Senate committee(s) – increases per-student funding for Early Learning Collaboratives to minimum of $2,500 for full day and $1,250 for half day
HB 1340 – VOTE NO Passed full House – see House vote, goes to Senate committee(s) – diminishes Early Learning Collaborative program by adding a home-based virtual component for preschoolers, to be administered by an unnamed vendor
Third Grade Reading Gate
SB 2706: Passed full Senate – see Senate vote, goes to House committee(s) – provides one hold-harmless year (2021-2022) for students scoring in level 2 on the state literacy assessment, with remediation to be provided as outlined
Charter School Funding
HB 31 – VOTE NO Died on the calendar – allows the Charter School Authorizer Board to develop its own formula for determining the amount of local funds sent to charter schools by public school districts
Vouchers
HB 795 – VOTE NO Died on the calendar – uses state funds for non-public school students to attend an online school with no accountability
*During floor debate, Chairman DeBar amended SB 2443 to include the identical language that is in SB 2444, the Senate teacher pay raise bill. In explaining his reasoning for the duplicate bill, he expressed concern that sometimes “things happen and bills die” due to “other issues.” He said his intent is to send the message that “paying our teachers a fair and decent wage” is the top priority of the Senate, and he urged the House to take up one of the Senate bills and either amend it and send it back to the Senate or send it on to the governor for his signature. NOTE: Finalizing a teacher pay raise bill now would prevent it from being held hostage to other issues, such as the contentious income tax debate.
The surviving bills now will swap chambers for the second round of committee and floor votes.
BE SURE TO MARK YOUR CALENDAR
…for our upcoming REAL TALK virtual speaker series, where you’ll have an opportunity to learn more about these bills from legislators and other experts! Save these dates:
- Thursday, Feb. 24, 5:45 p.m. Education Legislation News: House and Senate Education Committee Leadership
- Thursday, March 3, 5:45 p.m. Education and the Economy: Business Leaders and Child Advocates
- Thursday, March 10, 5:45 p.m. Legislative Update: Legislative Black Caucus and House and Senate Minority Leaders
We won’t keep you longer than an hour, and you can submit questions for our guests to answer. Send us your questions by replying to this email.
We will post the progress of the bills we are following on the Bill Tracker page of our web site and continue to update you via our social media pages and email. Please reach out to legislators who will be voting on these bills in the next round. Your input is key, and together, we’ve got this!
